Dieppe Raid was an Allied assault on German forces during World War II (1939-1945). The raid took place on Aug. 19, 1942, at Dieppe, a port town in the northwestern French region of Normandy . At that time, Nazi Germany controlled France’s Atlantic coast. The Dieppe Raid was an amphibious assault —that is, one involving naval, air, and land forces. The raid failed badly, and the Allied land forces suffered nearly 60 percent casualties (people killed, wounded, missing, or captured). The raiding Allied force was mainly Canadian and British, but a number of United States and French troops also participated.
Background.
In 1940, Nazi German forces occupied much of Western Europe. By 1942, German troops had also pushed deep into the Soviet Union . To relieve pressure on the Soviet Red Army , the Allies wanted to create a second European front. Allied troops—mainly British commandos (special forces)—began staging small raids on German bases in occupied Europe. In March 1942, the Allies raided the Loire port of Saint-Nazaire, France. The success at Saint-Nazaire led to the planning of a larger raid on Dieppe.
British Lieutenant General Bernard Montgomery planned a raid called Operation Rutter to destroy Dieppe’s port facilities. Early plans called for the raid to begin with heavy naval and aerial bombardments, but these were reduced in the final plan. Parachute units would take out German gun positions to each side of Dieppe. With defenses weakened, troops of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division would swarm directly into Dieppe in landing craft. British commandos and other assigned units would destroy key targets, including dock installations, and collect enemy intelligence. Allied warplanes were to provide air cover for the raid. However, Operation Rutter was canceled due to poor weather and suspected security leaks. Montgomery left to lead British forces in Egypt in early August 1942.
British Royal Vice-Admiral Louis Mountbatten soon revived the Dieppe plan, renaming it Operation Jubilee. The new plan eliminated the paratroop assault. Prior to the main Canadian assault, commandos would now take out Dieppe’s gun positions by sea. The raid’s success would largely depend on surprise.
The Allies gathered a raiding force of 237 ships and barges. Nearly 5,000 Canadian troops, just over 1,000 British commandos, and 50 U.S. Rangers would carry out the raid, aided by a few French commandos. Dieppe was defended by a German garrison (defending force) of some 1,500 troops.
The battle.
Early on Aug. 19, 1942, the British raiding force exchanged shots with a German convoy off the coast of Normandy. The naval gunfire alerted some of the German coastal defenses. The British force pressed on, however, and commandos managed to take out the German guns west of Dieppe. The raiding party to the east, however, met stiff resistance and failed to destroy the German guns.
Canadian troops approaching Dieppe in landing craft met heavy enemy fire. Many Canadians were killed or wounded in the water. Many more were killed or wounded on the beach. Allied tanks then landed, but they became stuck on the pebbly beach or were blocked by obstacles. Poor weather and German defenses hampered Allied air efforts to aid the troops on the ground.
A few Allied troops penetrated into Dieppe, but they were soon overwhelmed. German gunfire largely destroyed a second wave of assault troops before they reached the beach. Realizing the situation was hopeless, the Allies saved what troops they could and pulled out.
Aftermath.
The Dieppe Raid cost the lives of more than 1,000 Allied soldiers, sailors, and aviators—including 907 Canadians killed in action. Hundreds more Allied troops were wounded, and more than 2,000 became prisoners of war. About 600 German defenders were killed or wounded. One Allied destroyer was sunk, along with 33 landing craft. The Allies lost just over 100 warplanes. The Germans lost 48.
The Allies learned hard lessons at Dieppe. For instance, they learned that landing on open beaches had a better chance of success than landing in a port. Later Allied amphibious assaults also corrected Dieppe’s lack of air and naval support. Successful invasions of North Africa, Sicily , and Italy —as well as invasions of Japanese-held islands in the Pacific—paved the way for the June 1944 D-day invasion of Normandy.
