Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 91 continued ... The main assaults on two beaches in front of the town were scheduled for the early daylight hours - essentially a frontal assault. Dieppe was not thought to be heavily defended and with tank support in the front line, it was anticipated that this force would be sufficient to accomplish the raid's objectives. The Raid Operation Jubilee commenced in the late evening hours of August 18th, 1942. It was a warm, moonless night as the fleet of vessels headed across the channel. The presence of a German convoy proceeding to Dieppe from Boulogne had been picked up by Radar stations on the English coast. Twice, at 1:30 am and again at 2:30 am onAugust 19th, they radioed warnings to the naval commander Captain Hughes-Hallet. These warnings were not acknowledged and the raiding force took no evasive action. The main assault troops were convoyed in large mother ships, with their LCPs (Landing Craft Personnel) hanging from davits ready to be lowered into the water a few miles off shore. Most of the Commandos travelled independently in their own LCPs which held about 20 men each, while LCTs (Landing Craft Tanks) transported the tanks. No 3 Commando occupied 25 LCPs at the eastern end of the assault convoy. At 3:48 am they ran into armed trawlers escorting a tanker and in the resulting melee, several of the flimsy LCPs were sunk and the rest scattered. Any element of surprise the assault force had expected was now lost and the dispersion of No 3 Commando substantially weakened their capacity to suppress the eastern flank gun battery at Berneval. Only 18 Commandos landed on time at their planned landing points, which removed any prospect of an all out attack. They resorted to sniping, which proved quite effective in keeping the German gunners occupied but they were eventually forced to withdraw in the face of superior German forces. The battery was sufficiently restrained that, as far as is known, no vessel was sunk by its gunfire. No 4 Commando executed an almost flawless operation and, in hard fighting, they overran and neutralized the coastal battery on the western flank. Commando Captain Pat Porteous was awarded the Victoria Cross for his part in this hard fought battle. At Puy, the Royal Regiment of Canada suffered grievous losses, when only 60 out of 543 men were recovered from the beach and to the west of Dieppe, only a few men from the South Saskatchewan Regiment reached their objective. The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada penetrated the furthest inland but were forced back with the arrival of German reinforcements. Photo; Light naval craft covering the landing during the Combined Operations daylight raid on Dieppe. MGB 321 is nearest the camera (partly obscured by some sailors in the foreground) whilst submarine chaser Q 014 can be seen in the middle distance. continued ...
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