Dieppe august 19 1942
- Thread starter joe n
- Start date
I was there in the late 1980s, visiting on the anniversary. I rode my m/bike to Newhaven (a minor port in Sussex, it was one of the embarkation points for the raid) and caught a ferry that arrived at Dieppe in the early morning. I don't know if that ferry service still operates but I thought it was a good way to go.
That was the start of a tour which included visiting Juno Beach and some battlefields of the Normandy campaign.
That was the start of a tour which included visiting Juno Beach and some battlefields of the Normandy campaign.
NavyShooter
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- XMU Local .303
I was there with my wife this summer.
- Location
- In lalaland, that is Ottawa.
It annoys me that there's nothing in the news about Dieppe or the recently passed V-J Day.
As a young Essex Scotish private in Windsor in the late 1940s, had many NCOs and Officers who returned to the UK or survived their prison camp time.
A day for reflexion.I was there in 2004 with my younger brother - the two of us did Europe by train for a week - met in London, chunnel to France, on to Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, return through northern France. Me being ex service and him still serving so our visits included Normandy, Vimy and of course Dieppe. Little Canadian flags on our day packs got us especially warm greetings in Dieppe.
A relative of mine was transferred to the Queen's own Cameron Highlanders when he arrived in England in '42 to replace the losses of the Dieppe Raid. I've never made it there, next trip over hopefully.
The raid was a costly learning experience to be sure, hopefully some of it helped with the D-Day landings later on. I agree that it is sad that it is overlooked in the media. With all the crap they report, they can't find two minutes to remember an important event in Canadian history?
The raid was a costly learning experience to be sure, hopefully some of it helped with the D-Day landings later on. I agree that it is sad that it is overlooked in the media. With all the crap they report, they can't find two minutes to remember an important event in Canadian history?
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The media doesn't care about history anymore unless some big celebrity visits those battlefields or historical sites. It is therefore up to us collectors to remember those days and continue to bring them into the light so that the soldiers may never be forgotten.
I wasn't able to make up to Dieppe last summer but it is on my list of places to visit.
I wasn't able to make up to Dieppe last summer but it is on my list of places to visit.
- Location
- Where the sun shines
My grandfather was there in '42 and took a bullet. Got back to the boats in time, though.
Brother visited some years ago, but I've never been. Really wanting to do the battlefield tour in the future.
Brother visited some years ago, but I've never been. Really wanting to do the battlefield tour in the future.
Visited Dieppe with my late father, shortly after returning home from the Falklands, in August 1982. We were on a tour of the European battlefields where he and other family members had seen action. Including Dieppe, Juno Beach, parts of Sicily, Italy and Holland, where Dad was wounded, late October, 1944. Mother's younger brother fell at Dieppe. He was just nineteen.
Chilling to see what little, if any chance those poor boys must have had on that run up the stones. I'm surprised any of them made it, at all. Any of you vets on this forum...young or old... know what sort of courage it would have taken, just to try.
Yet, not a peep anywhere in the media, about the sacrifice made by those immensely brave young Canadians. Shameful.
How easily people forget. I am grateful the members of this forum have not.
Chilling to see what little, if any chance those poor boys must have had on that run up the stones. I'm surprised any of them made it, at all. Any of you vets on this forum...young or old... know what sort of courage it would have taken, just to try.
Yet, not a peep anywhere in the media, about the sacrifice made by those immensely brave young Canadians. Shameful.
How easily people forget. I am grateful the members of this forum have not.
Maybe I can help you!
Just got back.
Sorry about all the flag pictures.
It is very precious to me.
This flag is carried to all the War Memorials, Battlefield and Cemeteries that I visit across Western Europe.
I have been touring these areas for the last 10 years or so.
My flag logbook is chocked full.
It has also been at every Highway of Hero's visit that I made.
Each year I bring hundreds of Poppies donated by the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 551 in Waterdown, Ontario.
We place them on the Canadian Graves of each place we visit.
I also bring some back and hand them out to Veterans including my Father.
I let the Veterans know that these Poppies are special.
With each Poppy, goes a list of the Battlefields, Memorials and Cemeteries that we visited.
Godspeed
1st up "RHLI Monument"
Just got back.
Sorry about all the flag pictures.
It is very precious to me.
This flag is carried to all the War Memorials, Battlefield and Cemeteries that I visit across Western Europe.
I have been touring these areas for the last 10 years or so.
My flag logbook is chocked full.
It has also been at every Highway of Hero's visit that I made.
Each year I bring hundreds of Poppies donated by the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 551 in Waterdown, Ontario.
We place them on the Canadian Graves of each place we visit.
I also bring some back and hand them out to Veterans including my Father.
I let the Veterans know that these Poppies are special.
With each Poppy, goes a list of the Battlefields, Memorials and Cemeteries that we visited.
Godspeed
1st up "RHLI Monument"
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Very nice pictures, thank you for sharing. Atleast if the media doesn't show it, we have all shared our solemn respect.
Look at those stones! Wasn't it these stones that stopped tanks from making it up the bench line ?
Is that an Imperial German tri colour flying on that Dieppe monument or are my eyes playing tricks on me ?
Look at those stones! Wasn't it these stones that stopped tanks from making it up the bench line ?
Is that an Imperial German tri colour flying on that Dieppe monument or are my eyes playing tricks on me ?
No, it is the Flag of France.
Interseting little story here.
They actually had a memorial service going on with tents as we approached the park.
It was with the French National Gendarmerie.
I do not know what the service was about.
I have very, very limited French.
They where marching off onto the street as we approached.
I was carrying my Canadian Flag.
They gave a General Salute to our Canadian Flag as they marched by.
It put the chills up the backs of the girlfriend and I.
On a happy note, I brought back a bag of those stones, still wet and gave them to a buddy.
His Father last saw Dieppe as he was one of the few (RHLI) that made it into the Casino on that fatel day.
He was actually rescued and made it back to England.
For the last few years it seems, I'm cursed by the Weather Gods at Dieppe.
It alway's seems to be raining and blowin like a B@stard.
http://ww w.vac-acc.gc.ca/content/history/secondwar/dieppe/dieppe2/dieppe_rememseries_e.pdf
I have written several Poems upon my return trips.
They are on the Veteran Affairs web site.
KNOWN UNTO GOD
CAST NO SHADOW UPON THIS LAND
MY SOUL HAS BEEN COVERED FAR TOO LONG
MANKIND HAS ALL BUT LEFT ME
THIS EARTH SHALL BE MY BED FOR THE REST OF TIME
I SHALL NEVER SLEEP FOR I GUARD THIS LAND FOREVER MORE
MY ONLY LIGHT WILL BE THE SUN ABOVE
MY LIFE WAS MY ONLY LOVE
A MOTHER CRIES OUT,
FOR I FEEL NO SHAME
LIFE WAS CRUEL,
BUT I FELT NO PAIN
IT IS I,
A SOLDIER OF THE GREAT WAR
YES,
THE FORGOTTEN ONE
KNOWN UNTO GOD
http://ww w.veterans.gc.ca/eng/sub.cfm?source=collections/prose_poetry/po_detail&article_id=522
Canadian Army News Reels of Dieppe
http://ww w.collectionscanada.gc.ca/dieppe/045002-3000-e.html
Not far away is Lieutenant Colonel John Alexander McCrae's Grave.
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From the Hamilton Spectator
Thu Aug 18 2011
Home of the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry.
Veterans mourn comrades lost at Battle of Dieppe
http://www.thespec.com/news/local/article/580593--veterans-mourn-comrades-lost-at-battle-of-dieppe
Ted Brellisford/Spectator...Kaz Novak
Frank Voltermanis one of the few surviving vets of the ill-fated Dieppe raid on August 19, 1942. The photo in the background is Volterman at 23.
Frank Volterman had no battle experience until the Dieppe Raid.
That quickly changed.
As a medical sergeant for the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry, he was treating wounded soldiers and taking them over to a landing craft.
While he was tending to the wounded, the landing craft drifted out into the bay. One of the crew members from the Navy hadn’t tied up the tow rope properly. As they drifted, they came across an armoured British boat that was there to support the Canadian troops.
“They were going to support us in our attack. But they were called off,” Volterman said. “It was a massacre as it was, why get more massacred?”
He was moving the injured men onto the deck so crew members could take them to the front of the ship while German bombers were attacking the dock at Dieppe.
One of the German pilots noticed activity on the Canadian boat and started dive-bombing them.
“Finally, he gave up. The doctor on the ship and I looked after the wounded. We finally managed to get through the channel and back to England,” he said.
Volterman knows he is lucky to be alive, and a sarcastic chuckle creeps into his voice when he says he will try to remember the details of the raid. In fact, the east Hamilton resident knows them well. He calmly refers to the morning of Aug. 19, 1942 as a massacre.
“We were just hoarded up towards Dieppe, just like sheep going to the slaughterhouse.”
He still remembers the day in great detail, but says he doesn’t dwell on it.
“I’m not thinking about it at all really, those days are gone,” said Volterman. “I was lucky and I survived and I’m living to 92 years old.”
Jack McFarland is also a Dieppe veteran from the RHLI and also lives in east Hamilton. He has worked hard to get recognition for the Canadian soldiers who died or were wounded in the raid.
“I tried for years to get a monument and we succeeded in 2003. We’ve fought hard to keep it nice and respectful to remember these men,” McFarland said.
The 90-year-old says there are only 11 RHLI Dieppe veterans left. He says they are all approaching 90 or older and they all hope to stick around until next year — the 70th anniversary of the raid and the 150th anniversary of their regiment.
“It would be a nice year to be around.”
Canada lost 913 men in the Battle of Dieppe. The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry sent in 582 soldiers that morning. Only 211 returned to England. Of those 582 soldiers, only 102 were not killed, captured or wounded.
“We had 197 men who died in that raid. The raid took the largest number of Canadians in one battle in the Second World War. In eight hours, we lost several hundred men,” said McFarland.
Canadian troops
4.963 -- Total force
3,367 – Casualties (dead, wounded or POW)
4,000 – Allied casualties (including Canadians)
600 – German casualties
907 – Canadians killed
Royal Hamilton Light Infantry
582 – Strength
480 -- Casualties (dead, wounded POW):
197 -- Killed:
3 -- Hamiltonians from other regiments who died
10 – Estimated number of RHLI Dieppe vets living in 2011
The ceremony
When: Aug. 19 at 10:55 a.m.
Where: Dieppe Veterans Memorial Park.
What: The ceremony will feature wreath layings, prayers, hymns and songs by the RHLI band.
From the Hamilton Spectator
August 19th 2011
69th anniversary of infamous Dieppe raid
http://www.thespec.com/news/local/article/580411--69th-anniversary-of-infamous-dieppe-raid
The elderly lady appeared out of nowhere shouting, “pour vous, pour vous. Un cadeau
She handed over a small envelope to the Canadian visitors. But by the time they figured out the envelope contained a bunch of photographs from the Second World War, the woman had vanished.
That was in August, 2007 in Dieppe France, at a time when the city was acknowledging the 65th anniversary of the infamous battle that saw nearly 200 young Hamilton men die on the beach during a failed raid of German-held Europe. A delegation from the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry had made the trip to France to take part in the ceremonies.
Four years later and the mystery remains. The pictures were clearly shot in the aftermath of the Dieppe raid. They show dead soldiers and blown up military hardware on the beach. There are captured POWs from the RHLI and other regiments being led through the streets of Dieppe by gun-toting German soldiers.
But who shot the pictures? A German soldier? How did the woman get them?
The photographs -- that were handed over with the few words in French that mean, “For you. For you. A gift”-- ended up with Captain Tim Fletcher, information officer of the RHLI. He has been painstakingly trying to restore them in his spare time.
“It’s a real puzzle to me where these photos came from,” he says. He agreed to pass copies onto The Spectator for use in the newspaper and online in time for the 69th anniversary of the battle Aug. 19.
“I don’t know if they were pictures the Germans took and handed out at the time to say beware anyone thinking of attacking the city.” But he figures they must have been taken by a German because “they never would have let the French on the beach because there would have been too much of a chance of them picking up guns.”
It was only nine hours in a war that last six years. But to this day the raid remains one of the saddest days in the history of Canada’s military history and one of the most ill-conceived and ill-fated moves by Allied forces during the war.
William Mathieson, of Belleville is the author of a new book called Nine Hours, The Canadians at Dieppe. In it he writes that the Raid on Dieppe “was one of the most controversial operations of World War II and a costly failurem”
“The raid was really doomed from the start,” he says.
Mathieson travelled to Dieppe three times in researching his book and says “how they thought they could accomplish what they hoped is beyond me.”
The beach is surrounded by cliffs and other high ground, he says, that gave the Germans the perfect vantage point to rain fire on the Allied soldiers landing on the beach.
“What impressed me was that the Canadian troops did what they could for as long as they could. It all fell apart. Canadians should be very proud of what the 5,000 Canadians did that particular day.”
He says the Allied forces vastly underestimated the German strength on the beach. The British were under pressure from the Russians to launch some kind of attack on Germany’s Eastern front. Some believe the British knew it would never work, but felt they needed to prove it.
Meanwhile there were thousands of Canadian soldiers going through endless training, clamouring for action. So a Dieppe raid became a way to solve two problems.
Mathieson, a retired high school history teacher, notes the designers of the raid even messed up when it came to understanding the makeup of the beach. The troops practiced on sandy beaches in England but Dieppe’s beach was rocky which made it difficult to move tanks and other military gear.
“I can’t understand why they didn’t check out the beaches more thoroughly.”
Mathieson, among other things, went through numerous witness accounts that were collected at the time and kept in various archives.
“A lot of the veterans were bitter. They thought Germans knew the raid was coming which I don’t think they did. But they felt they threw away the Canadians for minimal returns.”
Thu Aug 18 2011
Home of the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry.
Veterans mourn comrades lost at Battle of Dieppe
http://www.thespec.com/news/local/article/580593--veterans-mourn-comrades-lost-at-battle-of-dieppe
Ted Brellisford/Spectator...Kaz Novak
Frank Voltermanis one of the few surviving vets of the ill-fated Dieppe raid on August 19, 1942. The photo in the background is Volterman at 23.
Frank Volterman had no battle experience until the Dieppe Raid.
That quickly changed.
As a medical sergeant for the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry, he was treating wounded soldiers and taking them over to a landing craft.
While he was tending to the wounded, the landing craft drifted out into the bay. One of the crew members from the Navy hadn’t tied up the tow rope properly. As they drifted, they came across an armoured British boat that was there to support the Canadian troops.
“They were going to support us in our attack. But they were called off,” Volterman said. “It was a massacre as it was, why get more massacred?”
He was moving the injured men onto the deck so crew members could take them to the front of the ship while German bombers were attacking the dock at Dieppe.
One of the German pilots noticed activity on the Canadian boat and started dive-bombing them.
“Finally, he gave up. The doctor on the ship and I looked after the wounded. We finally managed to get through the channel and back to England,” he said.
Volterman knows he is lucky to be alive, and a sarcastic chuckle creeps into his voice when he says he will try to remember the details of the raid. In fact, the east Hamilton resident knows them well. He calmly refers to the morning of Aug. 19, 1942 as a massacre.
“We were just hoarded up towards Dieppe, just like sheep going to the slaughterhouse.”
He still remembers the day in great detail, but says he doesn’t dwell on it.
“I’m not thinking about it at all really, those days are gone,” said Volterman. “I was lucky and I survived and I’m living to 92 years old.”
Jack McFarland is also a Dieppe veteran from the RHLI and also lives in east Hamilton. He has worked hard to get recognition for the Canadian soldiers who died or were wounded in the raid.
“I tried for years to get a monument and we succeeded in 2003. We’ve fought hard to keep it nice and respectful to remember these men,” McFarland said.
The 90-year-old says there are only 11 RHLI Dieppe veterans left. He says they are all approaching 90 or older and they all hope to stick around until next year — the 70th anniversary of the raid and the 150th anniversary of their regiment.
“It would be a nice year to be around.”
Canada lost 913 men in the Battle of Dieppe. The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry sent in 582 soldiers that morning. Only 211 returned to England. Of those 582 soldiers, only 102 were not killed, captured or wounded.
“We had 197 men who died in that raid. The raid took the largest number of Canadians in one battle in the Second World War. In eight hours, we lost several hundred men,” said McFarland.
Canadian troops
4.963 -- Total force
3,367 – Casualties (dead, wounded or POW)
4,000 – Allied casualties (including Canadians)
600 – German casualties
907 – Canadians killed
Royal Hamilton Light Infantry
582 – Strength
480 -- Casualties (dead, wounded POW):
197 -- Killed:
3 -- Hamiltonians from other regiments who died
10 – Estimated number of RHLI Dieppe vets living in 2011
The ceremony
When: Aug. 19 at 10:55 a.m.
Where: Dieppe Veterans Memorial Park.
What: The ceremony will feature wreath layings, prayers, hymns and songs by the RHLI band.
From the Hamilton Spectator
August 19th 2011
69th anniversary of infamous Dieppe raid
http://www.thespec.com/news/local/article/580411--69th-anniversary-of-infamous-dieppe-raid
The elderly lady appeared out of nowhere shouting, “pour vous, pour vous. Un cadeau
She handed over a small envelope to the Canadian visitors. But by the time they figured out the envelope contained a bunch of photographs from the Second World War, the woman had vanished.
That was in August, 2007 in Dieppe France, at a time when the city was acknowledging the 65th anniversary of the infamous battle that saw nearly 200 young Hamilton men die on the beach during a failed raid of German-held Europe. A delegation from the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry had made the trip to France to take part in the ceremonies.
Four years later and the mystery remains. The pictures were clearly shot in the aftermath of the Dieppe raid. They show dead soldiers and blown up military hardware on the beach. There are captured POWs from the RHLI and other regiments being led through the streets of Dieppe by gun-toting German soldiers.
But who shot the pictures? A German soldier? How did the woman get them?
The photographs -- that were handed over with the few words in French that mean, “For you. For you. A gift”-- ended up with Captain Tim Fletcher, information officer of the RHLI. He has been painstakingly trying to restore them in his spare time.
“It’s a real puzzle to me where these photos came from,” he says. He agreed to pass copies onto The Spectator for use in the newspaper and online in time for the 69th anniversary of the battle Aug. 19.
“I don’t know if they were pictures the Germans took and handed out at the time to say beware anyone thinking of attacking the city.” But he figures they must have been taken by a German because “they never would have let the French on the beach because there would have been too much of a chance of them picking up guns.”
It was only nine hours in a war that last six years. But to this day the raid remains one of the saddest days in the history of Canada’s military history and one of the most ill-conceived and ill-fated moves by Allied forces during the war.
William Mathieson, of Belleville is the author of a new book called Nine Hours, The Canadians at Dieppe. In it he writes that the Raid on Dieppe “was one of the most controversial operations of World War II and a costly failurem”
“The raid was really doomed from the start,” he says.
Mathieson travelled to Dieppe three times in researching his book and says “how they thought they could accomplish what they hoped is beyond me.”
The beach is surrounded by cliffs and other high ground, he says, that gave the Germans the perfect vantage point to rain fire on the Allied soldiers landing on the beach.
“What impressed me was that the Canadian troops did what they could for as long as they could. It all fell apart. Canadians should be very proud of what the 5,000 Canadians did that particular day.”
He says the Allied forces vastly underestimated the German strength on the beach. The British were under pressure from the Russians to launch some kind of attack on Germany’s Eastern front. Some believe the British knew it would never work, but felt they needed to prove it.
Meanwhile there were thousands of Canadian soldiers going through endless training, clamouring for action. So a Dieppe raid became a way to solve two problems.
Mathieson, a retired high school history teacher, notes the designers of the raid even messed up when it came to understanding the makeup of the beach. The troops practiced on sandy beaches in England but Dieppe’s beach was rocky which made it difficult to move tanks and other military gear.
“I can’t understand why they didn’t check out the beaches more thoroughly.”
Mathieson, among other things, went through numerous witness accounts that were collected at the time and kept in various archives.
“A lot of the veterans were bitter. They thought Germans knew the raid was coming which I don’t think they did. But they felt they threw away the Canadians for minimal returns.”
Last edited by a moderator:
