Erin O'Toole: Remembering the Dieppe Raid 80 years later

[shockedcanadian]

What makes me most angry about those in the Canadian Security Industrial Complex today who regularly violate rights and civil liberties for them and their own low performing families careers, is the insult it is to those who lost their lives for our existence as a nation.

R.I.P to the Greatest Generation. They made Canada proud for one of the few times in our history. I believe this was the day in history where Canada lost it's most men in war, the Dieppe Campaign.

Erin O'Toole: Remembering the Dieppe Raid 80 years later

Remembrance is about honouring the sacrifice of our soldiers in both victory and defeat, and Dieppe was Canada’s greatest military defeat

nationalpost.com

“The Canadians are 1st class chaps; if anyone can pull it off, they will.” Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery was optimistic ahead of the raid at Dieppe, France, on Aug. 19, 1942. While the soldiers of the Canadian Army were indeed first-class soldiers, in the end, they did not pull it off. By the end of the battle over 3,300 Canadian troops had been killed or wounded and almost 2,000 were taken prisoner by the Germans. Dieppe was Canada’s greatest military defeat and this made it difficult to comprehend and to properly commemorate.

The Great War demonstrated Canadian bravery and operational excellence on the battlefield, which in turn, helped Canada come of age. Ypres, Hill 70 and the iconic victory at Vimy Ridge saw the Canadian Army distinguish itself with courage and military prowess. The losses in these battles were steep — far greater in number to those experienced a generation later at Dieppe — but the victories seemed to justify the sacrifice and dampen the pain. These bloody battles had allowed Canada to join the pantheon of countries who were willing to sacrifice blood and treasure for the common good. Our allies noticed and the names of these battles became immortalized.

 

[odanny]

Seemed more like a suicide mission than anything. The German war machine was at the height of its power (at least in Western Europe) and this small force was not going to overpower them, so in that respect, was the raid to be done covertly, and the plan to remain undetected? Also not happening, as the force was much too large for that.

No shortage of bravery, but careful planning and a realistic outcome was absent.

 

[shockedcanadian]

Seemed more like a suicide mission than anything. The German war machine was at the height of its power (at least in Western Europe) and this small force was not going to overpower them, so in that respect, was the raid to be done covertly, and the plan to remain undetected? Also not happening, as the force was much too large for that.

No shortage of bravery, but careful planning and a realistic outcome was absent.

Indeed our British overlords (fitting that the Operation was named such) sent Canadians to the slaughter as they didn't want bad morale to spread to the U.K by sending in their own.

I saw documentary by an ancestor of one of the men who exposed through old military documents that a high ranking British Naval Officer was on the deck of a ship miles away with his binoculars watching the fight go down.

He and his men safely left the area, knowing the Canadian men were sent to their demise. This relative suggests that this particular event illustrated that they knew that the operation was a 1 in a million shot and from the onset they had no belief their efforts would make a difference, so they avoided the conflict altogether.

Of course, it doesn't take away from the courage of these men. It's been said that it set up D Days evnetual success.

 

[odanny]

Indeed our British overlords (fitting that the Operation was named such) sent Canadians to the slaughter as they didn't want bad morale to spread to the U.K by sending in their own.

I saw documentary by an ancestor of one of the men who exposed through old military documents that a high ranking British Naval Officer was on the deck of a ship miles away with his binoculars watching the fight go down.

He and his men safely left the area, knowing the Canadian men were sent to their demise. This relative suggests that this particular event illustrated that they knew that the operation was a 1 in a million shot and from the onset they had no belief their efforts would make a difference, so they avoided the conflict altogether.

Of course, it doesn't take away from the courage of these men. It's been said that it set up D Days evnetual success.

Yea, it seems to me that British military planning was not that great, I'm reminded of Operation Market Garden.

Operation Market Garden - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

No doubt Dieppe helped pave the way to the success of D-Day, but that is little consolation to the families of those who made the ultimate sacrifice.