Dieppe Raid video documentary

[Shinobi]

Inside War of World 2 canada army launch raid on Dieppe France city. This is video documentary.

Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/v/H4bBGQAaUic

Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/v/pXUPD32dhHg

Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/v/TJBbCLT3sUM

Part 4
http://www.youtube.com/v/Ej4koFuyoLg

Part 5
http://www.youtube.com/v/NyiRkbta9oU

[Pete031]

Just one example of how we were abused by the Brits in those days. Don't get me wrong I am for the commonwealth, but there were a lot of examples of this kind of stuff.
Send the Canadians!!

[guest]

Another example of an almost ""forgotten" battle...

Incredibly important, for both it's failure and lessons learned...

Of course, since both history and Film have turned any efforts by Canada in both world wars in proxies as "The British".. I suppose I should'nt be surprised.

(I'm sure the Aussies and Kiwis have a pretty good idea as well..)

Still, RIP to those old warrriors.. they truely knew what sacrifice was.
(Think about it next time a "bothersome" old man wants to talk with you)

[oldsoak]

Just one example of how we were abused by the Brits in those days. Don't get me wrong I am for the commonwealth, but there were a lot of examples of this kind of stuff.
Send the Canadians!!

Thats simply not true. The Canadians were used because they were availiable, and there was considerable pressure to use them as they had been in Britain since 1940 and had not been commited to battle yet. Infact, after the evacuation at Dunkirk, they were at one point the only fully equipped troops in the country.

[guest]

Thats simply not true. The Canadians were used because they were availiable, and there was considerable pressure to use them as they had been in Britain since 1940 and had not been commited to battle yet. Infact, after the evacuation at Dunkirk, they were at one point the only fully equipped troops in the country.

What you say is true, and there's no doubt that after Dunkirk, Canadian Generals were chomping at the bit to "Have a go.."

However, the British Admiralty as well as the other branches did little to hide their "contempt" for "colonials"

Combined with as perception that Dieppe was given to Mountbatten, in order to satisfy his desire for an operational victory.

I believe this led to the widely held view that, had British Troops spearheaded the attack, perhaps proper support would have been forthcomming from both the RN and the RAF.

I think it's become well accepted that a large part of the failure at Dieppe was due to poor air and sea support, due either to poor planning, inept leadership and planned assets that were never commited.

[Pete031]

Thats simply not true. The Canadians were used because they were availiable, and there was considerable pressure to use them as they had been in Britain since 1940 and had not been commited to battle yet. Infact, after the evacuation at Dunkirk, they were at one point the only fully equipped troops in the country.

Oh Come on, Colonials have been abused for centuries. Look at World War 1. British Generals wouldn't think twice about sending Canadians, Aussies, Kiwi's and such over the top against all odds.
Dieppe was no different.

[oldsoak]

The RAF lost more aircraft over Dieppe than they did at any similar period of time during the Battle of Britian - 108 aircraft. The RN lost over 500 seamen. Not as major as the Canucks, to be sure, but they did provide serious support. I had a relly on the artic convoys and he had great praise for the RCN. I cant find any Brit who had a bad word for Canadians in WWII. I cant comment for some of the tw*ts we had in charge though.
General Montgomery wanted the Dieppe landings stopped, but he was ignored which was a great pity. Mountbatten didnt shine at all, and he never got the blame he richly deserved. The whole concept and execution was flawed - right from not bombarding the beach beforehand so as to have suprise, to not experimenting with tanks on shingle beaches - as if getting 6000 troops onto enemy soil and off again without mishap wasnt hard enough ! It lost a lot of good men, and the only positive thing that came out of it was that we were far better prepared for Normandy.

[oldsoak]

Oh Come on, Colonials have been abused for centuries. Look at World War 1. British Generals wouldn't think twice about sending Canadians, Aussies, Kiwi's and such over the top against all odds.
Dieppe was no different.

Yep, they even treated their fellow countrymen the same way.

[Kingswat]

but they did provide serious support.


serious support would have been atleast 1 cruiser, not a bunch of destroyers.

[Freibier]

Interesting, thanks for posting!

[boone]

For good or bad the word "Dieppe" elicites a knee-jerk reaction from most Canadians.
Most all of the CF commanders would not voice dissent over the decision to suspend pre-bombardment from air and sea, as well as the postponement of the raid well into daylight.
Except, that is, to express "Grave misgivings" in after-action reports and memoirs.
There is an explanation (put forth, IIRC, In William Stevenson's bio "Intrepid") that the sole purpose of the raid was to steal "stuff" from a German radar site in or near Dieppe to evaluate. This objective was met. This is purely from memory as I can't find the book at the moment.
I find the waste of assets to accomplish this as a primary task a little far-fetched, and this is coming from a guy who was raised at the knee of confirmed Anglo-phobes.
Furthermore, let's not forget the U.S. Rangers and Brit Cdo's that got their asses kicked right alongside the Canucks.

[oldsoak]

serious support would have been atleast 1 cruiser, not a bunch of destroyers.


I think thats because that is what was availiable at the time - hence some of the reservations expressed by senior commanders - after all, over 200 ships took part, so you'd expect something bigger than destroyers. The fact that they didnt soften up the defences beforehand would have made the additional firepower of a cruiser pretty pointless until the withdrawal. Most, if not all RN large warships were not based on the south coast because it would put them within range of the Luftwaffe. The RN was also quite stretched - Arctic convoys, Mediterranean convoys plus ships in the far east - Singapore had fallen six months previously, not to mention Hong Kong.

@boone - the successful attempt to capture parts from the German radar system was not the real reason for the raid, it was an add on. A group of Canadian troops provided security for an RAF technician called Jack Nissenthal to dismantle bits and get them out. Their orders were that he was not to be captured alive - he found that bit out later. The real reason for the raid was pressure to get back at the Germans and yer man Mountbatten, who cocked it up.

[Johnny_H02]

I would also like to as a Canadian try to disuade any of this nationalistic mushroom stamping going on between members here. I don't believe that the "Canadians were sent over the top as bloody colonials" there were some left overs who felt this way but, the Canadians were pretty well respected in WWII by ours allies all in all.

If anything the Canadian Generals were the ones who pushed and pushed and pushed so that we could "Show our metal" and "Get in on the action". The documentory also stated that the 2nd div were one of the units to "Land in Normandy on D-Day" which is not accurate the 2nd division was deployed in France the last week in July 1944. Not that they didnt fight any harder but it was a misleading comment from the documentory.

RIP to all the Canadian, American, British Soldiers, Air Men and Sailors killed in the raid, as Canadians we sometimes forget the huge price that was the cost of life to our British counterparts.

My uncles father apparently was one of those Commandos wounded at Dieppe, I am not sure because he lives far away, but I do remember hearing him mention it.

Anywhoo I think in Brighton England there is a statue/monument dedicated to the soldiers that left for Dieppe, and I desperatly wish to see it in the future when I get to the UK.

Cheers, thanks for posting the doc.

[Sgt Kanderer]

Yep it was the 3rd Canadian inf div who land on DDay.

[Royal]

@boone - the successful attempt to capture parts from the German radar system was not the real reason for the raid, it was an add on. A group of Canadian troops provided security for an RAF technician called Jack Nissenthal to dismantle bits and get them out. Their orders were that he was not to be captured alive - he found that bit out later. The real reason for the raid was pressure to get back at the Germans and yer man Mountbatten, who cocked it up.


It lost a lot of good men, and the only positive thing that came out of it was that we were far better prepared for Normandy.

Despite the horrendous losses Dieppe was a long term success - it led to two vital developments.

Hobarts 'funnies' saved thousands of lives on D Day - as I direct result of lessons learned at Dieppe.

30 Commando/30 AU was formed to properly exploit targets like the radar site on raids or on (and forward of) the FEBA. Their actions in North Africa, Italy, the Balkans and NW Europe saved countless lives (particularly at sea) by capturing and evaluating documents and classified equipment.

[Canuck Farrier]

Nice vids thanks.It was a defeat but on the other hand it could have been worse.RIP to all who fought and died there.Anyone know the German casulties of that day.????

[oldsoak]

591 Jerries IIRC.
The Canucks batted bloody well on a sticky wicket, you wont hear any criticisms of them from me or anyone else for their effort. A nation of 15 million, they put up a huge number of volunteers. Regardless of what perceptions Canadians might have about how the "higher ups" felt about them, they can rest assured that the British nation was damn grateful for them.
As Royal and others have pointed out, the lessons learnt were invaluable not least because they bought at such a terrible price.

http://www.newhavenfort.org.uk/dieppe_and_d_day.htm

- note this bit

"The Canadians have a very strong link with the fort and the town of Newhaven. This is the main reason for the Canadian flag flying from the ramparts when the fort is open. There are also are a number of memorial plaques to be found. Close to the town centre is a granite memorial to the Dieppe raid and, again, the Canadian flag can also be seen flying here."

- and quite rightly too.