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Originally Posted by canadiancitizen  There are a number of problems with this short paragraph.
Dieppe is NOT a port, it is a seaside beach town.
The operation was cancelled and then it was on again, with obvious security breaches, and the landings were not done in the dark, but in full daylight.
The beach was comprised of small rocks that made it nearly impossible for the tanks of the Three Rivers Tank Regiment to get off the beach. The seawall also was higher than the planners thought it was. The approach of the naval force was discovered at night, and the planned massive bombing raid was called off by the RAF, as they didn't want to risk aircraft on a " small show ". The naval gunfire was reduced and again it was by the British who only had a small number of troops involved, who made these decisions. The vast majority of the actual fighters were Canadians.
The death toll at Dieppe, was the highest one day loss for the Canadian Army in all of it's WW2 actions, over 900 men dead for little gain. Entire units were either killed or captured, due to a ill conceived plan that was doomed to fail.
Jim B. Toronto. |
Not too pick but there are some egrerious points here.
It is not the Three River Regiment at Dieppe but the Calgary Tanks.
The issue of bombardment is again a misunderstood issue. At an operational level Harris was quite right to refuse the use of heavy bombers for this raid. Also when one considers the use of bombers in the NW Europe campaing and the problems there I believe it was the right decision. Imagine the heavy bombers flattening Dieppe and the problems that would cause for the advancing infantry.
In terms of the navy you have to remember the operational context that Pound was operating under. He had lost Force Z in late 41 and this really brought home the effect that air power could have on the navy. To operate heavy units in the confines of the channel when the allied air force were still fighting for air superiority in 1942 in support of what was in the context of the war a minor operation was considered not worth the risk.
Ross