Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 93 continued ... The main assault landings by the Essex Scottish Regiment and the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry immediately encountered fierce opposition from an alerted and prepared enemy. The original heavy air bombing attack had been removed from the plan and a protective smoke screen was blown clear of the beach by a southerly breeze. Nine tanks scheduled to land with the first infantry assault were late due to navigational errors and when tanks did land many lost their tracks, as they bogged down in the deep shingle, leaving them vulnerable to anti-tank fire. Thirteen tanks left the beach area but were stopped by concrete road blocks and did not reach the town. Intelligence gathering had failed to identify numerous gun and machine gun positions in caves dug into the high cliffs overlooking the landing beaches or that the port was strongly defended by experienced German troops. The supporting bombardment by destroyers and a low-level strafing attack by 5 squadrons of Hurricanes did not suppress the German defences. Commander Harry Leslie, RNVR recalled the failure of the support ships to depress their guns sufficiently to hit the German positions at either end of the bay. His flotilla of ML’s supported the landing craft and for his part in towing damaged LVP’s offshore to safety in very hazardous conditions, he was awarded the DSC. All these factors contributed to the mowing down of the initial assault of infantry and engineers. Without covering fire, the enfilading fire onto the landing beaches was unrestricted. Subsequent assault waves piled into the first and were subjected to similar treatment. A few groups of Canadian infantry broke into the town but only confused and misleading reports reached the force commander, Major-General Roberts, aboard his headquarters ship. It was some time before the commanders afloat realised the disastrous situation on the beaches, unfortunately only after the floating reserve had been sent into the carnage. At 9:40 am, the signal to withdraw " Vanquish 11:00 hours" was sent to all the assault forces. The evacuation of the surviving troops added many more casualties amongst the naval officers and ratings manning the landing craft and the troops trying to reach them. The Outcome Almost 4,000 Canadian and British had been killed, wounded or taken prisoner. The Canadians lost two thirds of their force, with 907 dead or later to die from their wounds. Major-General Roberts unfairly became the official scapegoat and was never to command troops in the field again. Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada Photo; Some of the Canadian troops resting on board a destroyer after the Combined Operations daylight raid on Dieppe. The strain of the operation can be seen on their faces Year after year, on August 19th, a small box arrived in the post for Roberts. Its contents, a small piece of stale cake - a cruel reminder of his attempt to boost morale at the pre-raid briefing "Don't worry boys. It will be a piece of cake!" continued ...
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