One of the most famous, and controversial, Allied operations of the Second World War occurred on this day when a largely Canadian force was committed to a British operation that's been termed a "raid", but which was on such a huge scale, that that term is debatable. Operation Jubilee, or the Raid on Dieppe. It was the bloodiest day of the war for the Canadian Army.
The Canadian Second Infantry Division, together with British Commando units featuring a small group of American Rangers, and French commandos, supported with Canadian armor, landed at 04:50 on this morning at the French resort town, with Allied forces landing on six beaches. By the end of the day, 68% of the Canadian force was lost, either being killed, wounded or captured.
The raid was somewhat ill-conceived in that it was on such a large-scale, and designed to test very large scale raids and to also send a signal to the Soviets that the Allies did actually intend to invade France at some point. It made use of Canadian troops, as the Canadian 2nd Infantry Division had been assigned to protective duties in the United Kingdom and was available. The raid had been scheduled to occur somewhat earlier, and some equipment issued to the Canadians had been recovered, with the same type of equipment then hastily reissued, but with new examples that had to be rapidly reworked for functioning by Canadian troops.
Lord Louis Mountbatten, whom history has not treated well, played a planning role in the operation. Bernard Law Montgomery got the blame later for some of the operations failures, but he had already been assigned to the 8th Army and cannot really be blamed.
The Germans were already wary of the possibility of British raids, and became aware that the British were interested in Dieppe by French double agents. At the time, British intelligence was having trouble of this type.
Some of the raid went well. No. 4 Commando, for example, to which the American Rangers were attached, landed and conducted their operations very well and withdrew as planned prior to 0800. The Canadian landings, however, were generally a disaster, and ultimately they experienced heavy losses. Trouble was experienced landing the supporting tanks, and the Luftwaffe turned out in force, with a major air battle between the Luftwaffe and the RAF/RCAF being the result. The withdrawal commenced at 0940 and was complete by 1400, but was conducted under heavy fire. The Germans captured the operation plan for the battle, which, when analyzed, was regarded by the Germans as basically inept.
The battle is regarded as a major disaster, but dissenting voices, which I basically am here, have taken the position that it was an expensive day in school for the Allies. The British in particular gleaned major lessons about conducting landings that they would employ in Operation Overlord two years later, including the significance of landing tanks. As a result, the British were particularly well-equipped with special tanks for the landings at Normandy. The Allies also realized a need for temporary harbors, which would become a major focus for Overlord.
The Germans learned lessons as well, but were overall pleased with how well their forces had done in the defense, and not without reason. One of the major factors in the German success, however, had been the presence of the Luftwaffe, which, in spite of being obvious, would be ignored by the Germans by 1944 as raids over Germany by strategic bombers took up their air assets.
As minor side notes, the 50 American Rangers were assigned to Lord Lovat's No. 4 Commando, one of the most eccentric units of the war. This was to give them combat experience, but it was a fortunate assignment, as this part of the raid went well. Additionally, Sarah Sundin notes that RAF Mustang I's were in the battle and gained their first areal victory on this day.
German treatment of Canadian prisoners would leading to lasting animosity between some Canadian soldiers in regard to the German army, leading some units to be very reluctant to take German prisoners in later actions.
The Japanese landed another 900 men on Guadalcanal.
The Red Army launched the Sinyavino Offensive in an effort to relieve Leningrad.
