Brian Loring Villa ml n Jj _> (Tit UUJlL Mountbatten and the Dieppe Raid wmm »i l■ll One of the most memorable events of the Second World War took place on 19 August 1942, when the largest amphibious raiding force in modern history made its way across the English Channel towards the German- occupied French port of Dieppe. The result, a few hours later, was a disaster. That some 3,300 Canadian soldiers and officers should wait over two-and-a-half years for combat and then be killed, wounded, or captured in a single morning is one of the great tragedies of the Second World War. It was a bitter chapter, difficult for Canadians ever to ac¬ cept. For more than forty-five years a cloud of mystery has hung over the event, which has seemed to defy all rational explanation. Why was it executed when it was known to court failure? Who was responsible? On the basis of much new research and a meticulous and sensitive analysis of all the forces—political, military, diplomatic, and personal—that shaped the disaster, Brian Loring Villa answers these questions and casts new light on the horrendous affair, in the process delineating the element of in¬ trigue and the acts of folly that lay behind it. The event is examined in the context of the political pressures that were being exerted on Britain, Canada, and the United States and of the Soviet Union's demands for as¬ sistance in the form of a Second Front. De¬ spite lost and destroyed documentation, and the obfuscation engendered by the authors Continued on back flap Oxford University Press Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019 with funding from Kahle/Austin Foundation https://archive.org/details/unauthorizedacti0000vill_o9d5 Mountbatten and the Dieppe Raid * .•■ '.i.Wi iKf ''i Mi ! A^.7^ JV- •H*- % !>? ;,v-p , 9;^^. ■ _ ,.',':rv -. , '¥?' • Ev'^-'-V ■ ^ ,li|‘'5‘:f l-;«U'' iCg^"<, / ’ ,A- ^ -' 7 WI^-h€r!K;^p^>rr^ ■ vV V ,/ 'fm e* ,.-^V.^r?a; '‘V.'' . M ■ ■' li-?:''■'■■ h'h P’l'' ■ ''F'!^v- bi' ■'• If."/( m < j * S*^'*» • !•-'' ^•v I —iA^ !■ ’^.^- ;• ..■*%.• ‘ • .*'^ 'J ■ i ,1 * ' . k I', m r*"* >i» •' j ‘■' •_ ' » ‘ , • a, 'a m 1% A fr V ‘ > ^ i .U *"' >y^i --—yyy: A.. ,> ,.V‘; Ii1 J . 11 \ WV,: VtkT o,-t ■t? \ i ‘s.A- ! ■V' ■r*'L . ^A'■>ii•j■.. ''. > < ^-■WvV J ^ ■■\yu; A r^y" mm ■VA' m nrnniQ' ijj iiijjj. ( /M ' — — — 1 1I Mountbatten and the Dieppe Raid “riant r^l i TORONTO OXFORD NEW YORK Oxford University Press 1989 Oxford University Press, 70 Wynford Drive, Don Mills, Ontario, M3C 1J9 Toronto Oxford New York Delhi Bombay Calcutta Madras Karachi Petaling Jaya Singapore Hong Kong Tokyo Nairobi Dar es Salaam Cape Town Melbourne Auckland and associated companies in Berlin Ibadan CANADIAN CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION DATA Villa, Brian Loring Unauthorized action Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-19-540679-6 1. Mountbatten, Louis Mountbatten, Earl, 1900-1979. 2. Dieppe Raid, 1942. 3. World War, 1939-1945 — Canada. I. Title. D756.5.D5V54 1989 940.54'21 C89-094812-7 Copyright © Brian Loring Villa 1989 OXFORD is a trademark of Oxford University Press 12345-32109 Printed in Canada IN MEMORIAM JORGE VILLA S. VIRI CLARISSIMI PATRIS MEI INTELLEGENTIOR BENEVOLENTIOR QUO NEMO GENEROSIOR IN HONOUR ALSO OF ALL THOSE CANADIANS WHO SET SAIL ON 18 AUGUST 1942 FOR US THE ILLUSTRATIONS APPEAR BETWEEN PAGES 122 AND 123