by Jack Nissen
Among the Allied troops storming ashore in the Dieppe landing on that fateful morning of 19 August 1942 was a young Royal Air Force sergeant, Jack Nissenthall. His mission: to find out how advanced German radar was. A radar expert himself, he knew so much about the British installations that he carried cyanide to take in case he was taken prisoner; as well, the eleven men of the South Saskatchewan Regiment who were his guard had orders to shoot to kill, should he fall into German hands. But in the blood-bath that followed, Sergeant Nissenthall saw all but one of his eleven-man escort die under enemy fire. The survivor, Leslie Thrussell, now lives in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. All these years later, the former sergeant, now Jack Nissen, has an electronics business in Thornhill, Ontario, just north of Toronto, but he’s never forgotten that bitter day.
Charlie Sawden, Graham Mavor, Silver Stewart and John Morrison. These are the names of young Canadians who perished on a gloriously sunny day in August 1942. Their average age was twenty-one. They had volunteered for a military operation they were told would bring relief and eventual victory to the hard-pressed Allies in the war against Hitler.
The Second World War was three years old, yet despite the morale-boosting propaganda we had yet to win a decisive battle anywhere. Each month we lost almost a million tons of shipping to German U-boats; food line-ups in Britain became longer and longer, individual rations smaller and smaller.
The Japanese had taken Singapore, Hong Kong, a large portion of China, the Philippines and had invaded India. The Germans were in Moscow’s suburbs and their armies were angling south to the oilfields of the Caucasus and the Middle East. In June, Tobruk had fallen and General Erwin Rommel’s armies had at last entered Egypt. Mussolini prepared to lead the victory parade into Cairo on a beautiful white stallion.
There is little doubt that in mid-1942 the French had every reason to believe the main fighting was over and the Axis powers, Germany, Italy and Japan, had conquered. It was during this period that men of the Canadian 2nd Division prepared for a reconnaissance in force on the northern French port of Dieppe. With no victories to their credit and their military commanders still discredited after the ejection from France at Dunkirk two years earlier, the Allied commanders were striving to set up a new set of military guidelines and disciplines for the hoped-for return to the mainland.
Hitler and propaganda minister Josef Goebbels had boasted of the huge concrete emplacements and massive guns along the French coast to repel invaders. The Wehrmacht, the German Armed Forces, was a highly successful professional; the Allies the apprentices. Nevertheless, we were confronted with the knowledge that the war would never be won until we returned to the continent and defeated the Germans occupying France. It also would have to be done before the battle-hardened German Army returned from the Soviet Union, which in 1942 seemed on the verge of defeat.
A powerful, probing military reconnaissance was required to allow us to verify theories and develop the naval, army, air and communications equipment required when we stormed the German defenses on the return to France. An army of heroes was required—tough troops of high morale to carry out the most hazardous of war operations, a massive commando raid on German-occupied France.
The raid eventually took place on 19 August 1942 and, as is well known, it was a bloody and devastating confrontation. By twelve o’clock that day one thousand Canadians had been killed and more than one thousand others captured. The Royal Air Force lost 105 aircraft, more than twice the number lost in any big battle during the Battle of Britain. Together with the large material losses, the traumatic shock of the disaster rammed home the idiocy of those who insisted the return to the continent would be a “piece of cake.”
Over the years many writers have described the Dieppe raid as utterly useless and a debacle. Every military man knows a reconnaissance or scouting expedition, however small, always yields useful intelligence. On this raid, in which I took part as an agent of the British Air Ministry, we gleaned a storehouse of strategic information which allowed us to set up a whole series of undreamed of military disciplines that are still valid today.
Immediately after the raid, Lord Mountbatten initiated hard-hitting discussions at his headquarters in Richmond Ter-race, Whitehall. Participants in the raid, regardless of rank, were assembled and ordered to criticize every aspect of the operation. From these sessions plans emerged that facilitated the invasion of Normandy.
In the early hours of 6 June 1944, seven thousand vessels took up positions in the storm-swept seas, under the very noses of dozens of superb enemy radars, without a single shot being fired. The silence of the German guns has puzzled writers and historians over the years, for the German radar-controlled guns were known for their deadly accuracy. They could hit a rowboat at ten miles.
Was it really a miracle and sheer good luck that got our armies ashore in exactly the right places and times on that historic occasion? The truth is that the landings were the culmination of two years of top secret hard work, planning, production and subterfuge initiated by Lord Mountbatten immediately after the sessions that followed the Dieppe raid. Naval, army and communications equipment, together with a mass of radar countermeasure devices, were conceived, tested and mass produced for landings that preceded the big target, the Normandy beaches.
When the Canadians landed at Dieppe, they were stymied by a high seawall which ran the length of the beach and which the Churchill tanks could not scale. For the most part, the thirty tanks had to lay back on the water line and exchange fire with entrenched German guns until they were knocked out.
Canadian engineers could not clear the land mines or penetrate the beach defenses because they could not survive under the withering fire of the German gunners in the beachfront hotels. Lord Mountbatten swore that would never happen again.
In 1944 the situation was different: there were hundreds of specialized tanks and aids to invasion that gave us the edge in the first few hours of D-Day.
There were tanks that swam ashore with the troops to ensure that flesh was not pitted against steel. There were armored “flails” which exploded mines in the path of advancing men. There were tanks to lay carpets of coir matting over the sand and shale to avoid the repetition of another Dieppe fiasco, when our tank tracks were wrecked by shale pebbles. Other armored vehicles could toss a huge stack of explosive at a pillbox and demolish it instantly. Churchill tanks, with their superstructures removed, overcame what had been a major obstacle at Dieppe: they would position themselves against a seawall and allow their companions to ride up and over the top. Other tanks had booms to set up temporary bridges which allowed their companions to traverse tank traps and even ride up the base of a cliff. Flamethrower tanks developed at Fort Suffield, Alberta, speeded up the disposal of other strongpoints.
This strange assortment of armored vehicles was developed between Dieppe and D-Day as part of a whole series of aids to invasion that played a large part in the successful landings on the Canadian and British beaches. The Americans, who elected not to use this equipment, suffered a far worse disaster at Omaha Beach on D-Day than had the Canadians at Dieppe. The incredible D-Day naval navigation was not due to normal navigational skill, but the use for the first time of a device developed by and for the RAF. It was a precision air navigational aid known to thousands of Canadian airmen as GEE. Its accuracy was such that a bomber could check its position within fifty yards when 200 miles inside Germany. When used shipboard in the English Channel for sweeping mines and marking the areas, its accuracy was phenomenal. All navigation and position-taking in those dark stormy seas of D-Day were carried out by naval adaptation of the Goon Box, as GEE was affectionately called. Due to its universal use during the invasion, some people feel G-Day would have been more apt than D-Day.
All this wonderful equipment, training and expertise would have been useless if the hundreds of German guns had gone into action on the enormous concentration of ships, some just a mile or two off the coast. A field marshal by then, Rommel made an order that day to the gun crews that had been to the point. “The enemy must be annihilated before he reaches a battlefield. We must stop him in the water, not only delaying him, but by destroying all his equipment while it is still afloat.”
A method had to be found to get the ships close to shore during the darkness without being pulverized by the hundreds of radar-controlled guns. It was the Director-General of Signals and Radar for the RAF, Sir Victor Tait of Winnipeg, who masterminded a plan to dupe the Germans on a once-only basis. It was he who coordinated the ultra-secret stratagems and radar countermeasures.
It was Sir Victor who sent me to Dieppe in 1942 to verify that the Freya radar had become precision radar. Once he had verified this, he ordered the mass production of radar countermeasure equipment. This ultra-secret equipment was codenamed Mandrel. At the throw of a switch, a curtain could be drawn across a Freya radar screen. After some flying tests two months after Dieppe, it was given limited secret service. High-powered Mandrel transmitters were mass produced for installation on two hundred ships for D-Day.
It was Dieppe and the impetus it gave the development of special devices that supplied us the key to victory. Without that 1942 reconnaissance, we would never have developed the systems that enabled us to land safely in Normandy in 1944.
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| This is a naval chart dated 15 April 1943 of Dieppe and its beach, promenade and harbor. The Calgary Regiment tanks attacked at Red and White Beaches. Red Beach was to the far right of the beach near the harbor jetty, while White Beach faced the casino to the left. |
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| This German map made after the Dieppe Raid shows where the main Canadian forces landed along with the locations of the commando attacks. |
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| Oblique aerial photograph of Dieppe taken in June, 1945, showing the Red beach. |
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| This aerial photograph shows the town of Dieppe during the raid of 19 August 1942. Smoke rises from burning landing craft and from buildings facing the beach where the Churchill tanks of the Calgary Regiment landed. Dieppe's harbor can be seen in the foreground of the photograph. |
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| This aerial photograph shows the town of Dieppe in 1942 with details added. |
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| “Zero Hour Off Dieppe” by Bryan De Grineau (1883-1957). The Combined Services launch their attack at the appointed time and place: With the opening stages of an air battle raging overhead the British Armada sails dauntlessly in, it's cargo of heroic commando troops ready to storm the defenses of Dieppe. |
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| “Dieppe Raid” (1946) by Canadian war artist Charles Comfort, of the Allied raid on Dieppe in 1942. “This canvas is an effort to reconstruct the scene on "RED" and "WHITE" beach fronting the town of DIEPPE when the great reconnaissance in force was undertaken at dawn 19 Aug 42. Troops of the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry are attacking across the shingle of "Red" beach toward the Casino shown at the right. The time is 0540 hrs. or fifteen minutes after the first flight of tanks touched down. The tobacco factory burns in the town, while overhead Bostons lay smoke over the feature "Bismark", and the town. Great care has been taken to represent the topography of the scene with reasonable accuracy. The width, gradient and character of the beach, the Casino now demolished, Fisherman's Church, the piers and the sea wall are all properly related one to the other. Material consulted to implement this reconstruction included the following: D.H.S. Rpts. Nos. 83, and 130. Combined Operation: Rpt. On Opn "JUBILEE". The official German Rpt. on the operation. The official German film. Official photographs, and maps, etc., etc.” |
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| A Churchill Mark I of the Calgary Regiment training on a beach near Seaford, Sussex, in July 1942. |
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| The Casino and the beach as seen on an old postcard. |
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| The concrete barriers, wire fencing, and other obstacles on the beach show how well the Germans fortified the Dieppe beach. |
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| A German MG34 medium machine gun emplacement, Dieppe, August 1942. |
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| Canadian soldiers aboard an LCA (landing craft assault) during a practice prior to the Dieppe raid. |
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| Personnel of the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps in England treating "casualties" during rehearsal in England for raid on Dieppe. |
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| Canadian troops disembarking from landing craft during training exercise before the raid on Dieppe. |
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| From the Yukon series of exercises that were held at the tiny fishing harbor of West Bay on the coast near Bridport, Dorset, bundles of chespaling, used for laying a track to enable disembarking tanks to cross the beach, can be seen on the left. These bundles weighed approximately 250 pounds, were 25 feet long. |
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| Final training exercise prior to assault landing at Dieppe. |
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| Final training exercise prior to assault landing at Dieppe. |
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| A low-level aerial reconnaissance photograph of the Dieppe waterfront taken by the Army Co-operation Command a few days before the raid. |
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| “Zero Hour”. Sketch by B J Mullen of No. 4 Commando. |
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| “Through the German Minefield”. Sketch by B J Mullen of No. 4 Commando. |
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| “Withdraw from Beach”. Sketch by B J Mullen of No. 4 Commando. |
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| “Rescue of US Airman in Channel”. Sketch by B J Mullen of No. 4 Commando. |
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| Light naval craft covering the landing during the Combined Operations daylight raid on Dieppe. MGB 321 is nearest the camera (partly obscured by some sailors in the foreground) whilst submarine chaser Q 014 can be seen in the middle distance. |
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| A general view of the French coast as seen from the bridge of one of the covering destroyers during the Combined Operations daylight raid on Dieppe. One of the sailors in the foreground is operating a bridge mounted signaling lamp. |
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| A scene on the bridge of a destroyer during the Combined Operations daylight raid on Dieppe. One sailor is looking through a pair of binoculars whilst another is about to send a signal with a hand held signaling lamp. |
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| Lieut. Com. J. P. Scatchard (third from left), Lieut. House (first left) on the bridge of HMS Garth. |
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| HMS Locust. |
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| A chassure of the type which attempted to enter the harbor at Dieppe. |
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| Unidentified Hunt Class destroyer of the Royal Navy bombarding Dieppe during Operation Jubilee. |
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| An Allied naval vessel putting down a smoke screen off the French coast. Behind the smoke screen some of the landing craft are visible. In the foreground are infantry and naval personnel. |
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| The fiercest air battles since the Battle of Britain were fought by the R.A.F. and the newest R.A.F. Command, Army Cooperation, during the biggest-ever Combined Operations raid on Dieppe on 19th August. A total of 82 enemy machines were destroyed for certain, with 100 more probables. Canadian and U.K. Special Service Troops carried out the raid with a detachment of a U.S. Ranger Battalion and a small contingent of Fighting French. The force was carried and escorted by the Royal Navy. Air crews of Boston aircraft being "briefed" and awaiting their turn to take off on the raid. |
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| Operation Jubilee, the Combined Forces raid on Dieppe, France. Aircrews of either No. 88 or No. 107 Squadrons RAF of No. 2 Group, being briefed by their flight commander at Ford, Sussex, before taking off to bomb German gun batteries in support of the raid. Parked in the background is a Douglas Havoc or Boston night intruder of No. 605 Squadron RAF. |
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| Boston Mark IIIs of No. 88 Squadron RAF tuned up to take part in the Dieppe raid. Serial number Z2216 nearest camera. |
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| The type of bombs carried by the Boston aircraft taking part in the raid. |
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| Pilot of one of the Boston aircraft making final notes - pin-pointing his particular objective. |
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| Air crews of Boston aircraft awaiting their turn to take off on the raid. |
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| Air crews of Boston aircraft awaiting their turn to take off on the raid. |
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| Bostons tuned up to take part in the raid. |
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| Bomb-aimer in the nose of a Boston aircraft taking part in the raid. |
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| On the way. One of the Bostons taking off for the Dieppe raid. |
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| A fighter formation taking part in the raid. Aircraft of Fighter Command were an essential "rib" of the "umbrella" which covered the raid from the air. |
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| Airmen from all parts of the world who took part in the Dieppe Raid in front of the Hurricane "Urundi" of No. 43 Squadron at RAF Tangmere, 20 August 1942. From left to right - Pilot Officer Andrzej Malarowski of No. 317 Polish Fighter Squadron, pilots from Australia, Gold Coast, Canada, USA and New Zealand. |
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| Group Captain Charles Appleton (center), Station Commander at Tangmere, flanked by some of the wing leaders and squadron commanders who flew on the Dieppe Raid. On the left, Wing Commander 'Johnnie' Walker (Tangmere Wing) and 'Pat' Gibbs (Ibsley Wing). On the right, Squadron Leaders 'Bertie' Wootten (No 118 Squadron) and 'Bobby' Yule (No 66 Squadron). Seated on the Hurricane behind is 'Dan' Du Vivier, the Belgian CO of No 43 Squadron. |
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| F/Lt Rutkowski described the action in his report: "After my first bursts I saw his airframe catch fire and afterwards parts of his plane started dropping off. I fired my last burst at less than 100 yards. I was then warned that FW 190s were on my tail but as I turned saw the Dornier crash and explode north of Dieppe." 19 August 1942. |
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| The last moments of a Dornier Do 217 over Dieppe on 19 August 1942, as recorded by Sergeant Helge Sognnes of No 331 Squadron. A member of the bomber's crew can be seen escaping by parachute, moments before the aircraft plunged into the sea. |
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| Stills from camera gun footage taken from a Supermarine Spitfire Mark V flown by Sergeant M Liskutin of No. 312 (Czechoslovak) Squadron RAF, as he shot down a Dornier Do 217 over the English Channel, while on patrol over a convoy of returning vessels from the Dieppe raid. |
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| Bombs being released from a Douglas Boston bomber over the target area. Dieppe, 19 August 1942. |
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| Operation Jubilee, the Combined Forces raid on Dieppe, France. A Douglas Boston Mark III of No. 88 Squadron RAF, flying from Ford, Sussex, heads inland over France after bombing the German gun batteries defending Dieppe (seen at upper left). |
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| Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada troops readying to go ashore at Dieppe. |
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| A naval motor launch seen with four of the landing craft personnel (large) used during the Combined Operations daylight raid on Dieppe. The landing craft are numbered (left - right) LCP (L) 85, LCP (L) 41, number not visible and R 145. |
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| HMS Berkeley settling down in the water after being bombed during the Combined Operations daylight raid on Dieppe. One of the destroyers boats is still alongside, empty but still attached to its davits. Berkeley was torpedoed shortly afterwards by British forces. |
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| The last men leaving HMS Berkeley as she settled down in the water after being bombed during the Combined Operations daylight raid on Dieppe. |
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| Part of the floating reserve at Dieppe. Unarmored landing craft carrying Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal circling off Dieppe previous to landing this unit on the main beaches. |
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| Infantry and tank landing craft make for the beach during the Dieppe Raid of 19 August 1942. One landing craft carrying tanks can be seen to the right of the explosion, while another tank landing craft (unseen in the photograph) is in the middle of that plume of smoke and water. |
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| Landing craft of No 4 Commando running in to land at Vasterival on the right flank of the main assault at Dieppe. The unit achieved its objective, the destruction of the 'Hess' Battery in a copybook action, the only success of the raid. |
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| This is the view from atop of the cliff facing east looking down on the Casino. In front of the Casino is White Beach and further down is Red Beach and the West Jetty of the Dieppe port. The wide area between the beach and the town buildings is the promenade. |
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| Churchill tanks of the Calgary Regiment litter the stony beach in this photograph taken by a German war photographer, as Tank Landing Craft No. 5 continues to burn well after the raid had ended, the tank crews had been taken prisoner and the flotilla had returned to England. The Churchill at right is “Calgary”. Of the 24 landing craft which took part, 10 managed to land a total of 24 tanks, all of which were lost. |
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| “Calgary”. |
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| A Churchill tank from the Calgary Regiment abandoned on the beach. The regiment’s nickname for the tank (“Buttercup”) can be seen on its side. |
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| Another view of the same wrecked Churchill tank bogged down in the Dieppe sand. |
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| In the center of this photo from Dieppe, is T68875 Beetle, a Churchill Mk II (Special) of No. 8 Troop, "B" Squadron, The Calgary Regiment, which was fitted with the Oke flame-throwing system. As can be seen, the flame projector was mounted in the front of the tank on the left of the hull gunner's position and protruded out between the hull machine gun and the left front horn of the tank, the muzzle of which can be seen sticking up above the left track. The tank to the right rear of Beetle, on the shoreline, is T68881 Ringer, a Churchill Mk II, of Regimental Headquarters, The Calgary Regiment. |
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| In the center of this photo from Dieppe, is T68875 Beetle, a Churchill Mk II (Special) of No. 8 Troop, "B" Squadron, The Calgary Regiment, which was fitted with the Oke flame-throwing system. As can be seen, the flame projector was mounted in the front of the tank on the left of the hull gunner's position and protruded out between the hull machine gun and the left front horn of the tank, the muzzle of which can be seen sticking up above the left track. The tank to the right rear of Beetle, on the shoreline, is T68881 Ringer, a Churchill Mk II, of Regimental Headquarters, The Calgary Regiment. |
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| T32049 Tintagel, a Churchill Mk II of No. 10 Troop, "B" Squadron, 48th Battalion, Royal Tank Regiment, fitted with the Oke flame-throwing system. As can be seen in this photo, the rear mounted fuel container is connected up to a feed pipe which passed through the left pannier, which was itself connected to a flame projector in the front of the tank. T32049 (fitted with the Oke flame-throwing system) was transferred to The Calgary Regiment's charge on 20 June 1942, where under the name of Boar (No. 8 Troop, "B" Squadron), she was subsequently lost at Dieppe on 19 August 1942. For Dieppe, the rear mounted flame-thrower fuel reservoir, was enclosed within an armored hexagonal shaped box. |
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| T68173 “Cougar”, a Churchill Mk III of No. 13 Troop, "C" Squadron, The Calgary Regiment, one of the five tanks fitted with the "Beach Track Laying Device," for the landings at Dieppe on 19 August 1942. Having only jettisoned part of its beach track laying device, the remains of it are clearly visible on her front. Notice how the two short brackets carried the spindle, and that the inside and outside 3 foot diameter, 14 gauge metal disc shields, that prevented the chespaling from fouling the brackets and spindle, have closed up on themselves. Note also, the remains of the rigid conduit, on her right side, that had to be added for the protection of the wiring for the electrically fired small explosive charges, that released the rolls, and for those that jettisoned the whole device. |
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| Another view of the immobilized “Cougar”. |
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| The second tank, “Cheetah”, attempted to follow “Cougar” over the sea wall but had trouble climbing onto the promenade. The driver, Trooper Fred Hilsabeck (brother of the co-driver in “Company”) tried to drive as straight as possible to avoid getting chert rocks built up behind the bogey wheels. “Cheetah”’s first attempt at trying to climb the sea wall, the tank’s exposed belly was hit by an enemy shell which came close to penetrating but it did blow all the fuses in the tank which killed the engine. Quickly all the fuses were changed with a flashlight and the engine started up again. “Cheetah” then climbed over the wall onto the promenade and drove back and forth along the promenade unable to find a way into the town. |
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| “Cat”, the last tank off TLC 2 towed the Daimler scout car “Hector” across the beach and over the sea wall. “Cat” and “Cheetah” cruised up and down the promenade for hours, firing their machine guns at the German gun positions in the sea front buildings and trenches along the promenade, and firing their 6-pounders at German strong points. Throughout the battle, Junkers Ju 87 Stukas made several diving attacks on the tanks. An aerial bomb hit the engine in the back of “Cat” and the blast of the bomb went up underneath the skirt of the turret wounding the loader-operator and the gunner. The hull side escape doors were still sealed by waterproofing, so Sergeant Jack Weaver, the commander, climbed out of the turret and pulled off the waterproofing allowing the crew to escape. “Cheetah” came by to provide cover and to evacuate the two wounded troopers back to the beach. Sergeant Weaver then spread a few sticky bombs in “Cat” and set them off. Armed with some grenades and a machine gun, Weaver ran back to the beach dodging enemy machine gun and mortar fire. Meanwhile, “Cheetah” started heading towards the beach when a Stuka made another pass and dropped its bomb. The blast hit “Cheetah”’s engine compartment disabling the tank. The commander, Corporal George H. Wiggins, ordered the crew to abandon “Cheetah” through the left side escape hatch. The crew of “Cheetah” and the wounded troopers from “Cat” remained on the sheltered side of the tank until the surrender while they were consistently harassed by enemy snipers. |
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| Another view of “Cat”. |
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| T31655 Buttercup, a Churchill Mk III of No. 9 Troop "B" Squadron, The Calgary Regiment, commanded by Sergeant J.D. Morrison, also one of five Churchill tanks of the regiment that was fitted with the "Beach Track Laying Device," for the Dieppe raid. Having successfully landed and laid its chespaling and, having crossed the beach, wire, and seawall, it successfully jettisoned its beach track laying device, whereupon it engaged enemy targets on the west headland and in seafront buildings to the west of the Casino. Later, it returned to the beach below the Casino, where it took up a position on the water's edge. It could not be destroyed by its crew prior to their withdrawal, due to the number of infantry wounded who had sought shelter from enemy fire on its seaward side. Note that there are no remnants of the beach track laying device, on her front, it having been jettisoned successfully. |
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| A “3” is painted on hull side of the beached TLC 3 and “Chief” is flying a command pennant on the turret antenna. Later, a German sailor removed the pennant from the turret as a trophy. |
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| The ‘Circle F1’ on the turret of this Churchill tank indicate that it is “Chief”. This German soldier is posing next to the tank holding a machete in his right hand. |
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| A reworked Churchill Mark I ‘F3’ (“Company”) of the Calgary Regiment's "C" Squadron Headquarters knocked out at Dieppe. |
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| Another view of “Company”. |
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| This is the left side view of “Company” facing east. Down the beach is TLC 3 No. 159 with “Beetle” to the left of it. Note the pieces of the waterproofing on the turret side. |
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| This is another view of “Company” with German troops examining the captured tank. Laying on the beach in the foreground is a louver extension from another tank. |
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| The beach pictured during the landing by allied (mostly Canadian) air, naval and land forces against German defenses at Dieppe. In the foreground are Churchill III tanks from the Canadian 14th Army Tank Battalion (The Calgary Regiment (Tank)) drowned (half submerged) during disembarkation, and in the background an LCT 5 No. 121 (Landing Craft, Tank) disembarks other Churchill tanks, under German fire. The tank (right) is named Calgary and is of C Squadron Headquarters, F Troop. |
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| Canadian wounded and abandoned Churchill tanks after the Dieppe Raid. A landing craft is on fire in the background. |
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| A casualty on the beach at Dieppe by Alfred Hierl. |
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| German troops examining an abandoned Churchill tank of the Calgary Regiment, left behind during the raid on Dieppe. |
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| The deadly result of enfilade fire during the Dieppe Raid of 1942: dead Canadian soldiers lie where they fell on "Blue Beach". Trapped between the beach and fortified sea wall, they made easy targets for MG 34 machine guns in a German bunker. The bunker firing slit is visible in the distance, just above the German soldier's head. |
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| The sea wall at Puys, looking east (the house in this photo is the same one in the previous photo). This photograph taken in June 1945 shows the beach on which The Royal Regiment of Canada landed. The pillbox which was probably responsible for many of their casualties is visible immediately in front of the house on the east cliff. The lower pillboxes, just above the beach, are believed not to have existed in 1942. |
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| Canadian and British dead at Dieppe, August 1942. |
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| A fallen Canadian soldier lies on the beach with a Daimler scout car and two Churchill tanks in the background. |
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| Landing craft on fire, Canadian dead in the foreground. A concrete gun emplacement on the right covers the beach; the steep gradient can clearly be seen. |
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| Abandoned vehicles and landing craft litter the beach. |
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| Damaged landing craft. This photograph demonstrates the firepower that was awaiting the Allied Forces when they landed. The defensive fire of the German troops was so powerful that some men were killed even before disembarking from the landing craft. |
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| Evidence of the fierceness of German fire at Dieppe. This German photograph of the bow of L.C.T. 1, taken on the Dieppe beach at low water, shows marks of five shells which struck the craft within a very small area. This fire probably came from the west cliff. |
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| Dieppe's chert beach and cliff immediately following the raid on 19 August 1942. A Dingo Scout Car has been abandoned. |
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| Daimler scout car “Hound” abandoned on the beach. |
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| Daimler scout car “Horace” (driver Trooper John G. Hocken and radio operator Trooper Victor F. Olliffe) released within 15 feet (4.6 meters) of landing. The scout car immediately received a hit through the right side of the fighting compartment. Probably due to explosives or ammunition it carried, it caught fire and Trooper Olliffe was killed. |
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| Daimler scout car “Hector” (driver Trooper Edward G. Anderson and radio operator Trooper Art E. Buckley), actually believed they drove up onto the promenade under their own power. “Hector” was the only scout car to cross over the sea wall and drove around the promenade. Unable to enter the town, “Hector” returned back to the beach. Later, a mortar shell explosion had flipped “Hector” around 360 degrees throwing both troopers out and they took immediate cover by the sea wall. |
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| Another view of the Daimler scout car “Hector”. |
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| German soldiers examine Churchill tanks abandoned by Allied soldiers as they were evacuated. Note the Tac signs and the intact exhaust. |
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| A disabled tank on the Dieppe promenade. A Churchill tank of the Calgary Regiment. In the background can be seen the Castle and the West Headland. Gun positions in the cliff are visible above the German soldier standing on the tank. Another view of the same tank as the previous photo. |
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| Another view of “Betty”, from the front. |
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| British and Canadian prisoners resting at Dieppe, August 1942. |
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| Allied prisoners rest by the roadside, guarded by Germans, Dieppe. |
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| Dieppe from the western headland. This German photograph probably taken on the afternoon of the raid shows a tank landing craft (LCT 5) still burning in front of the Casino, and fires burning in the town. |
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| The main beaches of Dieppe. A German photograph taken at low water, probably on the morning of 20 August 1942, the day after the raid. Three tank landing craft, as well as smaller craft and tanks, appear clearly. The building at the right is the casino. Behind it appear the two tall chimneys of the Tobacco Factory. |
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| Purville from the east, 1946. "Merrit's Bridge" is marked by its light color. The houses on the sea front were demolished by the Germans, some of them before the raid. The command possessed by the German positions on the east side of the Scie valley is evident. |
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| Canadian soldiers, their backs to the sea wall, await evacuation from the beach. |
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| Three Canadian soldiers gather around their supplies in the shelter of the sea wall at Dieppe. |
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| A British destroyer rescues soldiers from a landing craft which was sunk during the Combined Operations daylight raid on Dieppe. The men are climbing out of the water and up the side of the destroyer using a scramble net. |
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| Some of the Canadian troops resting on board a destroyer after the Combined Operations daylight raid on Dieppe. The strain of the operation can be seen on their faces. |
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| Destroyer ORP Ślązak (Silesian) of the Polish Navy arriving back at Portsmouth from Dieppe, 19 August 1942. |
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| A wounded Canadian soldier being disembarked from the Polish Navy destroyer ORP Ślązak (Silesian) at Portsmouth on return from Dieppe, 19 August 1942. |
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| No. 3 Commando returning to Newhaven after the Dieppe raid. |
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| Evacuation of wounded soldiers following the raid on Dieppe. |
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| Canadian survivors of the Dieppe Raid, upon their return to England on 19 August 1942. Note the German prisoner at lower right. |
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| A wounded Canadian soldier being disembarked from the Polish Navy destroyer ORP Ślązak (Silesian) at Portsmouth on return from Dieppe, 19 August 1942. |
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| Back on the dock in England, troops discuss their experiences at Dieppe. |
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| An American soldier receives a light for his cigarette from a compatriot at Newhaven on his return from Dieppe. This was the first time that American troops had seen action in Europe during the Second World War. |
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| Soldiers who took part in the raid on Dieppe, returning to England. |
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| A German prisoner, Unteroffizier Leo Marsiniak, being escorted at Newhaven. He was captured at the gun battery at Varengeville by No. 4 Commando. |
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| Armed Canadian soldier escorting a German prisoner who was captured during the raid on Dieppe. |
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| Lt Col The Lord Lovat, CO of No. 4 Commando, at Newhaven after returning from the raid. |
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| British commandos who took part in the raid on Dieppe, returning to England. |
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| Troops who took part in the raid on Dieppe, 19 August 1942. |
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| Captain J.C.H. Anderson, of the Royal Regiment of Canada, reports what happened on the beach to a Canadian brigadier. |
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| Crewman with a Douglas Boston aircraft of the Royal Air Force, used in the raid on Dieppe. |
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| Group photo of pilots who took part in the raid on Dieppe. |
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| In a smoky railway carriage, an American nurse chats to British soldiers who are going on leave after participating in the Allied commando raid on Dieppe. |
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| Infantrymen of the Essex Scottish Regiment who took part in the raid on Dieppe, after their return to England, 23 August 1942. |
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| Personnel of the Calgary Regiment who took part in the raid on Dieppe, after their return to England, 23 August 1942. |
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| Members of the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry kneeling at the graves of comrades killed at Dieppe, 1 September 1942. |
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| Captains E.L. McGivern and J.H. Medhurst examine a German pillbox at Dieppe, 3 September 1944. |
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| Canadian soldiers marching through liberated Dieppe in September 1944. |
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| Brig W. Basil Wedd, 1st Canadian Army HQ, placing a wreath on the graves of soldiers killed at Dieppe, 23 September 1944. |
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| LCol Cecil Merritt, VC, South Saskatchewan Regiment, captured at Dieppe, upon his return to England, 21 April 1945. |
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| A Churchill Mark I of the Calgary Regiment, note the placement of the 3-inch howitzer in the front hull plate. |
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| A Churchill Mark I of the Calgary Regiment, note the Mark I's cast one-piece turret and the absence a mantlet. |
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| A German soldier watching from a sandbag position on the coast. |
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| Canadian troops embarking in landing craft during training exercise before the raid on Dieppe. |
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| Churchill tanks of The Calgary Regiment taking part in a series of exercises (Yukon I, 11/12 and Yukon II, 22/23 June 1942) that were held at the tiny fishing harbor of West Bay on the coast near Bridport, Dorset. In this photo, soldiers of the Royal Canadian Engineers, have rolled out bundles of chespaling tracks to enable the disembarking tanks to cross the beach. This idea was abandoned due to the probable loss of engineers to enemy fire and instead the Churchill "Beach Track Laying Device" was designed and utilized in the raid. |
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| A general view of some of the small naval craft covering the landing during the Combined Operations daylight raid on Dieppe. |
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| Landing craft of the assault troops taking part in Operation Jubilee, Dieppe, 19 August 1942. On the left, a smoke screen produced to conceal them from enemy fire. |
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| Laying a smoke screen off Dieppe. The smoke screen offered additional protection to the Allied Forces since it helped to conceal their movements from the German forces. |
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| Fighting in Dieppe. |
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| Mk.I and Mk.II Churchills and a Bren Gun Carrier on the beach at Dieppe after the raid. “Buttercup” in the middle background. |
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| In the aftermath of the failed Dieppe Raid, a German soldier stands on the beach watching a British landing craft (TLC 5) burn. |
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| A burning LCT (Landing Craft, Tank) TLC5 No. 121 near the beach after the raid by allied (mostly Canadian) air, naval and land forces on German defenses. Churchill tanks and bodies of allied servicemen are pictured on the beach. The tank at left is one from 9 Troop 14th Army Tank Battalion (The Calgary Regiment (Tank)) which was transported by TLC5. |
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| A reworked Churchill Mark I of the Calgary Regiment's "B" Squadron Headquarters knocked out at Dieppe. |
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| A reworked Churchill Mark I of the Calgary Regiment's "B" Squadron Headquarters knocked out at Dieppe. |
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| Another view of Churchill tank "Beetle". |
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| Another view of “Cat”. |
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| Canadian casualties litter the Dieppe beach among ruined and abandoned tanks. |
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| Canadian tanks got bogged down on the pebbled beaches at Dieppe and very few ever made their objective of getting up the cliffs and into the town. |
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| View looking east along the main beach at Dieppe showing damaged Churchill tanks of the Calgary Regiment. |
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| Another wrecked Churchill on the beach at Dieppe. |
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| Churchill tanks and Tank Landing Craft on Dieppe beach. |
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| A knocked out Churchill Mark II of Regimental Headquarters, The Calgary Regiment at Dieppe. |
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| Tending to the wounded near a Tank Landing Craft. |
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| B Squadron Churchill, Blossom, sits on the beach, its right track damaged by the smooth rocks built up in the wheels and track. Tank Landing Craft No. 5 burns in the background after being knocked out by heavy shellfire. |
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| Knocked out vehicles on the Dieppe beach. |
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| Churchill tank knocked out on Dieppe beach. |
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| Churchill tank knocked out on Dieppe beach. |
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| Churchill tank knocked out on Dieppe beach. |
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| Green Beach after the Dieppe raid. |
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| Dead Canadians at Dieppe. |
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| A Landing Craft, Tank grounded on the Dieppe beach. |
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| Pictured here is landing craft #5 of the 28 craft used in transporting troops in the Dieppe raid. Dieppe as a mission was designed, not to hold a beachhead, but rather to test the ability of the newly developed LCT (Landing Craft, Tank) to land tanks across beaches, to see whether it was possible to capture a port in a frontal assault, to scrutinize the organization of air forces for overhead cover and support, and to test the naval management of a considerable invasion fleet. |
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| An LCT on the beach at Dieppe. |
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| A Landing Craft Assault on the beach at Dieppe after the raid. |
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| Canadian dead and a Tank Landing Craft on the Dieppe beach. |
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| Allied armaments lying just off the beach at Dieppe following the landing onshore. |
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| An assault craft lying abandoned on the beach following the Dieppe Raid. The photo was taken by German personnel. |
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| Sunk landing craft on Dieppe beach. |
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| German soldiers amidst the wreckage and bodies on Dieppe beach. |
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| The Dieppe Raid was a disaster. A view of the beach from a TLC. |
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| A mine washed up on the beach at Dieppe. |
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| Officer and soldiers examining a Churchill tank stuck on the Dieppe beach in front of the boardwalk after the battle, its left track broken. Wounded men lying on the ground are about to be evacuated. |
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| German troops march Canadian POWs by a destroyed Churchill tank from the Dieppe operation. |
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| Churchill T68176R “Betty”, one of the few tanks that actually made it up off the beach and into the Dieppe area and was later destroyed. |
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| Bodies of dead Canadian soldiers near the Dieppe beach. |
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| A German soldier inspects the damage and destruction along a street in Dieppe following the Allied raid. |
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| Clearing the beach after the raid. |
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| Dieppe after the battle. |
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| Captured Canadian troops on the beach at Dieppe. A knocked out Churchill tank is in the background. |
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| Canadian POWs, Dieppe, 19 August 1942. |
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| German soldiers amidst the wreckage on Dieppe beach. |
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| Canadian POWs. |
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| Canadian and Allied soldiers take care of their own after being taken prisoner during the Dieppe Raid. |
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| Canadian and Allied soldiers are paraded as prisoners of war by their captors. |
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| British and Canadian soldiers being taken prisoner after the raid on Dieppe. |
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| British and Canadian soldiers being taken prisoner after the raid on Dieppe. |
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| Canadian and British prisoners of war help recover and care for their wounded comrades. |
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| Canadian and British prisoners of war help recover and care for their wounded comrades. |
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| Canadian and British prisoners of war help recover and care for their wounded comrades. |
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| Allied soldiers taken prisoner by the Germans at Dieppe. |
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| Allied prisoners recover following their assault on the towns of Dieppe, Puys, and Pourville. |
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| Captured soldiers awaiting transshipment to prisoner of war camps. |
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| Canadian prisoners escorted by German guards marching through Dieppe, 19 August 1942. |
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| Canadian prisoners of war being led through Dieppe by German soldiers. |
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| Commandos captured at Dieppe. |
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| Canadian and Allied POWs at Dieppe. |
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| The German burial parade. |
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| Burial of a German casualty though some Canadian casualties were buried here, as well as some quite far away, apparently near German hospitals. |
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| Two of the landing craft, one containing a Bren-carrier, alongside a destroyer after returning from the beaches during the Combined Operations daylight raid on Dieppe. The landing craft mechanised are (left to right) LCM (1) 169 and LCM (1) 2. |
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| A wounded soldier is carried off the ship upon his return to England. |
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| Exhausted but alive, these men are happy to be back in England after nine hours in the Dieppe inferno. |
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| Jaunty raider who survived Dieppe returns wearing a German helmet as a trophy. His personal weapon is an American Thompson submachine gun. |
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| Troops who took part in the raid on Dieppe, 19 August 1942. |
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| Two Landing Craft Tank (LCT) used by the Calgary Regiment at Dieppe. These landing craft are undamaged because they remained at sea and did not land during the raid. This photograph was taken on their return to England. |
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| Although they understood it as a 'raid', German propaganda portrayed it as an 'invasion catastrophe'. |
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| Lt. Col. C.C. Merritt earned the Victoria Cross for his heroism during the Dieppe Raid; this recruitment poster (1943) uses his bravery as motivation for other men to enlist. |
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| This propaganda poster printed during the war features Lieutenant-Colonel Dollard Ménard and talks about his injuries sustained during the raid. This type of advertising was used to enlist French Canadians during the war. |
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| Advertisement depicting soldiers at Dieppe, published in the October 10, 1942, issue of the Toronto Star Weekly. |
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| Advertisement for the 3rd Victory Bonds campaign, 1942. |
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| Advertisement for the 3rd Victory Bonds campaign, 1942. |
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| Dieppe Canadian War Cemetery, France. |
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| The Dieppe Bar is awarded to those who participated in the Dieppe Raid on 19 August 1942. A silver bar, to be attached to the ribbon of the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal (CVSM), has been designed featuring the word DIEPPE in raised letters on a pebbled background. Above this, the bar bears an anchor surmounted by an eagle and a Thompson submachine gun. |
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| Dieppe Cemetery, 1965. |
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| Dieppe Cemetery, 1965. |
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| LGen Crerar, LGen Simmonds and MGen Faulkes at a ceremony at the Dieppe Cemetery, 1965. |
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| A plaque on the wall of Canada Square, Dieppe, France. Commemorating the Canadian soldiers who died on the beach of Dieppe on 19 August 1942. The following is a translation of its inscription: On the 19th of August 1942 on the beaches of Dieppe our Canadian cousins marked with their blood the road to our final liberation foretelling thus their victorious return on September 1, 1944. |
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| Canada Square, Dieppe, France. Commemorating the Canadian soldiers who died on the beach of Dieppe on 19 August 1942. |
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| Memorial and Museum for Operation Jubilee 1942, Dieppe, France, 2008. |