Articles: Dieppe Raid 1942 - Operation JUBILEE (2).

Reports From Ross Munro, Canadians Cheer About Dieppe, and More.

News Reports From August 20, 1942 (i.e., D-Day Dieppe, Plus 1)

["The Canadians won their objectives in a fierce nine-hour fight."]

Introduction:

The above photo - a seemingly peaceful scene, appropriate for a tourist brochure - was displayed prominently on the front page (lower-right corner) of the August 20, 1942 issue of The Winnipeg Tribune.

More telling photographs, related to the actual scene on that day, would eventually reach Canada, along with very disturbing casualty lists. Some Canadian Army regiments were literally wiped out. The 'Butcher's Bill" will never be paid, even in this generation.

That being said, we are fortunate to find very good news reports, especially from Ross Munro, Canadian Press War Correspondent, a writer who earned his stripes - along with so many other Canadians - during the Dieppe Raid.  

Readers are encouraged to peruse the actual pages of The Winnipeg Tribune for that day.

* * * * * *

Readers - the above two columns are as one, and continue below:

Included on the front page is the photo below from a practice exercise held before the actual raid.

Allied ships, including large numbers of small landing craft (many manned by Canadians in Combined Operations), assembled at and departed from Southampton, Portsmouth and Newhaven (east of Brighton, below). There may have been other staging areas as well. 

Canadian writer Ross Munro was 28-years old at the time of the Dieppe raid, likely at least 4 - 5 years older than the Canadian soldiers and sailors (on average) he accompanied on landing crafts that crossed the Channel under darkness on August 19.  

Readers - the left-hand column in the above section of the article continues below, then concludes with the right-hand column above:

In the following article we read that Canada's Minister of Defence (Ralston) characterizes the battle at Dieppe as a "monster combined operations raid". His warning is clear: "Casualties were severe".

Interestingly enough, on the same day as his report, a mention is made in The Tribune of earlier 'combined operations raids' in what I consider to be a rare account entitled "Commandos Hunting Nazis From Far North To Egypt". (Please look for it below).

The following article has raised a few questions in my mind: Was there a Canadian Commando Unit involved in the raid? Or, were there some Canadians, trained like commandos, sprinkled among British Commando Units that took part in the raid? The latter idea seems more reasonable to me, but I will have to do more homework before I can feel 100% comfortable with the details contained in "Canadians Return From Raid Cheering".

I know for a fact that several Canadians in RCNVR and Combined Operations participated in manning landing crafts during the raid and lived to write about their experiences.

I was happy to find this report in the August 20 issue of The Winnipeg Tribune because of its mention of commandos again, this time in regard to the smaller yet significant operations or raids that took place before the Dieppe Raid. Again, I am not sure if there were Canadians sprinkled among the British Commando Units.

As well, I am only aware of one Canadian member of RCNVR and Combined Operations who took part in one of the raids mentioned below, associated with landing crafts that were involved in the raid at St. Nazaire, France, with the purpose of damaging, destroying the usefulness of a large dry dock (mission was accomplished!), large enough to accommodate repairs, etc., to Germany's largest battleship, Tirpitz.

I consider the following a rare account: 

Casualties at Dieppe were very high, as were the number of prisoners taken by German forces. Here is one of the earliest accounts related to POWs: 

Here is one of the few references to the small number (50) of U.S. Rangers (similar to commandos) that took part in the raid. The Rangers received more publicity during and after their next operation, i.e., Operation TORCH, the invasion of North Africa, November 1942:

In addition to the reports, photographs, editorial cartoons, etc. from The Tribune, I include an article - author unknown - from The Hamilton Spectator that addresses comments made by Defense Minister Ralston (mentioned in an article well above this entry) at a later date.

The actual date is also unknown by this editor but I am assuming the article was originally on the Spectator's editorial page after the invasion of North Africa, November 1942 and before the war ended.

For veterans and those studying or writing about World War 2, the story of the Dieppe Raid has surely never slumbered.

More to follow.

Please link to Articles: Dieppe Raid 1942 - Operation JUBILEE (1).

Unattributed Photos GH