There has never been a worse — or bloodier — day in Canada’s long, proud military history than Aug. 19, 1942.
Seventy-five years ago today, 5,000 Canadians, accompanied by 1,000 British commandos and a handful of U.S. Army Rangers, waded ashore on the rocky beach at Dieppe in Northern France.
The Canadian force, getting their first major taste of action, consisted of farm boys and ranch hands from Saskatchewan and Alberta, fishermen from the Maritimes, factory workers from Windsor and Hamilton and city slickers from Toronto and Montreal.
By the end of that dark day, 900 of them would be dead unleashing tears in hundreds of homes across the young country.
Codenamed Operation Jubilee, the purpose was to give the Nazis a shot in the nose, test the defences of Hitler’s Fortress Europe and capture any intelligence that could be gathered.
From the get-go, the raid was a disaster — everything that could go wrong, did go wrong.
“I led 30 odd men of my platoon in a charge about 25-yards up the stony beach,” Capt. Denis Whitaker of the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry later said. “Bullets flew everywhere. Enemy mortar bombs started to crack down. Around me, men were being hit and bodies were piling up, one on top of the other. It was terrifying.”
As dawn approached, the 237-ship convoy taking the Canadians and others to Dieppe encountered a German convoy that alerted the shore defences.
But survivors always believed the Nazi defenders knew they were coming beforehand.
There was no air or sea bombardment and the tanks got stuck in the rocky beach becoming sitting ducks.
With staggering courage, despite mounting losses, Canadians made their way into the town. Radio contact was poor and the ships were not getting the word the raid had turned into a bloodbath.
Instead, reserves were ordered in.
“I think that I must have made no more than three steps before I was hit by a bullet,” Lieut. Col. Dollard Menard later told the CBC.
On the beach and in the town, it was total disarray. The retreat was even more terrifying.
“The worst part was the dash for the boats amid a hail of bullets and mortar or shellfire,” Whitaker said. “Apart from trying to help the wounded, it was every man for himself. I expected every step to be my last.”
And as the ships pulled out to sea, 2,000 Canadians were left behind to become prisoners of war — lucky just to be alive.
In spite of the disaster, two Canadians won the British Empire’s highest honour that day, the Victoria Cross, emblazoned with two simple words: For Valour.
Lieut. Col. Cecil Merritt of the South Saskatchewan Regiment fought a heroic rearguard action. His efforts before becoming a POW enabled hundreds to escape.
The other Canadian VC winner that day was known for months only as “Padre X” — a mysterious priest with courage to burn.
Risking his life carrying the wounded to landing craft to escape the carnage — he then gave up his spot on the boat, waved goodbye, then returned to shore and the unknown as a POW.
He was later identified as Rev. John Weir Foote of the RHLI.
“When I went in with the regiment and stayed with the men, there was nothing else I could have done,” he said after the war.
The aftermath was an ice bath of heartbreaking reality for the survivors, the families of the dead and the whole country.
The raid was poorly planned and gives credence to the First World War quote about the high command and that is, the soldiers “were lions led by donkeys”.
But the chief architect, Lord Louis Mountbatten insisted the raid was necessary to save lives later.
“I have no doubt that the Battle of Normandy was won on the beaches of Dieppe,” Mountbatten said following the war. “For every man who died in Dieppe, at least 10 more must have been spared in Normandy in 1944.”
Date: Aug. 19, 1942.
Who took part: 4,963 Canadian troops, 50 American Rangers, 1,075 British commandos and 20 inter-Allied commandos along with air support from the RCAF.
Purpose: Test for invading Europe from the sea.
MOTIVE: Allies were losing the war and Russia demanded relief,
Outcome: 3,367 Canadian troops killed, wounded or taken prisoner.
Death toll: More than 900.
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