Raid on Dieppe

Blain Bridgman

What happened at this event? When did it happen?

The Dieppe Raid, also known as Operation Jubilee, was an Allied attack on the German-occupied Port of Dieppe during the Second World War. This raid took place on August 19th, 1942. The assault started at 5:00am, but by 10:50 they were forced to call a retreat.

Who was involved in this event?

An important person involved in this event was Vice-Admiral Lord Mountbatten. He was the main contributer to the planning of the Dieppe Raid, along with the Combined Operations Headquarters. Te countries that were involved were Canada, Britain, The United States, and of course the enemy, Germany.

Why did this event happen?

One of the structural causes of The Dieppe Raid, was the fact that the Germans were operating deep in the Soviet Union. The Russians wanted the Allies to open up second battle front in north-west Europe, in an attempt to relieve the pressure on them. Another cause for The Dieppe Raid was that Admiral Louis Mountbatten wanted to have a trial beach landing, that was actually against real oppositon for his troops. These two combined causes were what led to the Dieppe Raid, however, if Germany had not been operating so deep within the Soviet Union, this attack would not have happened, regardless of Mountbatten’s desire for a trial beach landing, becasue it likely would have been staged elsewhere, at a less fortified beach.

Primary Source Document

Click here to see Mackenzie King’s speech on Dieppe

In the video, Mackenzie King avoids giving out any detail towards the actual event of the Dieppe Raid, all he does is state that the people who lost their lives should be paid tribute, as well as the families to those soldiers. I think he avoided it because he knew how big of a failure it was, and didn’t want the people to realize his mistake, and think he isn’t fit for his job.

Was the event justified?

The event of the Dieppe Raid was somewhat justified, but there were also parts to it that weren’t justified, for example, Russia needed a battlefront in north-west Europe to relieve the pressure off of them, due to the Germans operating deep within the Soviet Union, but they only picked Dieppe because Mountbatten wanted to test his troops, so they wanted a fortified beach, which resulted in Dieppe. The intention to relieve pressure off of Russia was justified, but the fact that they purposely chose a fortified beach isn’t. However, technology at the time was limited, they knew the beach was fortified, but they were unsure of the positions of mounted guns, bunkers, etc. Air reconnaissance photographers couldn’t find them, which may have led them to believe the beach was less fortified than it actually was.

Historical Significance

The Raid of Dieppe should be recognized as historically significant. In this battle, a total of 6086 soldiers took part, 5000 of these being Canadian, and out of those 6086 soldiers, 3623 were either killed, wounded, or captured, almost 60% of all the soldiers there on foot. Of these 3623 casualties, 3367 of them were Canadian. When people found out about the news of Dieppe being a failure, it largely affected them, especially those who had lost loved ones in the battle. The affects of this battle were everlasting for those who lost family, friends, etc, and also showed poor planning, which lead to trust issues from other countries. However, without a failure like this, we would not have perfected our skills, and likely would have failed to take Juno Beach on the event of D-Day, which was a major contribution to defeating the German Army. This proves that The Raid of Dieppe is historically significant.

Sources used for Research:
http://www.wikipedia.com
http://www.britishpathe.com
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca