Infos about Dieppe 1942 Raid

[dieppe1942]

I'm looking for details about the Dieppe 1942 raid, especially what happened with the Royal Regiment of Canada. My great-uncle died that day, my mother and other relatives went in France to search for him at the Dieppe cemetary but without success. I just found out a week ago that he died this same infamous day but was burried at the Calais Canadian Cemetery (mainly used in 1944). I'm trying to find what were the events that led him to rest there. Thanks for the help. Pierre

 

[3rd Herd]

Pierre,
what sort of details are you looking for, interenet web sites, books or journals?

"The Royal Regiment of Canada, plus three Black Watch platoons and one artillery detachment, experienced unbelievable bad luck on the Puys beach. Their task was to neutralize machine-gun and artillery batteries protecting the Dieppe beach. Problems started during the crossing of the Channel and the barges arrived in disorganized waves, the first ones already twenty minutes behind schedule. By then, the darkness and smoke screens that should have concealed their arrival had been lifted and German defences were on high alert. As soon as they reached the shore, the men found themselves pinned against the seawall and unable to advance otherwise than in full view of the enemy. Since no ship could get close without being targeted and probably sunk, the survivors of the Royals and Black Watch were forced to surrender. Of the 556 men and officers of the Royal Regiment of Canada who sailed for Dieppe, over 200 lost their lives in action and 264 were captured, among them several wounded."(http://www.junobeach.org/e/2/can-eve-mob-die-e.htm) There are some very good sources at the end of this article.

also:
"A hard, bitter fight" Broadcast Aug. 20, 1942 http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-71-2359-13807/conflict_war/dieppe/clip2

 

[dieppe1942]

Hello 3rd Herd! I've looked through the web for all sorts of infos concerning this battle, found very good sites and even a testimony from someone in UK who met him before the raid, no way of getting in touch with him though, contact infos are confidential:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/96/a4423196.shtml  (Private Neveu)

I'm searching for more detailed infos about the implications of the R Rgt of C in that battle, veterans memories, anything that could give me a clearer look in the course of events. Nearly all of those who died that day are burried in the Dieppe cemetery, only a few are at Calais (about 200 km away), what are they doing there? I've sent a letter at Library and Archives Canada asking for his military records, don't know what infos will come out of this.

Regards,

Pierre

 

[FascistLibertarian]

Worst single losses day for a Canadian Regiment in ww2 as I am sure you know

Stacey Vol 1 pp 363-368 for the official history
http://www.dnd.ca/DHH/history_archives/engraph/cmhq_e.asp?cat=1
reports #83,89,90,100,101,107,108,109
Im sure some of this deals with the RRofC, since only a few who landed got back, and since I think this happened because they were landed at the wrong place, i do not know how much information it goes into.
I have some pictures from when I visited there last summer, pm me if you are intrested and I can email you, I dont know how to post pictures here.
If you look at Puys from the pier off the main beach it boogles the mind that we would even try and land there. From what I understand they used air maps to pick the beach and this made it look longer than it is, this is a poor excuse as many people living in the UK had doubtlessly visited Dieppe before '39, seems like a case of bad staff work to me (similar to the failure to identify the type of beach we would land tanks at Dieppe which caused many of them belly).
I have heard one story of someone who was there, his part in ww2 consisted of keeping his head down and then surrendering. The Pill box which caused alot of the casulities is still there, you have to climb a bit to get at it and trespass but well worth it for the view you get.
Only the Lt-Col and a few others got off the beach and after that everyone was pinned down. The RCA people were there in order to use captured German guns as well as for directing fire.

There is a small monument at the beach which says (in French as well obviously, i got very emotional reading it):

On This Beach
Officers and Men of the
Royal Regiment of Canada
Died at Dawn 19 August 1942
Striving to Reach the Heights Beyond

You who are alive, on this beach,
remember that these men died far from home,
that others, here and everywhere, might freely
enjoy life in God's Mercy.

 

[dangerboy]

A book that I recommend is "Dieppe Tragedy to Triumph" by Brigadier General Denis Whitaker and Shelagh Whitaker.

General Whitaker was a Captain with the RHLI during Operation Jubilee and landed on the beach.

 

[dieppe1942]

@FascistLibertarian

I was looking through the military reports and it's indeed very interesting, the most detailed accounts I've read so far.

@dangerboy

Thanks for the book title, I will look for this one.

 

[FascistLibertarian]

This really is Canada's Omaha. In terms of choices it ties Hong Kong as our worst army (if not military) mistake of ww2. All this is in retrospect of course.

 

[pbi]

I'm a former RRegtC guy, and I was brought up on Dieppe stories. If you're ever in the area, there's an excellent Dieppe Memorial Park in Hamilton, Ontario, at the east entrance to the Hamilton Beach community drive near the Skyway Bridge, just west of the lift bridge. It identifies all the units that took part, and gives an overview of the operation. It's laid out on the edge of the beach, facing Lake Ontario, and appears to have a base area made of beach shingle similar to that on the Dieppe beach. When you stand in the centre of the large semi-circular monument, it is very easy to be overcome by the emotion of it all. I know I was.

Cheers

 

[pidd]

The regimental history, 'Battle Royal', by Goodspeed provides a lot of detail about the regiment's history.
I might also suggest that you contact the Regimental Association that oversees the Museum at
Fort York Armoury, Fleet Street, Toronto.  The curator might well be able to supply you with more information about your family.  It might well be worth a visit.  They parade on Mondays and Thursdays.
The e-mail for the association website is webmaster@rregtc-assoc.ca