Tragedy at Dieppe: Operation Jubilee, August 19, 1942

by Mark Zuehlke

Now in paper! The gripping story of the Canadian Army's disastrous raid on Dieppe -- the tenth instalment of the bestselling Canadian Battle Series.


Nicknamed "the Poor Man's Monte Carlo," Dieppe had no strategic importance in World War II -- but the decision to assault it in August 1942 with the largest raid mounted to that date was political. With the Soviet Union thrown on the ropes by German invasion and America having just entered the war, Britain was under intense pressure to launch a major cross-Channel attack. In Canada, too, the public was calling for action, impatient to see Canadian soldiers wrap up their training in Britain and get into the war. Almost 5,000 Canadians formed the core of a 6,000-strong force. By the raid's end, 913 would be dead or mortally wounded, 1,946 would be prisoners of war and the Dieppe raid would become Canada's most costly day of World War II. Drawing on rare archival documents and personal interviews, Mark Zuehlke examines how the raid came to be and why it went so tragically wrong. From the clashes of personality and ambition among those masterminding the raid to the experiences of the common soldier left to carry it out, this tenth instalment of the Canadian Battle Series tells a compelling, unflinching story.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Military History, War, World War II, Military Fiction, France

472 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2012

About the author

On January 1, 1981, Mark Zuehlke walked away from a journalism career to pursue magazine and book writing fulltime. He has never looked back. In 1992, Mark published his first book—Magazine Writing From the Boonies (co-authored with Louise Donnelly)—and now concentrates almost exclusively on writing of books.

Fascinated by Canada’s military heritage, Mark first set to writing about the role Canadians played in World War II after discussing the Battle of Ortona with several veterans in a Royal Canadian Legion following a Remembrance Day Ceremony in Kelowna, B.C. Discovering no book had been written on this pivotal battle, Mark decided to fill that gap. Ortona: Canada’s Epic World War II Battle was the result. The book’s success encouraged him to develop The Canadian Battle Series, which documents the Canadian World War II experience and has resulted in his being declared by Jack Granatstein as the nation’s leading popular military historian.

Mark is also an award winning mystery writer, whose popular Elias McCann series has garnered much critical praise. Set in storm-swept west coast Vancouver Island village of Tofino, the series follows the investigations of reluctant community coroner Elias McCann. Hands Like Clouds, the debut title in this series, won the Crime Writers of Canada’s Arthur Ellis Award for the 2000 Best First Novel and the third instalment, Sweep Lotus, was nominated for the 2004 Arthur Ellis Best Novel.

When not writing, this Victoria, British Columbia resident can often be found tinkering around the Fernwood heritage house he shares with partner and fellow writer Frances Backhouse. He enjoys hiking, backpacking, cycling, kayaking, travelling, and cooking.

Reviews

[Steve Wood · Rating 2 out of 5]

After a slightly dry yet nonetheless interesting start, detailing the planning and cancellation of Operation Rutter and its subsequent rebirth as Operation Jubilee, the editing really lets down this book. I had to stop partway through (page 221 of 373) as a shocking chronology completely obliterated my immersion in the book. Lovat and his men land at 0453, they are then 1600 yards inland by 0435, then at 0605 it is mentioned they had landed 35 minutes earlier, i.e., at 0530. I knew at this point it was time to stop. As another example of the poor editing, the German convoy met by Group 5 consists of five freighters, sub-chasers UJ-1411 and UJ-1404, and Motor Launch 4014. A couple of pages later, Motor Launch 4014 becomes UJ-4014. In summary, if you like shockingly-edited yet otherwise interesting subject matter, this is the book for you.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tragedy created by callous ambition, shoddy planning and bad luck resulting in a meaningless loss of life. A well-written account that can help military professionals reflect upon operational security, overcomplicated planning and inability to to shelve a basically bad idea - factors that even the most persistent bravery can not compensate for. The last star would have been earned if the account of the German side of the battle had been less sketchy.

[spike marlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book on The Dieppe raid that I have read, although I have a few others on my shelf. I will be interested to see what those authors perspectives are. I read this book with great interest but became agitatedly the story went on because of the many mistakes in planning the raid. Ruben when the men hit the beach it was upsetting to read because it soon became apparent that they had no chance against the Germans manning the pill boxes and machine gun positions. And then it became heart wrenching to hear the men in their own words. The fact that Dieppe was actually 5 different landing was a new fact for me, and only one was successful. I liked the style of this book with the use of the men’s words to recreate the story. I felt the author could have gone deeper into the aftermath. The book ends with the final evacuation and says little about what happened both to the regiments that fought and the prisoners as they were led away to POW camps. Also a greater discussion or the debriefing by the major military and political players would have been helpful. This is my second book I have read from this author and I enjoyed it very much. My next book will be on Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

A detailed account of the disastrous raid on Dieppe. including the planning, training, and execution. ZThe large section on the actual battle illustrates the bravery, sacrifice, and emotion of the raid. The final section discusses the 'lessons' of the raid and the errors that led to the disaster. So many young lives ended, the Canadians fought with bravery and self sacrifice against insurmountable odds. A very informative and emotional read, especially as my Uncle was killed in this raid as a soldier in the Essex Scottish.

[Davina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn't sure there was room for another book on the Dieppe raid, but I was wrong. I've much appreciated Mark Zuehlke taking on Canadian Military History much in the way of John Keegan or Stephen Ambrose, and he does a more than admirable job. While mostly a narrative of events, he does deal with some of the concerns, particularly since a raid on Dieppe was briefed and then canceled prior to the this raid, and knowledge of the canceled raid did reach the Germans, prior to Operation Jubilee. There is some controversy regarding Lord Mountbatten's remounting of the very same plan. He deals directly with the claims of Dieppe having made the success of the later Normandy invasion possible. I will say that Allied doctrine and planning was a disaster in the early war years, for the British and Commonwealth as well as for the American Army. You can see the poor coordination, and so many tactical and planning errors which plagued this operation. Well done, sir, well done.

[Tim Barron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mark is the best writer I have read in a long time that captures our Canadian WW2 experience in amazing detail, right down to unit actions. His whole series is a must read for all Canadians.

[Ben GS · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audiobook

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a cluster-fuck Dieppe was. Much has been written and agonized over it ever since. Everything that could go wrong did, from planning to execution to withdrawal. There is blame enough to go around, except for the vast majority of officers and men who went ashore. Operationally, senior British and Canadian commanders. Politically, Churchill and the senior Canadian commanders and politicians who wanted this to be a Canadian show. And, as a "learning experience" for future amphibious assaults, little new was gleaned, since many elements of the plan was known to be flawed from before the operation was undertaken. Very sad chapter in our gallant military's history.
Zuehlke has done his usual masterful job of giving amazing detail down to the level of the NCOs and privates. I would have liked a bit more after-action narrative, though that might have been depressing, since few of the idiots running this catastrophe seem to have been fired (Crerar, Monty, etc.).

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent account of the events leading up to the invasion which was doomed to failure, and tragedy from the outset. Zuehlke Chronicles the origins of the operation and the factors in the planning and, most of all, the people who were involved and who planned, who changed and who eroded the plan for the original operation to what it became. There is enough blame to go around. Although there is one particular person who shoulders the blame, according to the military brass at the time, Zuehlke leaves it to the discerning reader to determine with whom the fault for this fiasco really lies.

[Peter L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tragedy at Dieppe for Allies but Victory for Germans

Even though Tragedy at Dieppe was written long after the costly defeat, it nevertheless shows a carefully researched and full account of the mostly Canadian costly defeat. The Germans called it a folly, while the Allies studied the failed raid on that French town & concluded that only a more massive invasion would succeed & that would be postponed until the Allies were better prepared. How and why the raid was a tragedy is covered as well as an almost minute by minute of all the important events.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a history buff and thoroughly enjoyed this book. It gave a very clear and concise picture of what Canadian troops endured on that day. Highly recommend this book.