1000 Men, 1000 Stories : Photographs: Dieppe Raid 1942

The First Action* of Canadians in Combined Operations

[Photo: ArtLD2639. War-time traffic on the River Thames: Up-river repairs after the

Dieppe Raid, 1942. A view of two tugboats sailing towards a bridge on the Thames.

There are several other boats flying the White Ensign in the background.

Artist - Platt, John Edgar, 1942. Imperial War Museum (IWM).]

Introduction:

The first two drafts of Canadian volunteers in Combined Operations arrived in Scotland in January, 1942. They were soon introduced to various styles of landing crafts at HMS Northney I and 1V (S. England), HMS Quebec and RAF Dundonald/Camp Auchengate (near Inveraray and Irvine, Scotland respectively. After months of training they were ordered upon ships bound for ports in S. England where departures to Dieppe upon landing crafts were being prepared.

As ratings (i.e., Ordinary Seamen, Able-Bodied Seamen, Leading Seamen, etc.) they would not have been given specific details about exactly where they were going or when.

My father's mate, Al Kirby of Woodstock, Ontario writes about discovering where he was heading in his landing craft on the morning of Operation Jubilee (Aug. 19) - during a stop in the English Channel to refill the fuel tanks.

Kirby says:

What a relief to cut that engine noise, A big cheer came up from all the Camerons as they began a major shift to relieve aching muscles and sore joints. Hop and I jumped onto the upper deck and cut loose the gas cans and began pouring them into the two fuel tanks at the stern.

A small flickering light appeared from down inside the craft, as though someone was trying to light a cigarette. I shouted at the top of my voice, "For Christ sake, put that bloody light out, we're pouring gasoline up here and the fumes will be running right down inside the well. Do you want to die even before you hit the beach?"

I said that still thinking that we were headed for an exercise, and quite unaware of our final destination. As we emptied the cans, we threw them over the side hoping that they would sink. After fueling was completed, we could hear the engines of our accompanying craft starting and we all began to jockey about to keep our proper station.

Hop took over the wheel to give me a break after more than four hours of watching that little blue light on R-84's stern. Gradually, R-84 began to put a little distance between us and Hop poured on the power and we were back to the grind. I went down inside and sat on the top of the engine casing beside a couple of soldiers, who were now wide awake and chatting with some of the others.

"Anyone here from around Woodstock?" I said.

"Woodstock, Woodstock" was the reply. "Where the hell is Woodstock?"

"Southern Ontario," I answered.

"Ontario, Ontario! Is that in Canada? Never heard of it."

The fellow beside me leaned over and said quietly, "The Camerons were recruited in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, through Winnipeg."

I couldn't resist the chance to counter so I shouted "Winnipeg, Winnipeg! Where the hell is Winnipeg? It must be somewhere beyond Sioux Lookout, but I hear there isn't anything beyond Sioux Lookout!"

"Kill him, kill him," went up the shout, just as the Platoon Lieutenant called for silence and instructed everyone to listen while he went over the plan one more time. I listened intently as he continued.

"Now, we expect the beach to be heavily defended, so we have to get across about ten or twenty yards of stoney footing to reach a sea wall, our first cover, just as fast as possible. Taking cover behind this wall, we will organize our sections while No. 1 Platoon finds the breach in the wire along the top of the wall that has been left by the south Saskatchewans. It is essential that we go through that breach the very second that we find it because from that moment on, the breach will be a prime target for machine gun fire."

As I listen to him trying to make himself heard over the noise of the engine, a chill begins to creep over me as I slowly absorb the fact that we really are about to land on enemy territory. And even worse, the south Saskatchewan Regiment will be landing ahead of us so the defences will be already in action by the time we hit the beach. My God, why couldn't we be first, then by the time the enemy are in action we may be back off the beach and out of range.

Because my mind is racing about with the possibilities suggested by what I have heard so far, I only hear part of what he said afterwards, but I am astounded when he mentions meeting with the Calgary tanks at Four Winds Farm, about four miles inland and then continuing on to attack an airport nine miles from the beach. I am convinced that this must be the second front, and there must be hundreds of landing craft coming in behind us.

My mind swirls with the gravity of what I am hearing. Naturally, I am a little nervous about my own safety, but my overriding feeling is one that is much harder to describe. Transcending my fear is a feeling of betrayal at not being told about this by our own officer. Neither I nor any one of our group, would give up a chance to take part in a real operation against the enemy, no matter what the outcome may be, but I somehow feel cheated by Leach's refusal to let us in on any of the information, even at the last minute. I am certain that the Camerons knew about this before they loaded.

After a few minutes of trying to rationalize everything in my mind, I turned to the soldier beside me and asked "Where in the hell are we going anyway?"

Somewhat startled he fired back "Don't you know? You are supposed to be taking us there. If you don't know, how in the hell are you going to get us there?"

"I don't need to know in order to get there. I'm just following the boat in front of me", I replied, "don't worry about that, soldier, we'll get you there, on time and in the right place, but I'm curious about where that is."

"It's a coastal town called Deepy," he volunteered, "somewhere in France."

Shortly before 0400, the sky ahead of us suddenly lit up with a myriad of tracer paths knifing into the heavens. Though momentarily startled, we were more dismayed than surprised. We all realized that we were getting close to our target, as the Infantry briefing indicated a touch down time of 0500. Now it appeared that the enemy was awake and at action stations.

Our hope of a surprise landing was dashed as we thought we were looking at German anti-aircraft fire in response to an R.A.F. bombing raid...

From pages 51-52, Combined Operations by Londoner Clayton Marks.

More details from Canadian memoirs will be supplied as photographs from various sources are displayed on this site.

The White Ensign. From the Editor's small collection of WW2 memorabilia.

Originally collected by Doug Harrison, RCNVR, Combined Ops (1941 - 45).

*The raid upon Dieppe was indeed the first action for which the first 100 Canadian volunteers trained (including my father Doug Harrison, second from left in header photo, top of page), once in the U.K. Not all of the 100 participated in the Operation Jubilee, e.g., my father was on a one-day leave and returned to action as the first casualty lists were posted. He discovered that three of his comrades in the Navy had been killed that day and others were taken prisoner of war, including his commanding officer Sub. Lt. Robert McRae and a shipmate mentioned in his memoirs connected to Operation Rutter, i.e., the ill-fated Lloyd George Campbell of London Ontario.

Casualty lists were posted at New Haven, S. England. Funerals were held there as well for some casualties, e.g., Joe McKenna from Souris, PEI. Two days after the raid, some of the landing crafts were transported from New Haven back to their original ports, e.g., Southampton.

ALC 269 leaving New Haven for Southampton on August 21, 1942.

Charlie Sheeler (left), Len Birkenes, RCNVR, Combined Ops.

ALC 269 returning to Southampton flying the White Ensign.

Charlie Sheeler (left), and Joe Spencer.

(Above two photographs are used with permission, from the collection of Joe Spencer, RCNVR and Combined Operations.)

*As well, there was at least one Canadian (Sub. Lt. J. E. O'Rourke, Signals Officer) in Combined Operations that participated in the earlier raid upon St. Nazaire, France. (Look for "The Greatest Raid of All" by C.E. Lucas Phillips).

* * * * *

Series of photographs and captions from the Imperial War Museum:

A9978. Plastic protective plating on a Landing Craft. On return from Dieppe,

no casualties. ADMIRALTY OFFICIAL COLLECTION IWM.

A9981. Plastic Protective Plating applied to bridge protection of a

merchant ship. ADMIRALTY OFFICIAL COLLECTION IWM.

A11210. The Royal Navy during WW2: The Dieppe Raid, August 1942. A destroyer

makes a smoke screen to cover landings during the Combined Ops daylight raid.

Lt. L. Pelman, Royal Navy photographer, Admiralty Official Collection, IWM

A11211. The crew of a destroyer's pom-pom gun bringing up fresh supplies of two

pounder ammunition during the Combined Operations daylight raid on Dieppe.

Lt. L. Pelman, RN official photographer, Admiralty Official Collection

A11212. A 20 mm Oerlikon Mark I gun on board a destroyer in action with enemy air-

craft during the Combined Operations daylight raid on Dieppe. The crew are wearing

anti-flash gear. Lt. L. Pelman, RN photographer, Admiralty Official Collection. IWM

A11213. 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 signalling lamp.

Lt. L. Pelman, RN photographer, Admiralty Official Collection, IWM

A11214. The British Navy's part in the Combined Operations daylight raid on Dieppe,

20 August 1942. The crew of a pom-pom gun looking out for the enemy aircraft.

Lt. L. Pelman, RN official photographer, Admiralty Official Collection, IWM

A11215. A stoker comes up from below for a breather during the lull.

Lt. L. Pelman, RN photographer, Admiralty Official Collection. IWM

A11216. Sailors on board a destroyer enjoy a cigarette during the lull.

Photo - Lt. L. Pelman, RN photographer, Admiralty Collection, IWM.

A11217. THE BRITISH NAVY'S PART IN THE COMBINED OPERATIONS DAYLIGHT RAID ON DIEPPE. 20 AUGUST 1942. A destroyer's wireless telegraphist repairing an aeriel shot away during the action. L. Pelman, Royal Navy official photographer, Admiralty Official Collection