Actual Day 3- Death and Dieppe

So, the last entry was actually day 2, not 3! Eh heh! I was thrown off by doing it a bit late, I’m afraid.
So, Day 2 actually being the Post-War museum and the Tapestry… 

Day three was another emotional day. We visited Dieppe, the site of the tragic raid that took place on Aug. 19th, 1942, operation Jubilee. Due to a combination of poor intelligence and communication coupled with pressure from Russia on the British to open a new western front, the planned raid turned into the one of the most horrific losses of the War. Out of approximately 5000 Canadian soldiers, 907 were killed, 586 were wounded, and 1,946 were captured. My great-uncle Harry was killed in action there at the age of 31. He was a medic, and, so our professor postulated, was unlikely to have been in the front rushes, and was very likely killed trying to help someone. In a way, he was lucky to have been identified. The number of unknown or missing soldiers buried in Dieppe is very high. We paid our respects in the memorial, and went into the town of Dieppe itself. To this day, it has a deep relationship with Canada. 

Dieppe

We visited the Jubilee museum, which is a tiny hole-in-the wall in the old Theatre where the Canadians dug in, and eventually retreated from. It is run by a volunteer operation who amassed their collection by private donations, private research, and volunteers. They met with us, a few of their guides and their director, to give us some history of the museum, of Dieppe’s relationship with Canada, and to explain how they eventually hoped for a grant which would allow them to move to a proper modern space where they could have the museum and memorial they hoped to one day build. As it is, their collection is small, cramped, and much less than it could be. This is not to say a word against it- As the work of private collectors and volunteers pooling resources, its a wonderful tribute to Canada and to the history and build up of the Dieppe raid and it’s staggering losses. But they know it is less than it could be, and that they have collections and archives in storage due to their lack of space and ability to renovate in a historical building. It was a moving and attentive visit- when Corey spoke with one of the attendants behind the desk, she spoke to him in broken french, and thanked him and Canada ‘for Dieppe’. 

Exhibits and Video

After the Jubilee museum, we visited the beaches, and experienced immediately why the raid had failed so terribly. To be fair, from an aerial view the beaches would have looked normal, especially with the technology at the time. This is part of the poor intelligence gathered prior to the raid. In actuality, the Dieppe beaches are steep, what looked to be at least 35% of incline and about two meters before it evened out. It was also huge rocks, not sand, which the treads of the tanks were entirely unprepared for. We stood on the rocks and knew, miserably and deeply, just how much the soldiers would have had to struggle up, slow and weighed down, being shot at with no cover as they came. It was a heavy day. What helped was the warm welcome by Dieppe, and the story that the citizens of Dieppe have collectively remembered through their grandparents; of the Canadian Prisoners being brought down to the beaches for release, and whispering in French to the locals who had been collected to witness their ‘shame’, “we’ll be back…. We’ll be back….” In a moment of Poetic Justice, if there ever was one, it was the Canadians who were allowed to return to liberate Dieppe in 1944. The same men marched out under armed guard were welcomed back with tears and cries of welcome from the french who remembered them leaving. In the video we watched, veterans and locals recalling the different moments were deeply affecting. 

Beaches at Dieppe

After a day of absorbing all this, we returned to Paris. We filmed our first round of interviews for the video, and then on Day four had a day of freedom in the city. A few of our number visited the Louvre and the National History museum, some walked the Seine and saw Notre Dame and the Tuilderies, and all had a marvellous time and took lots of beautiful pictures. The very next morning, day 5, brought us to the Great War museum of Peronne, and to the memorial of Beaumont-Hamel. More to come.

Time in Paris!