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In April 1942, after the Allied raid on St Nazaire, the British and American allies again took up a plan of a raid on a French harbor on the Channel coast. This raid was intended to test defenses and to prove to the Soviets, who were asking for the establishment of a second front, that it was not easy to grab a foothold on the French coast. The Allied High Command chose Dieppe for two main reasons; the size of the township, and the distance from England, both of which were compatible with the available means of transport, making uninterrupted air cover easy. The operation was to last twelve hours. The main brunt of the assault was a frontal attack taking place on the beach at Dieppe, after landings on both sides at Pourville and Puys, thus neutralizing the defenses overlooking the main beach. The long-range batteries at Varengeville and Berneval also had to be destroyed before the landing in Dieppe. The aim of the raid was to destroy the German coastal defenses, the port structures and all the strategic buildings (petrol storage depots, radio and radar stations, headquarter centers and airfields). Over 6,000 men were to land, among them 4,965 Canadians from the 2nd Division (including the crews of 50 Churchill tanks) and 1,200 British men belonging to the Commandos and the Royal Marines. 50 American Commandos aided in the raid as well. The Allies used approximately 250 boats for transport consisting of duck-boats, destroyers, gunboats, patrol boats and landing-craft. In addition, air support consisted of 1,000 aircraft (fighters, bombers). In August 1942, the area of Dieppe was under the responsibility of the 302nd Division of the Wehrmacht. About 2,500 men, highly trained and equipped, were present at each of the different landing-points. To make matters worse for the Allies, fresh troops could be sent in at a moments notice as well. The defensive fortifications were already dangerous, and the firepower significant. In addition to ground troops, the German air force, although less extensive, was still very dangerous and had the advantage of being close to its home base. During the evening of August 18th, the naval forces of Operation Jubilee got under way from several ports on the south coast of England. The different groups accomplished a trouble-free sea-crossing until, suddenly, several miles off the coast, the left wing flotilla, which was carrying the 3rd British Commando unit, at approximately 3:45am, unexpectedly ran into a small German convoy sailing from Boulogne to Dieppe. The ensuing battle completely upset the planned attack on Berneval, and alerted part of the enemy defense. Yet, a small group of commandos still managed to neutralize the battery for an hour and a half. At 4:50am, at the other end of the operation zone, the 4th Commando achieved a foothold on two areas along the coast, in order to catch the battery at Varengeville in a pincer movement. It was a complete success. The battery was destroyed and the commandos re-embarked at 8:15am with scarcely any human loss. At Puys, the Royal Regiment of Canada landed at 5:06am, later than planned, and in broad daylight. The German defense was on the watch, overlooking the attackers who tried in vain to get over the high concrete wall enclosing the small beach, under heavy fire with no shelter. In less than an hour, of the 600 men who had landed, 225 were killed. The majority of the soldiers that were left were taken prisoner and only about sixty made it back to England. The South Saskatchewan and Cameron Highlanders landed at Pourville at 4:50am, easily invading the village. The German defense became progressively stronger and although soldiers managed to advance as far as the village of Petit Appeville, they could not carry any further and had to fall back late in the morning, resulting in heavy casualties (151 dead, 266 made prisoner and 269 wounded). At 5:20am, after a short preliminary bombing, the first two assault waves of the Royal Hamilton and the Essex Scottish got a foothold on the beach at Dieppe. The tanks of the 14th Canadian Army Tank Regiment, which should have protected them, landed fifteen minutes later with great difficulty and could not efficiently support the foot soldiers advancing on the exposed esplanade, where a hell-fire showered them from the cliffs and the houses on the seafront. Even those who managed to reach the esplanade could not get over the concrete walls barring every entrance to the town center. On the east side of the beach, the men of the Essex Scottish, even more exposed, were very quickly stopped by intensive German gunfire. The Allied Command, based on the HMS Calpe, seeing nothing happening on land because of extremely thick smoke and being badly informed because of failing transmissions, sent in fresh back-up troops. They landed on the beach amidst great confusion; with no hope whatsoever of improving an already jeopardized situation. The murderous battle went on until the end of the morning. The order to draw back was given around 11am. Of the 2,000 men who had landed, 400 were dead, and only 400 succeeded in making it back to England. At about 1pm, the battle was over. Operation Jubilee ended with drastic results: the allies counted 1,380 dead (913 Canadians), 1,600 wounded and over 2,000 taken prisoner. The air battle was just as devastating. The Royal Air Force lost 107 aircraft; more than any other one day battle that Britain was involved in. In contrast, the Germans only lost about forty aircraft. In the area of Dieppe, among the civilians, the count was 48 dead and 100 wounded. The Germans had 345 dead or missing and 268 wounded. Thus, in less than ten hours' battle, almost 1,800 people lost their lives, which shows clearly the murderous intensity of the Battle of Dieppe. Military defeats are always controversial subjects, especially when loss of human life is involved. However, when the Allies invaded France again in 1944, they used what they had learned from Dieppe to defeat the Germans and win the most important victory of the Second World War. Two years after the raid on Dieppe, the Canadians landed on Juno Beach, and at dawn on June 6th, 1944, participated in the Battle of Normandy. On September 1st, 1944, the 2nd Canadian Division liberated Dieppe. |
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"Raid on Dieppe."
http://www.warships1.com/W-hist/HSII_Dieppe.htm. |