Dieppe: A Canadian Disaster

Table of Contents

Introduction.........................................................................p. 1

The Plan..............................................................................p. 2-3

Combined Operations..............................................................p. 4

Operation Rutter....................................................................p. 5

How the Canadians Trained......................................................p.6

Jubilee.................................................................................p.7

A nine hour war gone bad.........................................................p. 8

A Canadian Disaster................................................................p. 9-10

The Surrender........................................................................p. 11

The Escape Tunnels..................................................................p. 12

Farewell to Lamsdorf................................................................p. 13

A Great German Victory............................................................p. 14

A Canadian Shame....................................................................p.15

How this could have been prevented..............................................p. 16-17

Conclusion..............................................................................p. 18

Appendix................................................................................p. 19

End Notes..............................................................................p. 20

Bibliography...........................................................................p. 21

The Plan

The war was coming to the end of it's third year at the summer of 1492. The allies were desperate for a plan to attack. The allies' luck was running out. The Russian's were threatening to join up with the Japanese in India. The United States lost vessels totaling 400 000 tons.

All has gone bad for the allied forces, Singapore had been defeated by Japan, Tobruk had fallen and the British army in North Africa was retreating. The Nazi Propaganda minister, Josef Goobbels said that England was on it's way down.

English: Location of Dieppe scene of the Dieppe Ra...

No. 3 Commando returning to Newhaven after Dieppe ...

Canadian prisoners being led away through Dieppe a...

The Americans were demanding an attack on France in 1942 during the summer. Winston Churchill gave the operation the code name 'Sledgehammer'.

There were 2 alternatives for the Dieppe Raid, by combined operations' staff. The first one was to avoid the frontal assault on the port, proposed to land a battalion of the new 40-ton Churchill tanks, as yet untried in combat, and a battalion of infantry on the beach at Quibuville, eight miles to the west, another 2 battalions of infantry would remain at sea as a floating reserve. The intention was to take Dieppe by overrunning the head lands on either sides. The second plan involved a smashing frontal blow at Dieppe over the town's main beaches, supported by flank landing at Pourville against two heavy coastal batteries, situated at Bernaval, six miles east of Dieppe, and Verengeville-sur-Mer;...