Dieppe raid: disaster or lesson?

It was one of the most disastrous operations of World War II.

A “lightning” Allied raid on Dieppe in German-occupied northern France on August 19, 1942, that turned into a bloodbath, especially for the Canadian troops who made up the bulk of the force.

Two years before the successful D-Day landings in Normandy, more than half of the 6,000 men who took part in Operation Jubliee ended up dead or captured.

Its aim was to test Germany’s coastal defences, but instead Britain and its allies were taught a hard lesson, with some 1,200 men killed, 913 of them Canadians, while around 2,000 were captured.

– Morale booster –

In early 1942, the hard-pressed Soviets were putting pressure on their allies to open a new western front to divert Adolf Hitler’s armies.

Wanting to boost morale after a series of setbacks, the idea of a major attack on the French coast was floated.

The Allies settled on Dieppe in Normandy, around one hundred kilometres (60 miles) from the English coast, where key German infrastructure such as an aerodrome and radar station could be destroyed.

– Lightning response –

Initially planned for early July, the raid on Dieppe was delayed because of the weather.

But at the crack of dawn on August 19, multiple attacks targeted the cliffs to the east and west of the port city, as well as its large beach, but they are met by a hail of German fire.

The tanks struggled to advance on the gravel beach, while in the skies the Royal Air Force was countered by the Luftwaffe.

In a few hours a German victory was secured with just a few hundred fatalities on their side.

As well as the terrible human toll, the Allies also lost one hundred of their planes, 30 or so tanks and a warship.

By 9:30 am the order was given to evacuate.

– Propaganda victory –

German propaganda had a field day with the Allied defeat, broadcasting photos of dead bodies and abandoned tanks on the Dieppe beaches.

In its August 21 issue, the popular Paris Soir newspaper presented Operation Jubilee as a new Dunkirk, a reference to the disastrous retreat of defeated British troops from France in June 1940.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was dismissed as an “amateur strategist” who gave into an “ultimatum” by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.

– Hard lesson –

Waste of human life, or a dress rehearsal for the game-changing Normandy landings of June 6, 1944? Operation Jubilee has long divided military historians.

In his autobiography, one of the British commando officers who took part in it, Lord Lovat, described it as nothing more than a show forced on the military by politicians.

Other historians say the raid was badly prepared and Germany’s coastal defences underestimated.

It did, however, show the Allies the basic errors to avoid in future landing operations, but the lessons came at a painful and deadly cost.