| Author | Comment | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Ken Rose
|
August 19, 1942 |
Lead | ||
|
Posts: 669 08/19/09 08:00:01 |
Today is the anniversary of OPERATION JUBILEE: the attack on Dieppe.
Still debated about in Canada, it was a necessary operation to learn about how to land troops on a hostile shore.
"War makes rattling good history; but Peace is poor reading" Thomas Hardy, "The Dynasts"
Ken |
|||
|
|
||||
|
schudak |
#1 | |||
|
Posts: 1022 08/27/09 13:09:02 |
Learning these lessons in the Normandy would certainly have costed more.
|
|||
|
|
||||
|
AJV2 |
Canadians | #2 | ||
|
Posts: 268 08/29/09 07:02:39 |
Out of curiosity, was there a particular reason they chose the Canadians for the job, or was it luck of the draw?AJ
|
|||
|
|
||||
|
Kevin Baird |
Dieppe | #3 | ||
|
Posts: 587 08/30/09 04:29:27 |
Apparently a good deal of lobbying and complaining on the part of Canadian commanders at the long inactivity of Canadian troops got them the job. In the UK since late 1939, and aside from a very brief stint in France by a single brigade in June of 1940 at the point that that debacle was ending, the Canadians had been sitting idly by; training and training again. The Canadians wanted to see action and believed they deserved the role. Back home the public was also questioning the 2 years of inactivity.
Si vis pacem, para bellum
|
|||
|
|
||||
|
Ken Rose |
Dieppe | #4 | ||
|
Posts: 670 08/30/09 16:40:54 |
Actually, 1 Canadian Division did land in Brittany, but was withdrawn almost immediately. According to "The Gunners of Canada" one artillery
regiment rescued some abandoned 25 pdrs and spent several months with the extra pieces until the QM sorted things out.
There was lobbying for the Canadian involvement, both political and military. I admit that the planning and preparation seemed badly done, but they were trying something for the first time. Beach recce was done with postcards and holiday snaps. No one had any real idea what the fighting would be like. The three arms (Air, Navy and Land) did not cooperate much and coordination was also poor. The lessons learned here and in subsequent landings (TORCH, HUSKY, etc) made the OVERLORD operation a success.
"War makes rattling good history; but Peace is poor reading" Thomas Hardy, "The Dynasts"
Ken |
|||
|
|
||||
|
schudak |
#5 | |||
|
Posts: 1023 08/31/09 05:29:21 |
Was there any other major action for the Canadians between Dieppe and Normandy? I realize that they formed a pretty large army in 44, and was among the major
powers of 45 - probably the fourth largest power by the time the war ended.
|
|||
|
|
||||
|
Kevin Baird |
Canada in Italy | #6 | ||
|
Posts: 588 08/31/09 10:48:31 |
Between Dieppe and Normandy the Canadians were heavily engaged in the invasion and conquest of Sicily, and then the fight up the Italian peninsula.
The Sicilian campaign involved the 1st Canadian Infantry Division and the 1st Canadian Army Tank Brigade. Actions included Piazza Armerina, Agira and Regalbuto. As an aside, my father-in-law fought here with the 4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards, an armoured reconnaissance unit. Agira is the site of the only strictly Canadian World War Two cemetery, and holds the remains of 490 Canadians killed in Sicily. Following the invasion of the Italian peninsula, Canadian forces were expanded to ultimately include the 1st Canadian Corps (1st Canadian Infantry Division, 5th Canadian Armoured Division, 25th British Tank Brigade) and the 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade (in the British 13th Corps). Major actions include Ortona in December of 1943 and the Battle in the Liri Valley in May of 1944. By the time of Normandy there were in the order of 76000 Canadians in Italy with close on 10000 casualties. Fourth largest power at the end of the war? That's interesting. In the European Theatre perhaps, but I'll check my references. From what I gather Canada did have the 3rd largest navy at the end of the war, after the USA and the UK.
Si vis pacem, para bellum
|
|||
|
|
||||
| August 19, 1942 | 08/19/09 08:00:01 | Ken Rose |
| Re: August 19, 1942 | 08/27/09 13:09:02 | schudak |
| Canadians | 08/29/09 07:02:39 | AJV2 |
| Dieppe | 08/30/09 04:29:27 | Kevin Baird |
| Dieppe | 08/30/09 16:40:54 | Ken Rose |
| Re: August 19, 1942 | 08/31/09 05:29:21 | schudak |
| Canada in Italy | 08/31/09 10:48:31 | Kevin Baird |
