Quote:
Originally Posted by powder_8s
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dieppe_Raid
Churchill ordered a mostly Canadian invasion of France in 1942.
My take,
To me, the purpose is still not clearly understood, something about measuring German response. What is clear is Churchill did not commit much British support and sent the Canadians on a suicide mission to invade mainland Europe on their own. Why the Canadian Military commanders agreed is beyond me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by StimAbuser
I think this was to show the Allies that an invasion of France would be unsuccessful, and to get them to opt for his plan instead of the main force going through the bottom of Europe.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HypersionSD
Capture an enigma machine? Remind me of final battle of Myth: The fallen lords. Send 3000 men to their deaths so 100 can sneak in and try to kill the dark lord.
Quote:
Originally Posted by powder_8s
If this was the case the reasons should be well known by now. They would be heros for creating a great diversion. Instead it is a quiet, little known footnote in the war.
Dieppe was a raid designed by a committee. There were all sorts of reasons for the raid, rather than a clear guiding reason. The objective of capturing an enigma machine was recently documented in a television program that marked the 70th anniversary of the event. Ian Fleming (of James Bond fame) was conspicuously involved in this aspect of the raid. But it would be a mistake to say this was the only reason for the operation. Also there is no reason why any of this stuff would be well-known by now. Many of the key documents have only become declassified recently, and the sheer volume of stuff declassified will take some time to process.
Other reasons include intelligence gathering about German radar capabilities, and about German land formation capabilities. Then there were the geopolitical objectives: reassure the Russians that the West was actually fighting the Germans, while simultaneously showing that an invasion was not practical at the time. And finally there was the reason that was common to all the raids the British were carying out on the French cast: tie down a disproportionate number of German forces.
In terms of casualties it was a signficant mistake, but in terms of tactical or strategic impact it was a minor mistake.
Why the Canadian military commanders agreed (not all of them did) is easy enough to understand. The Canadian army had been in Europe for nearly three years. On average they were the best-trained army in the West. Yet apart from a few officers serving on exchange programs in North Africa, and from a landing and immediate evacuation in western France after the Germans invaded, they had seen no action. Meanwhile green Americans had been earmarked to be shipped direct from stateside to North Africa.
In a way, Dieppe was Canada's Kasserine Pass: first significant action in the West, and a horrible loss. What was different is that while Kasserine showed up problems with Amercian leadership, command and control, training and equipment, Dieppe mostly showed up problems with the planning at a higher level than that for which the Canadians were responsible. Kasserine was a reasonable operation badly bungled in its execution, Dieppe was an unreasonable operation that met an inevitable fate.