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The Dieppe Raid. The Raid on Dieppe – Background information:. Stalin was putting pressure on Allies to open up a second front – alleviate pressure on Russia Put into place by the new Chief of Combined Operations, Louis Mountbatten Occurred on August 19th, 1942
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The Raid on Dieppe – Background information: • Stalin was putting pressure on Allies to open up a second front – alleviate pressure on Russia • Put into place by the new Chief of Combined Operations, Louis Mountbatten • Occurred on August 19th, 1942 • The original raid was known as Operation Rudder – but it was postponed – actual raid at Dieppe Raid called Operation Jubilee
The Raid on Dieppe – Background information continued: • 4,963 Canadians, 907 died including 56 officers and 1,946 were captured • the Royal Regiment of Canada were on the beaches of Puys, Dieppe and Pourville
Dieppe Raid – Objectives: • to seize and hold a major port for a short period, • gather intelligence from prisoners and captured materials • assess the German defenses and responses to attack. • destroy coastal defenses, port structures, and all strategic buildings
The Raid on Dieppe – Summary: • The element of surprise was gone by morning light • The main attack on Dieppe beach was swept with machine guns making a successful raid impossible • The raid was repelled by Germany soldiers by the afternoon • None of the major objectives were achieved
The Raid on Dieppe - Significance: • A huge failure • More Canadians died in one hour in Dieppe then in any other day of the war • Canadian troops become more experienced for the D-Day invasion two years later • Also focused German attention more to the Eastern Front • Provided valuable data for D-Day about German defenses and Allied deficiencies
The Dieppe Raid – Why it failed • Not officially approved by combined chiefs of staff • Therefore none of the intelligence agencies were involved • The raid was planned on intelligence that was months out of date • Planes had limited time over target because of distance from home • Poor leadership of small units once ashore • Canadian landing was delayed and thus they lost the cover of darkness
The Dieppe Raid – Why it failed continued • Naval support from the channel was from Hunt Class Destroyers (convoy escorts) • Unable to hit targets on shore without coming under fire • Not in communication with landing force and thus unable to effectively coordinate bombardment • Engineers responsible for clearing anti tank walls and obstacles not protected and could not do their job.