The Dieppe Raid took place on 19 August 1942 during one of the darkest periods for the Allies. Organised by Vice-Admiral Lord Mountbatten and his staff at Combined Operations Headquarters (COHQ), a predominantly Canadian force landed at the German-held seaport of Dieppe tasked with occupying the French coastal commune, destroying fortifications, damaging harbour facilities and gathering enemy intelligence – all within a few hours.
A series of blunders, including a gross underestimation of the German defences, a failure to take the enemy by surprise and issues navigating the terrain led to what is today perceived as a debacle. The Allies suffered over 3,000 casualties, most of whom were Canadian. Both sides nevertheless spun it as a victory in what became a propaganda war, and the raid remains a topic of considerable debate among veterans and historians.
The summer of 1942 was a dark time for the Allies. In the Far East, the Japanese had dealt several blows against the British and Commonwealth forces. Meanwhile, in the Soviet Union, the German invasion of Russia under Operation Barbarossa had cost tens of thousands of lives. Hoping to relieve pressure on the Eastern Front, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin pleaded with his British and American counterparts to open the so-called Second Front in the west.
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Denne historien er fra Issue 109-utgaven av History of War.
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NAUMACHIA TRUTH BEHIND ROME'S GLADIATOR SEA BATTLES
In their quest for evermore novel and bloody entertainment, the Romans staged enormous naval fights on artificial lakes
OPERATION MANNA
In late April 1945, millions of Dutch civilians were starving as Nazi retribution for the failed Operation Market Garden cut off supplies. eet as In response, Allied bombers launched a risky mission to air-drop food
GASSING HITLER
Just a month before the end of WWI, the future Fuhrer was blinded by a British shell and invalided away from the frontline. Over a century later, has the artillery brigade that launched the fateful attack finally been identified?
SALAMANCA
After years of largely defensive campaigning, Lieutenant General Arthur Wellesley went on the offensive against a French invasion of Andalusia
HUMBERT 'ROCKY'VERSACE
Early in the Vietnam War, a dedicated US Special Forces officer defied his merciless Viet Cong captors and inspired his fellow POWs to survive
LEYTE 1944 SINKING THE RISING SUN
One of the more difficult island campaigns in WWII's Pacific Theatre saw a brutal months-long fight that exhausted Japan’s military strength
MAD DAWN
How technology transformed strategic thinking and military doctrine from the Cold War to the current day
BRUSHES WITH ARMAGEDDON
Humanity came close to self-annihilation with the Cuban Missile Crisis, Broken Arrows’ and other nuclear near misses
THE DEADLY RACE
How the road to peace led to an arms contest between the USA and USSR, with prototypes, proliferation and the world’s biggest bomb
THE MANHATTAN PROJECT
Einstein, Oppenheimer and the race to beat Hitler to the bomb. How a science project in the desert helped win a war
