What was learned from the Dieppe Raid?

Answer 1

Dieppe Raid - August 19th, 1942. Codename - Operation Jubilee.

Reasons for the raid:

Dieppe was an important French port on the English Channel. Not only

Would this give the allies a stronger foothold in both the Channel and

the Atlantic as a whole, it would give them a chance to utilize new

amphibious equipment. Needless to say, the planner of this operation

(Chief of Combined Operations, Louis Mountbatten) hoped that a success-

ful raid would mean raised morale back home (in Canada and Britain,

who had been devastated by losses in the North Africa and Russia). The

reason Dieppe was chosen as an invasion point as opposed to other

French ports was because it was within range of fighter planes from the

British mainland.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchhill didn't actually believe that

the raid would be successful. He knew that Dieppe would be well fortif-

ied against seaborne attacks. But due to pressure from the American

gov't to open a second front in Europe, he caved, and gave Mountbatten

the green light to begin planning the op.

After 4 months of rigorous planning, Mountbatten believed his soldiers

were prepared to invade. Roughly 240 ships loaded to the teeth with

armor and troops left in the dead of night on August 18. After sailing for some

time, at around 3 AM, Canadian and British forces arrive seemingly

undetected 8 miles from the the shores of Dieppe.

At 4:30 AM, the troops were geared up for battle. Boats would land at

4 different points along the shores of Dieppe. Canadian Regiments -

however large or small - were present at every insertion point on the

beach. The main Canadian force, however, was focused in on the Red and

White insertion points.

Two smaller factions of Canadian soldiers (accompanyed by the British

and, to a lesser extent, the US Army Rangers) took the Green and Blue

beaches, with more specific instructions than just invading. At the

Green beach, the South Saskatchewan Regiment and the Cameron Highland-

ers of Canada escorted a British radar specialist to a Nazi-operated

radar station. The 2 regiments were massacred, with only the radar

specialist and one other soldier returning to England later that day.

The Green beach landing was still considered a success to some degree,

because the radar specialist cut the phone lines to and from the

station, forcing the Nazis to use radio frequencies to communicate.

These radio signals, in turn, could be picked up by coastal listening

stations in England.

Earlier on the morning of the invasion, at approximately 3:48am, a

small naval engagement began between a small German convoy. A German

Defender and an English Defender exchanged fire, with the German convoy

ultimately bugging out (retreating). Unfortunately, the German convoy

had signaled the coastal defenses around the Blue beach. By the time

the Royal Regiment of Canada landed there nearly 45 minutes later, the

Germans were well prepared. of the 556 men in the Regiment, 200 were

killed, and a further 264 captured.

The main Canadian landings, as stated above, were on the Red and White

beaches. Accompanied by British forces, they stormed the beaches. The

armor that they expected (and desperately needed) was running late,

and didn't arrive until nearly a half an hour after the initial land-

ings. When the Churchill Tanks did arrive, the best they could do was

spin - the beach was made up of mostly small pebbles, making traction

nearly impossible for the vehicles. Every tank was destroyed or aban-

doned in the landing, and the tank crews killed or captured. None of

the tanks or tank crews returned to England that day.

A second wave of troops arrived at around 7 AM that morning, unaware

of the bloodbath that had occured before them due to smokescreen

obscuring their view from the sea. Lieutenant Colonel Phillipps,

commanding officer of the Royal Marines for this battle, signaled the

retreat for his men shortly after they landed, but it was too late. He

was picked off by a German sniper a few seconds later.

At 11 AM, after over 6 hours of intense combat, the order of total

withdrawl came through. Any soldiers left alive were off the beaches

by 2 PM that afternoon.

2 years later, on September 1, 1944, the Canadian 2nd Division entered

Dieppe by sea, and met no opposition. The Germans had evacuated a few

hours before the invasion, having no orders from high command to hold

the town. The Canadians were warmly met by French inhabitants,

and held a memorial for the brave men who carried out the original

Dieppe raid.

Answer 2

That the Canadian's only went to Dieppe so they could be involved in the war. They clearly weren't thinking in term's of the casualties. The German's knew they were coming so all the soldier's that went down to the surface instantly died.