The Colonel and I were discussing the Dieppe raid on the Politics board and I thought I'd provide some background on it here on the History Board. This is also a reply to any doubters of Canada's contribtions during WW II. I'm going to shamelessly borrow from other sources for this post on the Dieppe raid. Each quotation will include a link to the original site afterwards
[In 1942] Allied forces launched their first offensive actions. One of these involved mounting a major raid on the French port of Dieppe in order to not only foster German fears of an attack on the Western front thereby forcing them to divert resources from other areas of operations, but also to provide allied forces with an opportunity to test new techniques and equipment while gaining experience on amphibious assault operations. Initially planned for July 1942, the raid did not take place until August 19, 1942. Involving more than 6,000 troops, most of which were Canadians, eight Allied destroyers and 74 air squadrons, the raid called for attacks at five different locations along a 16-kilometres front. The first four attacks would take place just before dawn and would be followed by the main attack on Dieppe. The raid ended during the early afternoon of that day. It resulted in more than 3,000 casualties, including almost 2,000 prisoners of war. Only 2,210 Canadians returned to England, out of the 4,963 who initially took part in the operation. While not a success, the operation did nevertheless set the stage for the eventual success of Operation Overlord, by forcing improvements to be made in tactics, techniques and fire support. http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...orld_war_2.htm
Conflicting assessments of the value of the raid continue to be presented. Some claim that it was a useless slaughter; others maintain that it was necessary to the successful invasion of the continent two years later on D-Day. The Dieppe Raid was closely studied by those responsible for planning future operations against the enemy-held coast of France. Out of it came improvements in technique, fire support and tactics which reduced D-Day casualties to an unexpected minimum. The men who perished at Dieppe were instrumental in saving countless lives on the 6th of June, 1944. http://users.pandora.be/dave.depickere/Text/dieppe.html
To sum up, I think it can be successfully argued that the success at Normandy was paid for in Canadian blood at Dieppe.
[In 1942] Allied forces launched their first offensive actions. One of these involved mounting a major raid on the French port of Dieppe in order to not only foster German fears of an attack on the Western front thereby forcing them to divert resources from other areas of operations, but also to provide allied forces with an opportunity to test new techniques and equipment while gaining experience on amphibious assault operations. Initially planned for July 1942, the raid did not take place until August 19, 1942. Involving more than 6,000 troops, most of which were Canadians, eight Allied destroyers and 74 air squadrons, the raid called for attacks at five different locations along a 16-kilometres front. The first four attacks would take place just before dawn and would be followed by the main attack on Dieppe. The raid ended during the early afternoon of that day. It resulted in more than 3,000 casualties, including almost 2,000 prisoners of war. Only 2,210 Canadians returned to England, out of the 4,963 who initially took part in the operation. While not a success, the operation did nevertheless set the stage for the eventual success of Operation Overlord, by forcing improvements to be made in tactics, techniques and fire support. http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...orld_war_2.htm
Conflicting assessments of the value of the raid continue to be presented. Some claim that it was a useless slaughter; others maintain that it was necessary to the successful invasion of the continent two years later on D-Day. The Dieppe Raid was closely studied by those responsible for planning future operations against the enemy-held coast of France. Out of it came improvements in technique, fire support and tactics which reduced D-Day casualties to an unexpected minimum. The men who perished at Dieppe were instrumental in saving countless lives on the 6th of June, 1944. http://users.pandora.be/dave.depickere/Text/dieppe.html
To sum up, I think it can be successfully argued that the success at Normandy was paid for in Canadian blood at Dieppe.
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