Dieppe

By 1942, after almost three years of war with Britain the last Allied hold-out left by Western Europe, the Allies planned a raid on Dieppe to test German coastal defenses for a future assault and to give the Second Canadian Infantry, which had trained for two years in Britain, combat experience. The attack, code named Operation Jubilee, took place on August 19th 1942 and was intended to be a quick in-and-out raid, with almost 5,000 Canadians, 1,000 British commandos, and 50 American Army Rangers landing at five points along a 16 kilometre-long stretch of heavily defended coastline. The overly complex plan, insufficient aircraft and artillery support, and inexperienced troops turned the operation into a disaster as the landing parties were met by German bullets and shellfire. The Allies suffered 900 Canadian deaths in a single day, more than 1900 Canadians were taken prisoner, and 119 warplanes were shot down in the Allies' worst single day aircraft losses of the Second World War. The day became one of the worst military operations in Canadian history. In prison camps, some German forces allowed Red Cross parcels in keeping with the Geneva Conventions, while in others prisoners endured hard labour. Nearly three years later, as the war neared its end, prisoners were forced on winter marches away from advancing Allied forces who might otherwise have liberated them, and many died from illness and frostbite. The raid also taught hard lessons: it was the first time the Allies transported and landed tanks by sea, and it led to improvements in communications, supply lines, intelligence, landing craft, armoured vehicles, and methods for eliminating anti-tank obstacles that were later used extensively on D-Day.

Ontario · Canada