DIEPPE RAID | 80TH ANNIVERSARY

On August 19, 1942, the Allies launched Operation Jubilee, an amphibious attack on the German-occupied port of Dieppe in northern France. It tested the possibility of a large scale beach landing in Western Europe and was designed to infiltrate and destroy critical military targets, including German coastal defenses and port facilities. The raiding force consisted mainly of Canadian Infantry supported by a regiment of tanks and Royal Air Force fighters.

When the Dieppe Raid was launched, it was nothing short of disaster; the tanks were stuck on the beach, and the Infantry were forced to fight on alone, unable to achieve their objectives. Within hours of landing, more than half of the 6,086 men who came ashore were killed, wounded, or captured as prisoners of war. Despite the horrific losses, some historians credit the failure at Dieppe as an important learning experience for Allied forces in the buildup to the invasion of Normandy. The costly lessons learned at Dieppe became valuable in planning the successful D-Day landings two years later.

"Giving the Past a Future, One Story at a Time."

WWII Veterans History Project