News arrived by radio and runner. With first light broken across Dieppe and the surrounding area, much of the South Saskatchewan Regiment remained checked at the 24-metre bridge over the Scie River. Lieutenant-Colonel Cecil Merritt, his moustache doing little to mask his baby face, thought of the Canadian dead littering the road a short distance from HQ and, perhaps reminded of the father he had lost in the last war, recognised that something needed to be done. Mustering unimaginable courage, the 33-year-old officer left his position and headed for the men pinned down at the front.
The day – 19 August, 1942 – was turning out to be a disaster. It was one that had been months in the making, with the Soviet Union having long pressured its allies to open up a second front, to relieve German pressure to the east. The United States also wanted a chance to engage the Nazi regime on the continent. Churchill, it seemed, had little choice but to appease his allies, yet the dark shadows of Dunkirk, Singapore and, more recently, Tobruk weighed heavily on the British; their forces weren’t ready, nor were they well-equipped enough to liberate Europe. So, instead of an outright invasion, Churchill proposed a series of small-scale raids that might encourage Hitler’s armies away from the gates of Stalingrad and towards the Atlantic Wall. It would be up to Lord Louis Mountbatten, second cousin to the future Queen Elizabeth II and newly promoted chief of the Combined Operations Headquarters, to orchestrate these raids. Recalling the great success in Saint-Nazaire in March 1942, Mountbatten decided to escalate the aggressive nature of operations for the French coastal commune of Dieppe.
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Bu hikaye History of War dergisinin Issue 108 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
THE OTHER OPERATION OVERLORD D-DAY'S GHOST ARMY
Historian Taylor Downing discusses the cunning use of intrigue and deception during Operation Fortitude
D-DAY LANDING CRAFT
Over 4,000 Allied landing craft took part in the Normandy Landings with a huge range of designs created for specific roles and capabilities
BEHIND ENEMY LINES
Spearheading the invasion of occupied France in 1944 were a small number of Special Forces soldiers dropped deep into enemy territory. Among them was a young Londoner, fresh from training here he reveals how he survived guerrilla warfare in France and beyond as part of the fledgling Special Air Service
JIMMIE MONTEITH
In the crucible of battle at Omaha Beach on D-Day, this officer of the famed 1st Infantry Division earned his nation’s highest honour at the cost of his life
KLEINKAMPFVERBÄNDE - GERMANY'S COUNTER-ATTACKS
As Allied forces crossed the Channel and stormed into Normandy, Hitler's navy fought back using a deadly new breed of maritime weaponry
STORMING GOLD BEACH
War veteran Ron Peet helped assault Gold Beach on D-Day Here he shares his experiences
UNDERGROUND WREN
Deep in the bowels of Fort Southwick, radio operator Marie Scott was one of the first to hear reports as Operation Overlord got underway, passing critical communications between the men on the beaches and high command
MINESWEEPER OFF NORMANDY
After helping clear the path to France, Royal Navy veteran Claude Sealey and his crewmates experienced a deadly encounter with their own countrymen
THE RECCE RIDER OF RANVILLE
After fencing behind enemy lines in Normandy, William Bill’ Gladden conducted us reconnaissance on his motorcycle
SWORD BEACH
The easternmost sector of the 6 June Normandy Landings was a mostly British affair, and Saw some of the biggest territorial gains of the first day of the Allied invasion