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Dieppe
8 years ago
Growing up in the 1920s and 1930s young Canadian men from various walks of life volunteered to serve in the military for a war that began on September 1, 1939 with the invasion of Poland. The war was unlike any other that had been fought before. Air power, armour and a swift mobile force were a challenge that the allies were unable to handle, and a month and a half after the start of the invasion of France the capital of France had fallen, and the allies had been pushed off of the continent. Volunteers from Canada would soon be shipped to the UK. Among these volunteers was my grandfather, Jack. He joined the SSR in 1939 before being sent to Shilo, MB for training and finally overseas to the UK.
They trained in the UK for commando raids. Several commando missions were carried out, and by August 1942 the battle where my grandfather was selected to participate in entering the final stages of planning and preparation. On August 19, 1942 the raid was conducted, at a massive cost. Of the 6000 Canadian, British and American soldiers to participate nearly 1:5 were killed, with total casualties approaching 3:5. My grandfather was among those wounded during the battle. Two of his closest friends were killed. The lessons learned from the battle would be applied in 1943 and 1944 during the invasions of North Africa, Italy and Normandy, but this lesson was extremely costly. Poor intelligence and unsuitable equipment were major issues corrected during the Normandy Invasion. Two years and two weeks after the Dieppe raid the 2 Canadian Infantry Division, the same division that lost so many in the raid on Dieppe liberated it. They met little resistance, and held a victory ceremony and reclaimed their war dead, buried in graves by the Germans after the battle.
They trained in the UK for commando raids. Several commando missions were carried out, and by August 1942 the battle where my grandfather was selected to participate in entering the final stages of planning and preparation. On August 19, 1942 the raid was conducted, at a massive cost. Of the 6000 Canadian, British and American soldiers to participate nearly 1:5 were killed, with total casualties approaching 3:5. My grandfather was among those wounded during the battle. Two of his closest friends were killed. The lessons learned from the battle would be applied in 1943 and 1944 during the invasions of North Africa, Italy and Normandy, but this lesson was extremely costly. Poor intelligence and unsuitable equipment were major issues corrected during the Normandy Invasion. Two years and two weeks after the Dieppe raid the 2 Canadian Infantry Division, the same division that lost so many in the raid on Dieppe liberated it. They met little resistance, and held a victory ceremony and reclaimed their war dead, buried in graves by the Germans after the battle.
