Mark Zuehlke on the 1942 Dieppe Raid

Описание: For the August 2023 instalment of SAHR's series of monthly talks, Mark Zuehlke spoke about the 1942 Dieppe Raid.


Synopsis

On August 19, 1942, about 5,000 Canadian troops stormed the beaches of Dieppe, France. It was the largest Allied raid launched against German-occupied Europe. It also became Canada’s most disastrous military failure of the war. By the day’s end, 913 Canadians were dead or mortally wounded and 1,946 were prisoners of war, making Dieppe the single bloodiest day for Canadians during World War II. Drawing on the research conducted to write his Canadian Battle Series title Tragedy at Dieppe: Operation Jubilee, August 19, 1942, Mark Zuehlke will discuss the raid in detail.

The Dieppe raid was masterminded by Britain’s Combined Operations Headquarters under the auspices of Lord Mountbatten. To understand why the raid failed so disastrously, it is essential to understand how the plan for it was developed and its objectives. Originally relatively modest in scope, the plan grew ever more complicated in the early months of 1942, as COHQ staff and Major General Bernard Montgomery expanded the raid from an intended incursion on either side of Dieppe into a full-frontal assault on the town itself.

Ultimately, when the Canadians and a smaller contingent of British commandos hit the beaches on August 19, they faced a well-entrenched German defensive force. The pitched battle that ensued was one that the raiding force could not possibly win. Yet the Dieppe raid stood as testimony to the courage and fighting skill of the Canadian soldiers involved. And even as the raiders fought their losing battle on the ground, overhead the greatest air battle fought by the western Allies in World War II raged and was lost to the German Luftwaffe.

In the raid’s aftermath, efforts to develop some rationale for it and to shine a positive light on its outcome began. They continue to this day, but none are valid. Ultimately, the raid was—as one of its key planners stated—simply “raiding for raiding’s sake.”



Speaker biography

Mark Zuehlke is an award-winning author, generally considered to be Canada’s foremost popular military historian. His Canadian Battle Series is the most exhaustive recounting of the battles and campaigns fought by any nation during World War II to have been written by a single author. In 2014, Mark was awarded the Governor General’s History Award for Popular Media in recognition of his role in popularizing Canadian history.