On this day in military history…

On 19 August 1942 thousands of Allied soldiers crossed the English Channel towards the French port of Dieppe in an operation intended to demonstrate that occupied Europe was not beyond the reach of Britain and her Allies. Instead, Operation Jubilee became one of the bloodiest and most controversial Allied operations of the Second World War. Within only a few hours the beaches of Dieppe were covered with dead and wounded men, wrecked landing craft and disabled tanks, while hundreds of soldiers found themselves trapped beneath the cliffs with almost no possibility of escape. The raid was dominated by Canadian troops, many of whom had spent years training in Britain without yet having the opportunity to fight the Germans. For these men Dieppe would be their introduction to combat. Tragically, for hundreds it would also be their last battle.

By the summer of 1942 the war was at a difficult stage for the Allies. Nazi Germany controlled most of Western Europe, German armies were fighting deep inside the Soviet Union and the Western Allies were under enormous political pressure to take more direct action against German-occupied France. Joseph Stalin continually demanded the opening of a second front to relieve pressure on the Red Army. Britain was not yet ready for a full-scale invasion of France, but Combined Operations Headquarters had been developing increasingly ambitious raids against the occupied coastline. Lord Louis Mountbatten had recently become Chief of Combined Operations and was an enthusiastic supporter of offensive raiding operations. Dieppe appeared to offer an opportunity to test whether a heavily defended port could be captured temporarily by a force landed directly from the sea. The Allies intended to seize the port, destroy important installations, gather intelligence, capture prisoners and equipment and then withdraw before German reinforcements could overwhelm the attackers. The operation would also test landing craft, tanks, naval support and the ability of the Royal Air Force to provide air cover over the French coast.

The original plan was known as Operation Rutter and was intended to take place in July 1942. Bad weather caused the operation to be cancelled after troops had already been briefed and embarked. Under normal circumstances such a cancellation might have ended the idea completely because secrecy had potentially been compromised, but the plan was resurrected under the new name Operation Jubilee. Around 5,000 Canadian soldiers formed the bulk of the assault force, supported by approximately 1,000 British Commandos and other personnel, together with a small number of American Rangers and Free French troops. The Canadian contingent principally came from Major-General John Hamilton Roberts' 2nd Canadian Infantry Division.

The attacking force would land on several beaches spread along the coast around Dieppe. No. 3 Commando would attack a German coastal battery near Berneval on the eastern flank, while No. 4 Commando would attack another battery near Varengeville to the west. Canadian troops would land at Puys and Pourville to capture high ground protecting the approaches to Dieppe before the main force landed directly in front of the town. The main assault would include the Essex Scottish Regiment and Royal Hamilton Light Infantry supported by Churchill tanks belonging to the Calgary Regiment. On paper it was a bold combined-arms operation, but in reality the troops were being sent against an extremely difficult position. Dieppe sits behind a broad shingle beach overlooked by cliffs and high ground. The Germans had constructed defensive positions covering the approaches and beach exits, with machine guns, artillery, mortars and anti-tank weapons capable of firing directly onto troops trying to come ashore. The very geography of the area favoured the defenders and success depended heavily upon surprise, exact timing and the flank attacks neutralising German positions before the main landing.

Almost immediately, the plan began to unravel. During the approach to the French coast landing craft carrying elements of No. 3 Commando encountered a German coastal convoy. A fierce naval engagement followed and the commando force became scattered. Only a small number of men eventually reached the area of the German battery and although they managed to engage the position and interfere with its ability to fire effectively, they could not carry out the complete destruction originally intended. On the opposite flank No. 4 Commando achieved one of the few clear successes of Operation Jubilee. Under Lieutenant-Colonel Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat, the Commandos landed near Varengeville and successfully attacked the German Hess coastal battery. Using infantry assault tactics supported by mortar fire they overwhelmed the position, destroyed its guns and withdrew. It was a textbook commando operation and demonstrated what carefully planned, limited raids could achieve.

Events on the Canadian beaches were becoming catastrophic. At Puys, east of Dieppe, the Royal Regiment of Canada approached the beach later than intended. Instead of landing under the protection of darkness, many of the men arrived after daylight had begun revealing the landing craft to the German defenders. The narrow beach was overlooked by cliffs and protected by a sea wall, while German machine gunners and artillery crews had devastating fields of fire. As the landing craft approached the shoreline they came under intense fire. Men jumping from the craft were immediately exposed and some were killed before they had travelled more than a few yards. Those who reached the sea wall found themselves trapped beneath it, and attempts to move forward through the limited exits brought soldiers directly into prepared German defensive positions. For the Royal Regiment of Canada, Puys became a killing ground. Hundreds were killed, wounded or captured and only a small proportion of the unit escaped back to Britain.

To the west at Pourville, the South Saskatchewan Regiment initially encountered lighter opposition and managed to penetrate farther inland. However, navigation problems meant that parts of the force landed on the wrong side of the River Scie. Troops had to fight their way towards bridges and through the village while German resistance increased. The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada followed them ashore and attempted to move inland towards their objectives. For a time there was some genuine progress, but without the expected breakthroughs elsewhere and with German resistance strengthening, the troops at Pourville eventually had little choice but to withdraw. The fighting during the evacuation became intense as soldiers attempted to cover one another while landing craft returned under German fire. Among the men displaying extraordinary courage was Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Cecil Ingersoll Merritt of the South Saskatchewan Regiment. Merritt repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire while leading his men across a bridge swept by German weapons and later organised a defensive position covering the withdrawal. He was captured and subsequently awarded the Victoria Cross.

The greatest slaughter was taking place directly in front of Dieppe. The main assault force began approaching the beach shortly after 5am. The Essex Scottish Regiment and Royal Hamilton Light Infantry came ashore beneath increasingly intense German fire. The planned preliminary bombardment had failed to destroy the defences. Naval gunfire was relatively light because commanders feared risking major warships close to the French coastline, while the RAF mounted enormous fighter operations overhead but could not eliminate the concrete defensive positions dominating the beaches. As Canadian soldiers stepped from their landing craft they faced machine-gun fire, mortar bombs and artillery.

The beach itself presented another unexpected obstacle. Dieppe's large rounded shingle stones made movement extremely difficult. Soldiers struggled across them while carrying weapons and equipment, and the stones caused serious problems for tracked vehicles. Churchill tanks of the Calgary Regiment were supposed to provide the infantry with vital armoured support. Some landing craft carrying tanks arrived late while others were damaged or unable to discharge their vehicles correctly. Tanks that reached the beach struggled over the shingle and seawalls. Several managed to move along the promenade and engage German positions, but roadblocks and obstacles prevented them penetrating deeply into the town. Without combat engineers being able to clear the exits, the armour became largely trapped. The tanks nevertheless continued fighting, their crews using their guns to engage German positions and protect infantrymen on the beach. Eventually many were immobilised or abandoned after ammunition ran low or withdrawal became impossible. None of the tanks that landed at Dieppe returned to England.

Communications between the troops ashore and headquarters offshore were becoming increasingly confused. Smoke, damaged radio sets and incomplete reports created a dangerously misleading picture of what was happening. Major-General Roberts, directing the Canadian operation from the headquarters ship HMS Calpe, had only fragmentary information. Believing that troops might have penetrated further into Dieppe than they actually had, the decision was taken to commit reserves. Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal were sent towards the main beach, but instead of exploiting a breakthrough they entered the same killing ground already trapping the earlier assault troops. More men were thrown into a battle that was already effectively lost. The Royal Marine force intended to enter the harbour also suffered heavily when its landing craft came under concentrated German fire and the attack was abandoned after severe losses.

By mid-morning it was obvious that Dieppe could not be captured and the focus turned from attacking to survival. Orders were given for evacuation. Landing craft now had to return towards beaches covered by German artillery, mortars and machine-gun fire. Men desperately attempted to reach the boats. Some carried wounded comrades towards the sea while others remained behind providing covering fire despite knowing that their chances of escape were disappearing. The water around the landing craft became littered with damaged equipment and casualties. Royal Navy crews repeatedly brought their vessels towards the beaches under fire to recover survivors, but many soldiers never reached them. By approximately midday the main evacuation was ending. Thousands had been left behind, some wounded amongst the shingle and others sheltering behind sea walls or inside buildings with no realistic chance of escape. Eventually organised resistance ceased.

Operation Jubilee had lasted only a matter of hours, but its cost was staggering. Of roughly 5,000 Canadians who embarked on the operation, more than 900 were killed and almost 2,000 became prisoners of war. Many hundreds more were wounded. British Commandos, Royal Navy personnel and RAF aircrews also suffered significant casualties. The Royal Air Force fought one of its largest air battles since the Battle of Britain over Dieppe, flying hundreds of sorties as Spitfires, Hurricanes and other aircraft attempted to protect the landing force and draw the Luftwaffe into combat. The RAF inflicted losses on the German air force but paid heavily itself, losing more aircraft than the Luftwaffe during the operation.

On the ground the German defenders had won an overwhelming victory. Photographs taken after the battle showed abandoned Churchill tanks scattered across the beach, destroyed landing craft along the shoreline and Canadian prisoners being marched into captivity. For Germany the raid became valuable propaganda. For Canada it became a national tragedy. Questions immediately began being asked about how such a disastrous operation had been authorised, and Dieppe remains controversial because many of the problems encountered were foreseeable. The beaches were overlooked by defended high ground, the assault lacked overwhelming naval gunfire, surprise had been compromised, intelligence concerning obstacles and beach conditions was inadequate and communications were unreliable. Most importantly, troops were being asked to assault a fortified port frontally. The assumption that tanks and infantry could quickly break through the German defences proved disastrously optimistic.

Supporters of Operation Jubilee later argued that the lessons learned at Dieppe helped make the Normandy landings successful two years later, and there is some truth in this. The Allies became far more aware of the enormous firepower required for amphibious operations. Specialist armoured vehicles were developed to overcome beach obstacles, communications improved, naval bombardment became far heavier and detailed intelligence regarding beaches, tides and defences received enormous attention. Perhaps the greatest lesson was that heavily defended ports should not normally be attacked directly during the opening stages of an invasion. When Operation Overlord was planned for 6 June 1944, the Allies deliberately landed across open beaches rather than attempting to capture ports such as Cherbourg or Le Havre from the sea. Artificial Mulberry harbours were developed partly because planners could not depend upon capturing an intact major port immediately.

Yet saying that the men at Dieppe died simply to teach the Allies how to succeed on D-Day is too easy. Many of the principles demonstrated so brutally at Dieppe were already understood by experienced military planners. Historians have continued to debate whether the scale of the operation was justified and whether its objectives were important enough to warrant the enormous risks involved. There has also been considerable controversy surrounding Lord Louis Mountbatten and the senior commanders responsible for Combined Operations. Mountbatten remained convinced that Dieppe provided lessons that later saved lives, but critics have argued that Canadian troops were committed to an operation whose chances of success were dangerously small.

The soldiers themselves had little control over these decisions. Once the ramps of their landing craft dropped, they simply fought. Their courage was extraordinary. Men crossed open beaches beneath machine-gun fire, attacked fortified positions, attempted to rescue wounded comrades and continued fighting when it was obvious the original operation had failed. Two Victoria Crosses resulted directly from the raid. Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Merritt received the VC for his leadership at Pourville, while Captain John Weir Foote, chaplain of the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry, received the second. Foote spent hours moving amongst the wounded under intense fire, repeatedly leaving cover to carry injured men to safety. When evacuation became possible he deliberately remained behind with the wounded soldiers who could not be taken off the beach, voluntarily entering captivity rather than abandoning them.

The Canadians captured at Dieppe would spend almost three years as prisoners of war. Their treatment initially became especially harsh after Adolf Hitler ordered Dieppe prisoners shackled following the discovery that German prisoners had reportedly been bound during the raid. Canadian authorities retaliated by shackling German prisoners in Canada, creating what became known as the shackling crisis. For the families waiting in Canada, the aftermath was agonising. Initial reports provided little indication of the true scale of the disaster, but gradually casualty lists appeared containing hundreds of names. Entire communities discovered that sons, brothers and husbands had been killed, wounded or captured during a battle lasting only a few hours.

Today Dieppe occupies a unique place in Canadian military history. It was not a victory and cannot realistically be portrayed as one. Operation Jubilee was a disastrous raid in which courage at the tactical level was matched by serious shortcomings in planning and command. Yet the failure belongs to those who designed and directed the operation, not to the soldiers ordered to carry it out. The men who stepped onto those beaches on 19 August 1942 faced prepared German defences with inadequate support and almost nowhere to hide, and they continued forward regardless.

Two years later Allied soldiers returned to France on a scale almost unimaginable in 1942. Thousands of ships and aircraft supported the Normandy landings, enormous naval guns bombarded German positions, specialised tanks crossed beach obstacles and carefully coordinated airborne forces attacked the flanks. The contrast with Dieppe was enormous. Whether every lesson of D-Day originated at Dieppe will always remain debatable, but what cannot be disputed is the price paid there. On the shingle beaches beneath the cliffs of the French coast, the Canadian Army experienced one of the darkest days in its history. The wrecked Churchill tanks and lines of prisoners photographed after the battle became enduring images of Allied failure, but alongside those images stands something else: the bravery of the men who continued fighting when the plan around them had collapsed. Operation Jubilee lasted only hours. Its consequences lasted for years, and the name Dieppe remains forever associated with courage, sacrifice and one of the most disastrous Allied raids of the Second World War.