Dieppe: Photographs Taken at Newhaven After the Raid (1)

Back From Dieppe, Faces in Photographs Tell Part of the

Story of Comrades that Returned and Those That Did Not,

From the Dieppe Raid, August 19, 1942

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.

Photo: Spender, Humphrey  War Office official photographer

Catalogue number H 22580, Imperial War Museum (IWM)

1942-08-19. Heading: The Raid On Dieppe

On the reverse side of the photograph is found the following, lengthier than usual because photo H22580 is the first in a series re 'The Raid on Dieppe' by Lt. H. Spender. Included below is the original wartime caption:

"Scenes at a Southern port (Newhaven) when troops arrived back"

adequately describes the series of photographs that will follow. GH

Introduction:

In the last two entries, i.e., Parts 4A and 4B of "Dieppe: In Memory of Joseph McKenna, RCNVR", I not only shared recent photographs of Joseph McKenna's gravesite as found at Newhaven Cemetery (on Lewes Road) but several of the River Ouse and surrounding area of the 'southern port.' And I closed by saying, "More photographs related to the Dieppe Raid and Newhaven will soon follow."

Newhaven Cemetery, on Lewes Road, 1 - 2 km north of

Newhaven Town centre. May 31, 2026. Photo GH

I was aware several other photos existed, that some have already been shared in other posts on this site. I think the finding of Joe McKenna's gravesite on May 31, 2026 and the sharing of photos and videos related to that discovery provides the opportunity to share many more concerning those that returned and those that did not. Most were taken by Spender, Humphrey War Office official photographer.

Again, Lord Lovat. Caption supplied with this photo H 22584 is

the same as two earlier photos above from IWM. 

More details and photographs related to Lord Lovat can be found at Wikipedia. Below is an example, related to Lovat and an earlier raid:

4 Commando before the Hardelot raid.  Major Lord Lovat, giving orders

to his men before setting out on a commando raid on the French coast near

Boulogne, 21 April 1942. Photo by Malindine E G (Lt), War Office official

photographer. H 18953 comes from collections of the Imperial War Museums.

Heading - The British Army in the United Kingdom 1939-45

Lt. Humphrey Spender's collection continues:

Caption for this photo (H 22586) is same as earlier photo H 22585

My father, Gordon Douglas ('Doug') Harrison, RCNVR/Combined Operations from 1941 - 45, mentions his connection with American forces on only two occasions in his navy memoirs. He crossed paths with Americans at Roseneath, Scotland in early 1942 and the U.S. troops may have been part of the Ranger contingent (50 soldiers) that participated in the Dieppe Raid a few months later.

And after the Dieppe Raid a much larger U.S. contingent participated in Operation TORCH (beginning November 8, 1942). In memoirs my father writes about travelling to the shores of N. Africa with "American soldiers aboard" and IWM photographs reveal that Canadians in Combined Ops drove U.S. troops and their abundant supplies ashore in flotillas of U.K. landing crafts, i.e., LCAs (aka ALCs, assault landing crafts) and LCMs (mechanized).

D. Harrison gets U.S. troops and supplies to shore, Nov., 1942

A 12671 War Office official photographer Lt. F.A. Hudson, IWM

D. Harrison is either handling an 'anti-broaching line' (while scratching

his nose or cupping a 'ciggie') or taking a break aboard another LCA.

A 12649 War Office official photographer Lt. F.A. Hudson, IWM

Lt. H. Spender's collection of photographs continues:

Aerial photograph of Newhaven, 1931 by John Hills

Photo Credit - As found at Our Newhaven

HELP WANTED: There is a very distinctive building in the background of above photo. Does it still stand in Newhaven? 

The same caption as above is repeated for the next few photographs, all from the Imperial War Museum, H 22593 to H 22596:

Caption as found at IWM. A German prisoner, Unteroffizier Leo Marsiniak,

being escorted at Newhaven. He was captured at the gun battery at

Varengeville by No. 4 Commando. H 22597 Imperial War Museum

Caption for this photo (H 22599) is same as earlier photo H 22598

More photographs to follow.

Please click here to view more photographs re the Dieppe Raid

Please click here to view re Dieppe: In Memory of Joseph McKenna (4B)

Unattributed Photos GH

Dieppe: In Memory of Joseph McKenna, RCNVR (4B)

Burial Site of Joe McKenna, RCNVR, Killed During the Dieppe

Raid on August 19, 1942, is Found in Newhaven, U.K.

Newhaven Cemetery is in a Beautiful, Historic Area

Original Wartime Caption: This man appears to have lost one

leg of his battledress trousers in his encounter with the enemy.

At Newhaven. Taken by Lt. Spender. 19.08.42 H22580 IWM

Introduction:

The sense of tragedy connected to the raid of August 19, 1942, still lives on even though all of those soldiers and sailors and pilots associated with it are now deceased. It is surviving family members, history teachers, journalists, documentarians, etc., who bear the torch now and will occasionally, or often, remember its meaning or lack thereof.

Joseph will be remembered as further entries re Dieppe, Canadians in

Combined Ops and their 'lost youth' are shared on this blog/website

And for those wanting to learn more about the Dieppe Raid, Newhaven Town on the south coast of England will be a focal point, source of knowledge* and visiting place (it's linked to Dieppe and France by ferry) well into the future.

Original Caption: A German prisoner, Unteroffizier Leo Marsiniak, being

escorted at Newhaven. He was captured at the gun battery at Varengeville

by No. 4 Commando. Taken on 19 August 1942 by (Lt.) J. H. Spender, War

Office official photographer. H 22597 Imperial War Museum (IWM)

Click here to view a video 'In Memory of Joseph McKenna, RCNVR (4B)'

Please click here to view Dieppe: In Memory of Joseph McKenna, RCNVR (4A)

More photographs related to the Dieppe Raid and Newhaven will soon follow.

Questions or comments can be sent here - gordh7700@gmail.com

*source of knowledge - visit a website dedicated to sharing "war memories" re Newhaven

Unattributed Photos GH

Dieppe: In Memory of Joseph McKenna, RCNVR (4A)

Burial Site of Joe McKenna, RCNVR, Killed During the Dieppe Raid

on August 19, 1942, is Found in Newhaven, U.K. on May 31, 2026 

The Son and Grandson of One of Joe's Mates Make the Journey

My only photo of Joe McKenna as found at 'Find a Grave'

Leading Seaman Doug Harrison (also RCNVR/Combined

Operations, 1941-45) helped lead the way to Newhaven

Introduction:

In the first three entries related to this series I have shared many of Joe McKenna's military details re, for example, where Joe McKenna initially enlisted in RCNVR, i.e., Charlottetown Division, May, 1941, before transferring to HMCS St. Hyacinthe, Quebec a few months later. I have also shared several pages of his official Navy records including a written report about his death at Dieppe, as well as lengthy excerpts from an excellent story (by Al Kirby, RCNVR and Combined Operations) about the role of Canadians during the Dieppe Raid, including Joe's role and more details re the tragic end to his life. 

My two sons (David and Paul) and I planned a two-week trip to England recently (May 28 - June 10, 2026), and put 'find Joe's gravesite' on the lengthy itinerary. My father stated in his WWII Navy memoirs - the basis for this blog/archive/tribute to "1,000 Men" and their wartime stories - that his mate's burial site was in Newhaven, the place from which Joe departed for Dieppe in the very early hours of August 19, 1942, and the place to which he was returned via landing craft in the evening of the same day, lifeless, never to have the chance to grow old. 

Prior to leaving for the U.K. with David and Paul, I was very happy to receive the following information about Joe's grave from Mr. Honey, member of the board for Newhaven Cemetery:

There is not a reception at the Newhaven cemetery but, I believe the grave you are looking for is in Section I, number 610... You will enter the main gates from Lewes Road and go straight ahead through the Archway where the two chapels are and carry on forward taking a left at the pathway before reaching sections F & E before arriving at Section I (a five minute walk).

With a small map he also provided it was easy to find Section I, though grave stones were not numbered. However, on a lovely day, it was not difficult to look for one particular grave stone out of just a few dozen.

Please click on the link below to view a short video related to our search:

Finding Joe McKenna's gravesite 

At Section I. Finding Joe was not a difficult task. Photo GH

About Joe McKenna and his service, more information is shared below:

Please click here to learn more about HMCS St. Hyacinthe, Quebec

Photo Credit - Government of Canada

A brief report from the Ottawa Citizen, dated August 29, very

likely only one week after Joe McKenna was killed at Dieppe.

As found at 'Find a Grave' comment section

Please click below to view a map of the Newhaven Cemetery with pins to photographs of specific areas:

Map with Blue Pins

An example of a specific area very close to Joe McKenna's gravesite:

Photo Credit - commons.wikimedia.org

Troops arriving back at Newhaven after the Dieppe Raid, 19 August 1942

Commandos march past a collapsed 'Goatley' boat, which was used in raids

to transfer from motorboats to the shore. Made of wood and canvas, the vessel

could carry ten men but only weighed about 150 kilograms (330 lb).

Photo Credit - National Army Museum, Study collection

Questions or comments can be addressed to GH at gordh7700@gmail.com

Please click here to view previous research at Dieppe: In Memory of Joseph McKenna, RCNVR (3)

Another short video re Newhaven Cemetery and historic photos of troops returning to the waterfront piers after the raid will soon follow.

Unattributed Photos GH

Training: An Exercise in Scotland, December 1942 (2)

An Exercise on Loch Laggan, North of No. 1 Combined Ops

Training Center and Inveraray. Photos by W. T. Lockeyear

IWM (H 26363) (1/2) Royal Scots Fusiliers firing from a trench. Loch (Laggan)

in background. Organized in a series entitled "An Exercise in Scotland"

IWM (H 26363) (2/2) More information provided re the Fusiliers

as found on the reverse side of the above photo

Introduction:

Map: A screen shot of a Google map. Glasgow in lower right corner

Based on the date of the photos in this short series (Dec. 18, 1942), many of the members of RCNVR and Combined Operations (C. Ops) that I generally focus on (including my father and mates) would have perhaps been returned to one of the RN or C. Ops training camps in late November '42 for rest and recovery after their participation in Operation TORCH (the Allied invasion of North Africa), not to Loch Laggan to transport soldiers from one place to another aboard landing crafts to assist with the exercise depicted here in Lockeyear's photographs. 

Of course, other Canadians in Combined Operations may have been involved in the 'exercise in Scotland' depicted in W. T. Lockeyear's work shared here though few if any photos reveal sailors in landing crafts. In earlier exercises, however, Canadian sailors were in the middle of the action, including my father. 

Please click on the following link for information re Exercise Schuyt 1 that took place between Irvine and Troon in mid-1942: 

"Is there a pub mentioned in the story?" E.g., 'Harbour Lights' in Irvine?

I'm going to say, "Yes!" Photo GH

Training for Combined Operations: "The Schuyts Were the Biggest Exercises Thus Far"

Another significant pub in Irvine, especially in 1942. Photo GH

More photographs in a series related a later 'Exercise in Scotland' now follow. All were taken by Walter Lockeyear and are credited to the Imperial War Museum (IWM):

IWM (H 26364) (1/2) C-in-C Home Forces, General Sir Bernard Paget,

KCB.,DSO.,MC. witnessed the exercise and is seen here chatting to

Major General Ritchie (left).

IWM (H 26365) (1/2) Left to right: C-in-C Home Forces, General Sir Bernard

Paget, KCB., DSO., MC. Army Commander, Scottish Command, Lt.Gen. Sir

A.F.A.N. Thorne, KCB., CMG., DSO., and Major General N. M. Ritchie,

CBE., DSO., MC., discuss the exercise.

IWM (H 26366) (1/2) Troops moving up to forward positions.

IWM (H 26367) (1/2) Lt.Gen. Sir A.F.A.N. Thorne sitting on ground

out of view of the 'enemy' discusses the battle with one of his officers.

IWM (H 26368) (1/2) Lt.Gen. Sir A.F.A.N. Thorne (right) and

Major General N. M. Ritchie during the exercise.

IWM (H 26369) (1/2) C-in-C Home Forces, General Sir Bernard Paget

and General Thorne (in background) watching the battle.

IWM (H 26370) (1/2) A Royal Scots Fusilier Bren gunner in action

IWM (H 26370) (2/2) 4/5th Royal Scots Fusiliers

IWM (H 26371) (1/2) "Enemy" soldier creeping forward to attack on the

shore of Loch Laggan lake. [Organized in this series under the heading

THE POLISH ARMY IN BRITAIN, 1940-47]

IWM (H 26372) (1/2) Infantry and Pack Mule Coy advancing through

the hills and along the banks of a loch.

IWM (H 26372) (2/2) The loch is identified as Loch Bricht on

reverse side of the photograph by W. T. Lockeyear

(Pack Mule 'Coy' means company/unit)

re Loch Bricht: It is not on Google Maps. However, there is an "Inn at

Loch Bricht" near Dalwhinnie, northern tip of Loch Ericht (upper right)

IWM (H 26373) (1/2) Infantry and Pack Mule Coy advancing through

the hills and along the banks of a loch.

IWM (H 26374) (1/2) Infantry and Pack Mule Coy advancing through

the hills and along the banks of a loch (Loch Bricht still)

IWM (H 26375) (1/2) Caption same as above photo.

No information is given about where the company of men and mules were advancing. If the exercise was finished then they might be heading toward a train station or large number of lorries to be taken to a large training camp or back to their division. I'm just guessing. Any other guesses?

More photographs by official wartime photographer W. T. Lockeyear will follow in the near future.

Due to a recent, productive trip (research- and discovery-wise) to the United Kingdom with my two adult sons in May-June 2026 I have some other photos I'd very much like to share here. Never before seen!

That being said, about W. T. Lockeyear's photographs, please click here to view Training: An Exercise in Scotland, December, 1942 (1)

Unattributed Photos GH