The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Raid on Dieppe (8/19/1942) - Aug. 19th, 2003

http://www.mairie-dieppe.fr/canada-gb/canadaGBF.html ^ | Alain Buriot & Arnaud Coignet

[SAMWolf]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.

God Bless America
...................................................................................... ...........................................

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The Raid on Dieppe
19 August 1942

From the moment of the German attack against the Soviet Union on June 22nd 1941, and from that of the United States' entry into war the day after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour on 7th December 1941, the war became worldwide. In France, as in the whole of Europe, in order to face the war effort, Hitler's Germany imposed compulsory work service. While the "Todt Organisation" was building the Atlantic Wall, and was establishing Europe as a fortress, the "Third Reich" government intensified the implementation of Hitler's totalitarian and racial programme. Following the "Nacht und Nebel" decree in December 1941, which foresaw the putting into solitary confinement and the deporting of the enemies of the New Order, the Wannsee conference finalized the ultimate solution to the Jewish problem. On 16th July, the "Vel d'Hiv" raid on Paris illustrated the repressive and antisemitic collaboration policy of the Vichy Government.

Operation Jubilee : Aims and Means

In April 1942, after the allied raid on St Nazaire,the British and American allies again took up the project of awide-ranging raid on a French harbour on the Channel coast. This raid was intended to test defences and to prove to the Soviets, who were asking for the establishment of a second front, that it was not easy to grab a foothold on the French coast. The Allied High Command chose Dieppe for two main reasons; the size of the township, and the distance, which were both compatible with the available means of transport, making uninterrupted air-cover easy.


The concrete barriers, wire fencing, and other obstacles on the beach show how well the Germans fortified the Dieppe beach. Several hundreds of miles of beaches were fortified in the same fashion as the Germans saw their greatest threat of Allied invasion to be from the sea. (L/O 54162 and DVA 734 and #1 and 8160: Dieppe #2)

The operation was to last twelve hours, a frontal attack taking place on the beach at Dieppe, after landings on both sides at Pourville and Puys, thus neutralizing the defences overlooking the main beach. The long-range batteries at Varengeville and Berneval also had to be destroyed before the landing in Dieppe. The aim of the raid was to destroy the German coastal defences, the port structures and all the strategic buildings (petrol storage depots, radio and radar stations, headquarters, airfield).


Canadian tanks got bogged down on the pebbled beaches at Dieppe and very few ever made their objective of getting up the cliffs and into the town. (DVA 736)

Over 6.000 men were to land, among them 4.965 Canadians from the 2nd Division (including the crews of 50 Churchill tanks) and 1.200 British men belonging to the Commandos and the Royal Marines. 250 boats effected the transport (duck-boats, destroyers, gunboats, patrol boats, landing-craft...). Around 1.000 aircraft (fighters, bombers) were used to support and defend the landing force.


The aftermath of the Dieppe Raid. (R.20A and DVA 735)

In August 1942, the area of Dieppe was under the responsability of the 302nd Division of the Wehrmacht. About 2.500 men, highly trained and equiped (571st Regiment of Grenadiers, artillery units, Flak units and Kriegsmarine units), were present at each of the different landing-points. Important fresh troops could be sent for at short notice. The defensive fortifications were already dangerous, and the fire-power significant (automatic weapons, mortars, medium and heavy guns, long-range coast batteries). The German airforce, although less extensive, was still very dangerous and had the advantage of being close to its home-base.

Attack and Defeat

During the evening of 18th August, the naval forces of Operation Jubilee got under way from several ports on the south coast of England. The different groups accomplished a trouble-free sea-crossing until, suddenly, several miles off the coast, the left wing flotilla, which was carrying the 3rd British Commando unit, unexpectedly ran into a small German convoy sailing from Boulogne to Dieppe. It was 3.45am. The ensuing battle completely upset the planned attack on Berneval, and alerted part of the enemy defence. Yet, a small group of commandos still managed to neutralize the battery for an hour and a half.


1874 Canadians were taken prisoner by the Germans at Dieppe. (R.16 and DVA 735)

At 4.50am, at the other end of the operation zone, the 4th Commando got a foothold on two areas along the coast, in order to catch the battery at Varengeville in a pincer movement. It was a complete success. The battery was destroyed and the commandos re-embarked at 8.15am with scarcely any human loss.

At Puys, the Royal Regiment of Canada landed at 5.06am, later than planned, and in broad daylight. The German defence was on the watch, overlooking the attackers who tried in vain to get over the high concrete wall enclosing the small beach, under heavy fire with no shelter. In less than an hour, of the 600 men who had landed, the Canadians had lost 225, those left were either wounded or made prisoner; only about sixty made it back to England.


German soldiers round up Allied prisoners following the Dieppe Raid.. 1, 874 Canadians were captured during and after the assault. (R.24 and DVA 735)

The South Saskatchewan and Cameron Highlanders landed at Pourville at 4.50am, easily invading the village. The German defence became progressively firmer and although soldiers managed to advance as far as Petit Appeville in the valley and as far as two-thirds of the way up the slopes leading to Dieppe, they could not carry any further and had to fall back late in the morning, re-embarking with heavy losses (151 dead, 266 made prisoner and 269 wounded).



At 5.20am, after a too-short preliminary bombing, the first two assault waves of the Royal Hamilton and the Essex Scottish got a foothold on the beach at Dieppe. The tanks of the 14th Canadian Army Tank Regiment, which should have protected them, landed fifteen minutes later with great difficulty and could not efficiently support the foot-soldiers advancing on the exposed esplanade, where a hell-fire showered them from the cliffs and the houses on the seafront. Even those who managed to reach the esplanade could not then get over the concrete walls barring every entrance to the town centre. The casino was occupied by some men from the Royal Hamilton. Several small groups even managed to get past the first rows of houses and to enter the church St Rémy.



On the east side of the beach, the men of the Essex Scottish, even more exposed, were very quickly stopped by intensive German gunfire (the troops having been defeated at Pourville and especially at Puys, the Germans had held on to their whole fire power). The Allied Command, based on the HMS Calpe, seeing nothing happening on land because of extremely thick smoke, and being badly informed because of failing transmissions, sent in fresh back-up troops, men from the Mount Royal Fusiliers and the Royal Marines Commandos. They landed on the beach amidst great confusion with no hope whatsoever of improving an already jeopardized situation. The murderous battle went on until the end of the morning, the order to draw back being given around 11am, to the survivors who tried to re-embark on the boats which had returned to pick them up. Of the 2.000 men who had landed, 400 were dead, and only 400 succeeded in regaining England. At about 1 pm, the battle was nearly over.

Evaluation and Controversy

Operation Jubilee ended with dramatic results: the allies counted 1.380 dead (913 Canadians), 1.600 wounded and over 2.000 made prisoner. The air battle was just as disastrous. The Royal Air Force lost 107 aircraft; the Germans about forty. In the area of Dieppe, among the civilians, the count was 48 dead and 100 wounded. The Germans had 345 dead or missing and 268 wounded. Thus, in less than ten hours' battle, almost 1.800 people lost their lives, which shows clearly the murderous intensity of the Battle of Dieppe.



The result and ensuing debates could not live down the sacrifice of those who fought and the enemy was the first to admit that the disaster was not of their doing; "the huge number of prisoners may seem to question the value of the Canadian and British units involved in the raid. Far from it. The enemy soldiers, mostly Canadian, proved their skill and courage everywhere it was possible to fight. It was not their lack of courage, but the fact that we concentrated our defensive artillery fire and our heavy infantry weapons so much that stopped the enemy gaining ground" (extracts of reports written by the majors of the 81st Corps and the 302nd German Division).


Dieppe Cemetery, France. (#7 and 197 .07 6 160 and 95 and 78-cen)

The sea-battle off Berneval breaking the surprise effect of the raid could not in itself explain the failure of Operation Jubilee. In fact, the reasons for this failure lie mainly in the underestimation of the enemy forces, the lack of effective air and sea support before landing, the use of inadequate equipment and the lack of information being other aggravating factors.

Military defeats are always controversial subjects, especially when loss of human life is involved. Operation Jubilee did not escape this rule and although the lessons learnt brought valuable indications for the preparation of Operation Overlord, the South Normandy landing on 6th June 1944, many wondered at the relevancy and usefulness of Operation Jubilee as far as future operations were concerned.


A plaque on the wall of Canada Square, Dieppe, France. Commemorating the Canadian soldiers who died on the beach of Dieppe on August 19, 1942. Photo by J.Ough, NFB, April 1972 (LO 49297 and #8 and 5)

Two years after the raid on Dieppe, the Canadians landed in Juno, at dawn on 6th June 1944, participated in the Battle of Normandy and on 1st September 1944, the 2nd Canadian Division liberated Dieppe.

[SAMWolf]

The Raid on Dieppe

The Allied situation in the spring of 1942 was grim. The Germans had penetrated deep into Russia, the British Eighth Army in North Africa had been forced back into Egypt, and in Western Europe the Allied forces faced the Germans across the English Channel.

A German soldier inspects the damage and destruction along a street in Dieppe following the Allied raid. (DVA 736)

Since the time was not yet ripe for mounting Operation Overlord, the full-scale invasion of Western Europe, the Allies decided to mount a major raid on the French port of Dieppe. Designed to foster German fears of an attack in the west and compel them to strengthen their Channel defences at the expense of other areas of operation, the raid would also provide an opportunity to test new techniques and equipment, and be the means to gain the experience and knowledge necessary for planning the great amphibious assault.



Accordingly, plans were drawn up for a large-scale raid to take place in July 1942. It was called Operation Rutter. Canadians would provide the main assault force, and by May 20 troops of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division were on the Isle of Wight to begin intensive training in amphibious operations. When unfavourable weather in July prevented Rutter from being launched, it was urged that the idea of a raid should be abandoned. However, the operation was revived and given the new code name Jubilee. The port of Dieppe on the French coast remained the objective.

The attack upon Dieppe took place on August 19, 1942. The troops involved totaled 6,100 of whom roughly 5,000 were Canadians, the remainder being British Commandos and 50 American Rangers. The raid was supported by eight Allied destroyers and 74 Allied air squadrons (eight belonging to the RCAF). Major General J.H. Roberts, the Commander of the 2nd Canadian Division, was appointed Military Force Commander, with Captain J. Hughes-Hallett, R.N. as Naval Force Commander and Air Vice Marshal T.L. Leigh-Mallory as Air Force Commander.

The plan called for attacks at five different points on a front of roughly 16 kilometres. Four simultaneous flank attacks were to go in just before dawn, followed half an hour later by the main attack on the town of Dieppe itself. Canadians would form the force for the frontal attack on Dieppe and would also go in at gaps in the cliffs at Pourville four kilometres to the west, and at Puys to the east. British commandos were assigned to destroy the coastal batteries at Berneval on the eastern flank, and at Varengeville in the west.

As the assault force approached the coast of France in the early hours of August 19, the landing craft of the eastern sector unexpectedly encountered a small German convoy. The noise of the sharp violent sea fight which followed alerted coastal defences, particularly at Berneval and Puys, leaving little chance of success in this sector. The craft carrying No. 3 Commando were scattered and most of the unit never reached shore. Those who did were quickly overwhelmed. One small party of 20 commandos managed to get within 180 metres of the battery and by accurate sniping prevented the guns from firing on the assault ships for two-and-one-half vital hours before they were safely evacuated.

An assault craft lying abandoned on the beach following the Dieppe Raid. The photo was taken by German personnel. (R.3 and DVA 735)

At Puys the Royal Regiment of Canada shared in the ill-fortune. The beach there was extremely narrow and was commanded by lofty cliffs where German soldiers were strategically placed. Success depended on surprise and darkness, neither of which prevailed. The naval landing was delayed, and as the Royals leapt ashore in the growing light they met violent machine-gun fire from the fully-alerted German soldiers. Only a few men were able to get over the heavily wired seawall at the head of the beach; those who did were unable to get back. The rest of the troops, together with three platoons of reinforcements from the Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada, were pinned on the beach by mortar and machine-gun fire, and were later forced to surrender. Evacuation was impossible in the face of German fire. Of those who landed, 200 were killed and 20 died later of their wounds; the rest were taken prisoner the heaviest toll suffered by a Canadian battalion in a single day throughout the entire war. Failure to clear the eastern headland enabled the Germans to enfilade the Dieppe beaches and nullify the main frontal attack.



In the western sector, meanwhile, some degree of surprise was achieved. In contrast to the misfortune encountered by No. 3 on the east flank, the No. 4 Commando operation was completely successful. According to plan, the unit went in, successfully destroyed the guns in the battery near Varengeville, and then withdrew safely.

At Pourville, the Canadians were fortunate enough to achieve some degree of surprise, and initial opposition was light as the South Saskatchewan Regiment and Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada assaulted the beaches. Resistance stiffened as they crossed the River Scie and pushed towards Dieppe proper. Heavy fighting then developed and the Saskatchewans, and the Camerons who supported them, were stopped well short of the town. The main force of the Camerons, meanwhile, pushed on towards their objective, an inland airfield, and advanced some three kilometres before they too were forced to halt.

The Canadians lost heavily during the withdrawal. The enemy was able to bring fierce fire to bear upon the beach from dominating positions east of Pourville, and also from the high ground to the west. However, the landing craft came in through the storm of fire with self-sacrificing gallantry and, supported by a courageous rearguard, the greater part of both units successfully re-embarked though many of the men were wounded. The rearguard itself could not be brought off and, when ammunition ran out and further evacuation was impossible, surrendered.

The main attack was to be made across the pebble beach in front of Dieppe and timed to take place a half-hour later than on the flanks. German soldiers, concealed in clifftop positions and in buildings overlooking the promenade, waited. As the men of the Essex Scottish Regiment assaulted the open eastern section, the enemy swept the beach with machine-gun fire. All attempts to breach the seawall were beaten back with grievous loss. When one small party managed to infiltrate the town, a misleading message was received aboard the headquarters ship which suggested that the Essex Scottish were making headway. Thus, the reserve battalion Les Fusiliers Mont Royal was sent in. They, like their comrades who had landed earlier, found themselves pinned down on the beach and exposed to intense enemy fire.

The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry landed at the west end of the promenade opposite a large isolated casino. They were able to clear this strongly-held building and the nearby pillboxes and some men of the battalion got across the bullet-swept boulevard and into the town, where they were engaged in vicious street fighting.

Misfortune also attended the landing of the tanks of the Calgary Regiment. Timed to follow an air and naval bombardment, they were put ashore ten to fifteen minutes late, thus leaving the infantry without support during the first critical minutes of the attack. Then as the tanks came ashore, they met an inferno of fire and were brought to a halt stopped not only by enemy guns, but also immobilized by the shingle banks and seawall. Those that negotiated the seawall found their way blocked by concrete obstacles which sealed off the narrow streets. Nevertheless, the immobilized tanks continued to fight, supporting the infantry and contributing greatly to the withdrawal of many of them; the tank crews became prisoners or died in battle.

The last troops to land were part of the Royal Marine "A" Commando, which shared the terrible fate of the Canadians. They suffered heavy losses without being able to accomplish their mission.

The raid also produced a tremendous air battle. While the Allied air forces were able to provide protection from the Luftwaffe for the ships off Dieppe, the cost was high. The Royal Air Force lost 106 aircraft which was to be the highest single-day total of the war. The RCAF loss was 13 aircraft.

By early afternoon, Operation Jubilee was over. Conflicting assessments of the value of the raid continue to be presented. Some claim that it was a useless slaughter; others maintain that it was necessary to the successful invasion of the continent two years later on D-Day. The Dieppe Raid was closely studied by those responsible for planning future operations against the enemy-held coast of France. Out of it came improvements in technique, fire support and tactics which reduced D-Day casualties to an unexpected minimum. The men who perished at Dieppe were instrumental in saving countless lives on the 6th of June, 1944. While there can be no doubt that valuable lessons were learned, a frightful price was paid in those morning hours of August 19, 1942. Of the 4,963 Canadians who embarked for the operation only 2,210 returned to England, and many of these were wounded. There were 3,367 casualties, including 1,946 prisoners of war; 907 Canadians lost their lives.

[SAMWolf]

Canadians at Dieppe
Operation Jubilee

The Allied Dieppe Raid, codenamed Operation Jubilee, began at dawn on August 19, 1942. The objective was to briefly invade the German-occupied port of Dieppe, France, destroy predetermined targets and return to England as quickly as possible. It was hoped that this would cause the German Army such concern that it would strengthen its English Channel defences at the expense of other areas of operation.

The Raid

The Dieppe Raid of August 19, 1942 was one of the worst disasters of the Second World War. Nine-hundred-and-seven Canadian lives were lost on that day and 1,946 other Canadians were captured and forced to spend the remainder of the war as prisoners.



The troops involved totalled 6,100 of whom roughly 5,000 were Canadians, the remainder being British Commandos and 50 American Rangers. The raid was supported by eight Allied destroyers and 74 Allied air squadrons (eight belonging to the Royal Canadian Air Force).

The plan called for attacks at five different points on a front of roughly 16 kilometres. Four simultaneous flank attacks were to go in just before dawn, followed half an hour later by the main attack on the town of Dieppe itself. Canadians would form the force for the frontal attack on Dieppe and would also go in at gaps in the cliffs at Pourville four kilometres to the west, and at Puys to the east. British commandos were assigned to destroy the coastal batteries at Berneval on the eastern flank, and at Varengeville in the west.


One of the few tanks that actually made it up off the beach and into the Dieppe area and was later destroyed. (R.10 and DVA 735)

A German convoy was unexpectedly encountered in the eastern sector leaving little chance of success. The narrow beach at Puys with its lofty cliffs allowed German soldiers to be strategically placed. Success depended on surprise and darkness, neither of which prevailed. Failure to clear the eastern headland enabled the Germans to enfilade the Dieppe beaches and nullify the main frontal attack.

In the western sector at Varengeville, the operation was completely successful. At Pourville however, the Canadians were not so lucky. They had made it through the planned attack but lost heavily during the withdrawal.



In the main attacks that took take place across the pebble beach in front of Dieppe, the enemy swept the beach with machine gun fire. Mis-communication caused the reserve battalion to be pinned down as well.

The landing of the tanks of the Calgary Regiment fell victim to a late arrival leaving the infantry without support during the critical minutes of the attack. The tanks came ashore and met an inferno of fire. Some were able to negotiate the sea wall and continue to fight and support the infantry, however, the tank crews were taken as prisoners or died in battle.



The raid also produced a tremendous air battle at a high cost. The Royal Air Force lost 106 aircraft, the highest single-day total of the war. The Royal Canadian Air Force loss was 13 aircraft.

Bad timing, inadequate equipment and mis-communication caused the entire mission to be plagued by disaster. On almost every front, the enemy was ready for the Canadians and was able to defeat them quickly. The conflict was over by early afternoon. Some claim it was a useless slaughter, others maintain that it was necessary to the success of D-Day two years later. Despite the controversy, there is no dispute about the performance of the Canadians involved. Although Dieppe was not a military victory, it was an impressive and memorable example of Canadian gallantry and endurance.

Additional Sources:

www.vac-acc.gc.ca

[SAMWolf]

'For eight hours, under intense Nazi fire from dawn into a sweltering afternoon, I watched Canadian troops fight the blazing, bloody battle of Dieppe. I saw them go through the biggest of the war's raiding operations in wild scenes that crowded helter skelter one upon another in crazy sequence. There was a furious attack by German E-boats while the Canadians moved in on Dieppe's beaches, landing by dawn's half-light. When the Canadian battalions stormed through the flashing inferno of Nazi defences, belching guns of huge tanks rolling into the fight, I spent the grimmest 20 minutes of my life with one unit when a rain of German machine-gun fire wounded half the men in our boat and only a miracle saved us from annihilation.'

Ross Munro of The Canadian Press,
assigned to cover the Canadian troops in Britain, went ashore with allied shock troops storming the Dieppe beach on August 19, 1942, to get this first-hand story of the war's biggest commando raid.

'I was gone off the tank landing craft and had the job of plugging the plug to blow the waterproofing around the turret of the tank ; this really stunned me for a few seconds, then the dive bomber, bombing and the flames coming through the slits and burning my eyelashes, after this happened I did not have any fear and I felt sure ; they could not damage, so I keep going the best way I could.'

Andy Nyman,
14th Canadian Army Tank Regiment

'Disembarked in dreadful conditions on the beach in Puys, I went through the most dramatic part of this day. Within two or three hours, the Royal Regiment of Toronto suffered the greatest loss of men among all the Jubilee units (of the 554 men disembarked, 225 were killed, 147 were wounded and 280 were taken prisoner). Only 64 men managed coming back to England.'

Joseph Ryan,
Royal Regiment of Canada

The Dieppe Bar is awarded to those who participated in the Dieppe Raid on August 19, 1942, and is worn on the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal ribbon.

A silver bar, to be attached to the ribbon of the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal (CVSM), has been designed featuring the word DIEPPE in raised letters on a pebbled background. Above this, the bar bears an anchor surmounted by an eagle and a Thompson sub-machine gun. The design was created in consultation with the Dieppe Veterans and Prisoners of War Association.

'The second wave of landing crafts bringing the other half of the armour of the Calgary Regiment was not able to land its tanks. The situation ashore, as it was possible to see it from the landing crafts coming close to the beach seemed dramatic. Boats on fire, the beach full of dead soldiers, the intense German fire, the whole thing wrapped in a thick smoke, let foresee the disaster….'

Ron Gervais,
14th Canadian Army Tank Regiment

'I landed between the casino and the cliffs. I landed first passing behind a burning landing craft tank. I sent walking wounded to boats to be evacuated. I had to surrender with 75-80 wounded when the tide came in. Padre John Foote was with me, till we surrendered. We were both taken to German headquarters and were no doubt the first officers to be interrogated.'

Wesley Clare,
Medical Officer

'I belonged to Lord Lovat's troop. We attacked the German battery in the rear, over the wire under fire. I blew up N° 3 and N° 4 guns. I was a demolition man carrying 85lb of explosive. I was glad to see the explosives gone. We withdrew down the gully and sailed for Blighty.'

Bill Portman,
4e Commando

[SAMWolf]

Canadians at Dieppe - Sacrifice before Victory

It's been fifty-five years since that dreadful day of the raid on Dieppe on August 19, 1942. But Ron Beal has not forgotten the horror of it. He vividly remembers landing on the beach and the years he spent as a prisoner of war.



Ron joined the army in December 1939 as a private in the Royal Regiment of Canada. At the age of 18, he enlisted because he felt it was his duty - he wanted to serve his country as his father had done before him in the First World War.

Initially, he trained as a stretcher-bearer and later became a rifleman. He also received training in commando tactics for three months on the Isle of Wight before going into the battle at Dieppe. He was ready.

On that August morning in 1942, as the landing craft on which he and his comrades were sailing approached the coast of France, they encountered a small German convoy and a sea fight followed alerting the coastal defences of the impending attack. The delay in landing and the growing light dashed their hopes for a surprise attack - the enemy was waiting.

Ron and his comrades landed at Blue Beach at Puys on that awful morning in full daylight - the element of surprise was completely lost. They had been trained to disembark the landing craft quickly so that as soon as the craft hit the beach, it would reverse its engines to make a quick getaway and avoid getting blown up by mortar shells. Some of the men made a dry landing, but others - those last off the landing craft - had to jump into the water and wade ashore carrying their rifles and heavy backpacks loaded with ammunition and other necessities.

They had been trained to run a short distance up the beach and drop down - then get up again and drop. But as Ron dropped and looked around, he realized that a lot of the men were not getting up again - they were dead. "Keep your heads down," warned his Sergeant, "these guys are playing for keeps." Ron made it to the seawall but he and the rest of the men were unable to continue fighting - they could not go forward nor could they go back - they were under constant machine-gun fire. With their ammunition exhausted, they had no choice but to surrender.

Ron was taken a prisoner of war that day. He was 21 years old. He and the other POWs were taken by train to a prisoner of war camp in Germany. In January 1945 due to the Russian advance, they were marched across Germany to northwest of Hanover seldom moving in the same direction. Sometimes they would go North and sometimes they would go South, backtracking to avoid the Russians depending on where they were - it took a long time to get to the new camp. "The only thing that kept us going was that we knew the Allies were winning and every step was one step closer to home," says Ron.

For most of the time in the war camp, the POWs' hands were bound in shackles. This made it very difficult for them to attend to their most basic human functions of daily living. "It was dehumanizing," says Ron. Their diet consisted mostly of bread.

He remained a prisoner until just before the end of the war when he was liberated in April 1945. He was not injured during the war, but before returning home, he spent a month in a hospital in England because he was "in pretty bad shape".

With his regiment almost decimated at Dieppe, his homecoming must have been bittersweet for him, since many of his comrades - some of whom he had known from childhood and through school - had been his close friends and would not be returning.

Ron finds it remarkable that he survived the raid on Dieppe. "God must have had his hand on my shoulder," he says, "or maybe he was just saving me for other work." And that may be so. For many years, Ron Beal has worked to help veterans who fought at Dieppe and continues to do so as President of the Dieppe Veterans and War Prisoners Association in Canada.

At the age of 76 and in fairly good health, Ron is looking forward to travelling to France to commemorate the 55th anniversary of the raid on Dieppe in August this year. Dieppe will be a different place for him this time.

[SAMWolf]

[snippy_about_it]

.......FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!

.......Good Tuesday Morning Everyone!


If you would like added or removed from our ping list let me know.

[radu]

Good morning!

I got these in an e-mail tonight, er....last night, and thought I'd share the humor to get the day started with a smile. Then I'm gonna start the day off with a little bit of sleep. *giggle* Have a fabulous day everyone!!

MARINE BUMPER STICKERS

We're Marines, We took Iwo Jima.
Baghdad ain't shit. .Gen. Kelly, USMC

America, Home of the Free
Because of the Brave

US Marines - Travel Agents to Allah (my favorite)

Marine artillery brings dignity
To what otherwise would just be a brawl

The Marines are not a branch...
We are a Breed!

On the seventh day God rested...
Marines filled sand bags.

American by birth - Marine by choice!

Martyrs or Marines...
Who do you think will get the virgins?

If everyone could get in - it wouldn't be The Marines!

Don't believe the rumors - Marines are human.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning radu. Those are good. I think my favorite is the same one as yours. LOL. Thanks for the morning laugh and stopping in.

[E.G.C.]

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Freeper Foxhole. It's hot here in Oklahoma. How's everything going for you?:-D

[CholeraJoe]

Good morning. Fortunately, the Overlord invasion was better planned.

[snippy_about_it]

Good Morning EGC, cool welcome morning here.

[snippy_about_it]

Thank you for today's lesson SAM.

Reading today's story I kept expecting to see Montgomery's name come up. I don't think I missed it. In fact, I didn't read where any leader was named as far as the planning went.

I'll look it up later and report back. First, I have to do some work I get paid for. :)

See you later.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning 'joe'. I just finished reading this and it certainly wasn't well planned. What a sad state of affairs for all these men.

[snippy_about_it]

Hey, it was Montgomery, lol. Am I learning something or what? lol.

Regarding the Dieppe Raid;

"In April 1942 General Bernard Montgomery and Admiral Louis Mountbatten began to plan the invasion. It was originally due to take place in July but bad weather resulted in it being postponed until August."

(from spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk)

[aomagrat]

Today's classic warship, USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413)

John C. Butler class destroyer escort
Displacement: 1811 tons
Length: 306'
Beam: 36'8"
Draft: 11'2"
Speed: 24 knots
Complement: 14 officers, 201 enlisted
Armament: 2 5", 3 21" torpedo tubes, 4 40mm, 10 20mm, 1 hedgehog, 2 depth charge tracks, 8 "K" gun projectors

USS Samuel B. Roberts, a 1745-ton John C. Butler class destroyer escort, was built at Houston, Texas. Built by the Brown Shipbuilding Company, Houston, Texas, the ship was commissioned on April 28, 1944. Lieutenant Commander R. W. Copeland, USNR, commanding. Mrs. Samuel B. Roberts, mother of the ship's namesake, Samuel B. Roberts, Jr., Coxswain, USNR sponsored the vessel. Samuel B. Roberts briefly operated in the western Atlantic before transferring to the Pacific. After escort duties in mid-Pacific, Samuel B. Roberts supported the Leyte invasion as part of an escort carrier task force. On 25 October 1944, during the Battle off Samar, she was lost while agressively fighting a vastly superior Japanese battleship and cruiser assault, an action that was instrumental in saving most of her task force and defeating the Japanese counter-offensive against the Leyte invasion.

Several direct hits by 8 and 14-inch salvos, scored by heavy Japanese ships, sunk the Roberts, bringing to an end her valiant slugfest with enemy vessels of superior power. The Roberts dodged torpedoes, and threw punches of her own for fully 50 minutes before the superior numbers and armament of the enemy vessels sent her to the bottom.

The destroyer escort was part of a screening unit to protect a force of American aircraft carriers. When the enemy opened fire at 7 o'clock that morning, the Roberts immediately sought to protect her "flattops." The first step was to lay a smoke screen and then, steaming under cover of her own screen, she approached within 4,000 yards of a Jap heavy cruiser, fired three torpedoes, and returned to the protection of the smoke. One of the torpedoes struck home and started fires in the enemy ship.

Keeping between the main enemy force and her own carriers, the Roberts settled back and turned all guns on a Japanese cruiser. One 5-inch gun fired more than 300 rounds of ammunition, all that was available, in 50 furious minutes, scoring at least 40 sure hits.

The rapid fire from this gun was halted when a Jap battleship found the range and blasted the gun out of action with a 14-inch salvo. Six charges were rammed in by hand and fired, although the men knew that an explosion might result from each of them because the gas ejection system was not working. The seventh round fired in this manner exploded and killed all but three members of the gun crew outright. The gun captain, Paul Henry Carr, Gunner's Mate, Third Class, who was credited generously for the excellent performance, was wounded beside his mount, clutching the last 5-inch shell and struggling to ram the 50-pound projectile into the chamber. Upon the recommendation of his Commanding Officer, Carr was on March 1, 1945 awarded the Navy Cross posthumously.

In the next few minutes, the Japs kept sending successive salvos of major caliber projectiles into the foundering destroyer escort. The death blow was a three-gun battleship 14-inch salvo that hit in number 2 engine room, tearing a hole 40-feet long and 10-feet wide in the ship's skin on the port side. Abandon ship was ordered.

Men abandoning the vessel to port launched a life raft on that side, but a breeze blew it into the gaping hole torn by the last salvo. Four men crawled into the aperture, embarked upon the raft, and with every ounce of strength at their command, pushed the raft against the tide of inrushing water and managed to get it outside of the rupture.

This was an important victory because the 120 men that survived had only two other rafts and two floater nets on which to cling until rescue was effected some 50 hours later.

The long ordeal at sea was marked by shark attacks and lack of water. Eighteen hours were spent in heavy, oil-covered waters and each man became so saturated with the sticky substance, that he was indistinguishable from the others. One individualist removed some oil-smeared clothes in order to ease his swimming but in so doing exposed the lower portion of his body which was still white, not being covered with oil. A shark was attracted, swam up to the naked survivor, and nudged the exposed portion. The man put his oily clothes back on with haste.

A PC (Patrol Craft), escorting a group of five LCI's, came upon the group at the start of their third day. The ship's commanding officer, fearing that some of the men might be dynamite-laden Jap suicide swimmers purposely smeared with oil, approached the survivors with guns manned and ready. He put them to a test by yelling, "Who won the World Series?" "The St. Louis Cardinals" the answer shot back.

The Roberts' life lasted only six months.

[Soaring Feather]

Good morning everyone!
Coffee, I need coffee!!

[Soaring Feather]

Love the Marine Bumper Stickers!

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on August 19:
1398 I¤igo L¢pez Spain, marques de Santillana, poet (Comedieta de Ponza)
1631 John Dryden 1st poet laureate of England (Absalom & Achitophel)
1646 John Flamsteed 1st astronomer royal of England
1689 Samuel Richardson English novelist (Pamela) (baptized)
1785 Seth Thomas pioneer in mass production of clocks
1844 Minna Canth Finland, novelist/dramatist (social evils)
1946 Bill Clinton 42nd US President. (Former Little Rock Attorney)
1948 Mary Elizabeth Aitcheson. In 1970 became "Tipper" Gore. Wife of Al Gore US Vice President.
1858 Edith Nesbit England, children books author (Railway Children)
1859 Charles Comiskey 1st basemen/manager (Chicago White Sox)
1860 John Kane Scottish-born US primitivist painter (Self-Portrait)
1870 Bernard Baruch financier/presidential adviser
1871 Orville Wright aviator
1878 Manuel Quezon 1st president of Philippine Commonwealth (1935-42)
1881 Georges Enesco (or Enescu) Romania, composer (Romanian Dances)
1889 Arthur Waley sinologist, translator from Chinese & Japanese
1890 H.P. Lovecraft, author of horror tales.
1892 Alfred Lunt Broadway actor (Emmy 1965)
1902 Ogden Nash Rye NY, humorous poet (I'm a Stranger Here Myself)
1903 Claude Dauphin Corbell France, actor (April in Paris, Deported)
1903 James Gould Cozzens US, novelist (1949 Pulitzer-Guard of Honor)
1906 Philo T Farnsworth Beaver Utah, inventor (electronic TV)
1907 June Collyer NYC, actress (June-Stu Erwin Show)
1907 Thurston Morton (Sen-Ky, 1957-1969)
1915 Ring Lardner Jr Chicago, screenwriter (Woman of the Year)
1916 Marie Wilson Anaheim Calif, actress (My Friend Irma)
1919 Malcolm Forbes publisher (Forbes Magazine)
1921 Gene Roddenberry executive producer (Star Trek)
1924 William Marshall Gary Ind, actor (Blacula, Something of Value)
1931 Willie Shoemaker jockey (In 1956 he won $2 million)
1933 Debra Paget actress (Anne of the Indies, Love Me Tender)
1934 Bill Cleary US, ice hockey player (Olympic-gold-1960)
1934 David F Durenberger Minn, (Sen-R-Minn)
1934 Dr Renee Richards trans-sexual tennis player
1935 Bobby Richardson SC, 2nd baseman (NY Yankees)
1935 F Story Musgrave Boston, MD/astronaut (STS 6, 51-F, 33, 44)
1938 Diana Muldaur actress (McCloud, Star Trek Next Generation, LA Law)
1938 Valentin Mankin USSR, finn class yachtsman (Olympic-gold-1968)
1939 Ginger [Peter] Baker England, drummer (Cream-White Room)
1940 Jill St John [Oppenheim], LA Calif, actress (Diamonds are Forever)
1940 Johnny Nash Houston, Tx, rocker (I Can See Clearly Now)
1943 Billy J Kramer Liverpool, rocker (The Dakotas-Bad to Me)
1945 Ian Gillian heavy metal rocker (Deep Purple-Knocking at Backdoor)
1946 Charles F Bolden Jr Columbia SC, astronaut (STS 61C, 31, STS 45)
1947 Gerald McRaney Collins Miss, actor (Simon & Simon, Major Dad)
1951 John Deacon rocker (Queen-Bohemian Rhapsody)
1951 Randi Oakes Randalia Iowa, actress (Officer Bonnie Clark-CHiPs)
1952 Jonathan Frakes actor (Actor: Commander Will Riker in "Star Trek Next Generation", Director: "Star Trek: First Contact")
1956 Adam Arkin Bkln, actor (Lenny-Busting Loose, Pearl, Tough Cookies)
1956 Cindy Nelson US, skier (Olympic-bronze-1976)
1957 Darby Hinton Santa Monica Calif, actor (Israel-Daniel Boone)
1959 Steve Grimmett heavy metal rocker
1960 Ron Darling Hawaii, baseball pitcher (NY Mets)
1962 Valerie Kaprisky Paris France, actress (Breathless, Public Woman)
1963 Joey Tempest rocker (Europe-The Final Countdown)
1963 John Stamos Cypress Calif, actor (General Hospital, Full House)
1965 Kevin Dillon actor (Heaven Help Us, Remote Control, Platoon)
1967 Jason Starsky son of Beatle Ringo
1969 Christian Slater actor (Legend of Billie Jean)
1970 Matthew Perry actor (Sydney)
1971 Tricia Ann Luedtke Oostburg Wisc, Miss Wisc-America-1991

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Deaths which occurred on August 19:
14 -BC- Octavian [Augustus] Roman general, dies at 48
1493 Frederick III Innsbruck Austria, German Emperor (1440-1493)
1929 Sergei P Diaghilev Russia, dance master (Imperial Ballet), dies at 57
1962 Kerstin Hesselgren 1st woman in Swedish parliament, dies at 90
1977 Julius (Groucho) Marx NYC, comedian (Marx Bros), dies in LA at 86
1986 Hermione Baddeley actress (Camp Runamuck, Maude), dies at 79

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1968 COLLINS THEOTHIS ASBURY PARK NJ.
1968 HOFFMAN TERRY ALAN DANVILLE IN.
[REMAINS RETURNED BURIED 1994]
1969 BOHLIG JAMES RICHARD CROCKETT CA.
1969 FLANIGAN JOHN N. WINTER HAVEN FL.
[REMAINS RETURNED 1989, ID'D 06/26/97]
1969 MORRISSEY RICHARD THOMAS UNIONDALE NY.
1969 SMITH ROBERT N. TRUCKSVILLE PA.
1972 BEHNFELDT ROGER ERNEST DEFIANCE OH.
[REMAINS RETURNED 09/24/87]
1972 SHINGAKI TAMOTSU MAUI HI.
[03/29/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

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On this day...
440 St Sixtus III ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1099 Crusaders beat Saracens in Battle of Ascalon
1263 King James I or Argon censors Hebrew writings
1619 The first group of twenty Africans is brought to Jamestown, Virginia.
1787 W Herschel discovers Enceladus, a moon of Saturn
1812 US warship Constitution defeats British warship Guerriere
1826 Canada Co chartered to colonize Upper Canada (Ontario)
1888 1st beauty contest (Spa, Belgium), 18 yr old West Indian wins
1891 William Huggins describes astronomical application of spectrum
1903 Phillies suffer record 9th straight posponed game
1909 1st race at the Indianapolis 500 Speedway
1917 Sunday benefit baseball game at the Polo Grounds results in John McGraw & Christy Mathewson's arrest for violating Blue laws
1934 Helen Hull Jacobs win US Lawn Tennis Association
1934 Plebiscite in Germany approved sole executive power to Adolph Hitler
1942 1,000 Canadian & British soldiers killed raiding Dieppe, France
1942 1st American offensive in Pacific in WW2, Guadalcanal, Solomon Is
1950 ABC begins Saturday morning kid shows (Animal Clinic & Acrobat Ranch)
1951 Bill Veeck (Browns) sends Eddie Gaedel, a 3'7" midget, to pinch-hit
1954 Ralph J Bunche named undersecretary of UN
1955 Hurricane Diane kills 200 & 1st billion $ damage storm (N.E. US)
1957 NY Giants vote to move their franchise to SF in 1958
1958 NAACP Youth Council begin sit-ins at Oklahoma City Lunch counters
1960 Francis Gary Powers convicted of spying by USSR (U-2 incident)
1960 Sputnik 5 carries 2 dogs, 3 mice into orbit (later recovered alive)
1962 Homer Blancos plays the finest round in golf, shooting a 55
1965 Cincinatti Red Jim Maloney 2nd no-hitter of year beats Chic Cubs, 1-0
1967 Beatles' "All You Need is Love," single goes #1
1969 Chicago Cub Ken Holtzman no-hits Atlanta Braves, 3-0
1973 Pirate World Music Radio (Holland) closes down after 10 years
1976 Pres Gerald R Ford won Republican pres nomination at KC convention
1978 422 die in an arson fire at a movie theater in Iran
1979 Crew of Soyuz 32 returns to Earth aboard Soyuz 34 aft 175 d flight
1980 Saudi Arabian Lockheed Tristar crashes on landing at Riyadh, 301 die
1981 2 US Navy F-14 jet fighters shot down 2 Soviet-built Libyan SU-22
1982 Renaldo Nehemiah of US sets record for 110 m hurdles, 12.93 sec
1982 Soyuz T-7 launched, Svetlana Savtiskaya 2nd woman in space
1983 LSU footballer Billy Cannon sentenced to 5 yrs for counterfeiting
1984 Lee Trevino wins the PGA
1985 Japan launches its 2nd probe of Halley's Comet, Suisei
1988 Iran-Iraq begin a cease-fire in their 8-year-old war (11 PM EDT)
1988 NY Rangers sign ex-Canadien great Guy Lafluer
1989 Tadeusz Mazowiecki, elected 1st non-communmist president of Poland
1990 NY Yankee Kevin Mass is quickest to reach 14 HRs (approx 128 at bat)
1991 Coup in Russia deposes Mikhail Gorbachev

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Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Ethiopia : Buhe
US : National Aviation Day (1939)
Hawaii : Admission Day (1959) - - - - - ( Friday )
Mich : Montrose-Blueberry Festival - - - - - ( Friday )

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Religious Observances
Orth : Transfiguration of Our Lord (8/6 OS)
RC : Memorial of St John Eudes, confessor/priest (opt)

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Religious History
1099 The armies of the First Crusade defeated the Saracens at the Battle of Ascalon (an historic Palestinian city on the Mediterranean), one month after they had captured Jerusalem.
1775 Anglican clergyman and hymnwriter John Newton wrote in a letter: 'We are never more safe, never have more reason to expect the Lord's help, than when we are most sensible that we can donothing without Him.'
1886 The Christian Union was founded by Baptist clergyman Richard G. Spurling (1858-1935) in Monroe County, Tennessee. In 1923, this pentecostal denomination changed its name to the Church of God. Headquartered today in Cleveland, Tennessee, its current membership is nearly 500,000.
1934 English Bible expositor Arthur W. Pink wrote in a letter: 'It is not words which God pays attention to, but heart-groans and tears!'
1953 Israel's parliament conferred Israeli citizenship posthumously on all Jews killed by the Nazis during the years of the Holocaust (1933-45) in Europe.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

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Thought for the day :
"There is as much greatness in acknowledging a good turn, as there is in doing it."

[snippy_about_it]

Fascinating history of the USS Samuel B. Roberts, thank you aomagrat.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning feather.

Autograph, I need autograph. lol.