The Dieppe Raid: The Combined Operations Assault on Hitler's European Fortress, August 1942

by UK War Office

Overview

Winston Churchill was under pressure. The Soviets felt that they were fighting the Germans by themselves. Stalin demanded that Britain should open a second front to draw German forces away from the east. Though the advice Churchill received from his staff was that an invasion of France would not be possible for at least another year, the British Prime Minister knew he had to do something to help the Russians.

The result was a large-scale raid upon the port of Dieppe. It would not be the second front that Stalin wanted, but at least it would demonstrate Britain’s intent to support the Soviets and it would be a useful rehearsal for the eventual invasion. Dieppe was chosen as it was thought that the success of any invasion would depend on the capture of a major port to enable heavy weapons, vehicles and reinforcements to be landed in support of the landing forces.

After an earlier postponement, the raid upon Dieppe, Operation _Jubilee_, was eventually scheduled for 19 August 1942. The assault was the most ambitious Allied attack against the German Channel defences of the war so far. Some 6,000 infantry, 237 naval vessels and seventy-four squadrons of aircraft were involved.

Though the debate surrounding Jubilee’s purpose and cost has raged in the years since the war, many vital and important lessons were learnt. All of these factors are covered in this official battle summary, a detailed and descriptive account of the Dieppe Raid, which was written shortly after the war and is based on the recollections of those who were involved.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781526752925
Publisher:	Pen & Sword Books Limited
Publication date:	11/12/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	328
File size:	33 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

Table of Contents

List of Plans viii

Foreword ix

Publisher's Note xi

Abbreviations xii

Part I Preparations

Section 1 Introduction 1

Section 2 Dieppe: Defences 2

Section 3 Origins of the Plan 3

Section 4 Adoption of Plan "Rutter" 5

Section 5 Objectives 6

Section 6 Confirmation of the Original Plan 7

Section 7 Modification of Plan 8

Section 8 Abandonment of "Rutter" 9

Section 9 Operation "Jubilee" 10

Part II The Passage

Section 10 The Embarkation and Minesweeping 13

Section 11 The Passage 14

Section 12 The Approach 15

Section 13 Situation 0340 hours, 19th August 16

Section 14 Action with Enemy Forces 17

Section 15 The Destroyers 18

Section 16 Radar Warnings 19

Section 17 Results of the Action 21

Part III The Assault

Section 18 General remarks 22

Section 19 The Eastern Outer Flank (Yellow beaches) 22

Section 20 The Western Outer Flank (Orange beaches) 25

Section 21 The Eastern Inner Flank (Blue beach) 26

Section 22 Naval attempts to evacuate Blue beach 28

Section 23 The Western Inner Flank (Green Beach - Pourville) 29

Section 24 The Main Assault (Red and White Beaches) - Dieppe 30

Section 25 Landing the Tanks 32

Section 26 Naval Support 33

Section 27 The Floating Reserve and R.M. Commando 35

Part IV The Withdrawal

Section 28 Situation at 0900 hours 38

Section 29 Evacuation of Green Beach (Pourville) 39

Section 30 Evacuation of Red and White Beaches 41

Section 31 Decision to abandon operation 43

Section 32 Loss of H.M.S. Berkeley 45

Section 33 Remarks on the Evacuation 45

Section 34 The Return to England 47

Part V The Air Battle

Section 35 Air Forces 48

Section 36 Enemy Air Opposition 49

Part VI The Aftermath

Section 37 Conclusion 51

Part VII Appendices

A List of H.M. Ships on Operation "Jubilee" 55

B Organization of H.M. Ships on Operation "Jubilee" 62

C Military and Air Forces on Operation "Jubilee" 65

D Casualties 67

E Types of Landing Craft 71

F Analysis of Bombing Attacks in Support of Operation "Jubilee" 72

G Summary of the Lessons learnt 74

H Extracts from German Reports on Dieppe Raid 77

Additional Appendices from Initial Version of Battle Summary No.33

I Naval Operational Order No.I 126

J List of Ships, Groups and Senior Officers 132

K Operation "Jubilee" - Instructions to L.S.I. 137

L Operation "Jubilee" - Instructions to Destroyers 141

M Orders for Naval A.A. Fire 146

N Operation "Jubilee" - Orders for Coastal Craft 148

O Table of Movements of Coastal Craft After the Assault 153

P Operation "Jubilee" - Instructions to Cutting Out Force 156

Q Orders for Withdrawal of Troops and Return Passage 163

R Orders for Naval Beach Parties 168

S Detailed Military Plan 172

T Information - Enemy 178

U Assault and Occupation 182

V Schedule of Timings 185

W Detailed Air Plan 200

X Officers in Command 221

Y Report by Naval Force Commander 231

Z Report by Military Force Commander 242

AA Report by the Air Force Commander 250

BB Order of Battle of the Royal Air Force 265

CC Analysis of Bombing Attacks 268

DD An Estimate of Enemy Aircraft Seen over Dieppe During the Action 270

EE Reactions of the German Air Force 271

FF Medical Arrangements for Casualty Evacuation 276

GG Medical Evacuation at a Dockyard 282

HH Security Arrangements 284

II Security Lapses and Action Taken 291

JJ German State of Readiness 293

KK Enemy Defences and Weapons 294

LL Enemy Defences Summarised 298

MM Sections of German Defence Plans 301

Notes and references 305

Notes on Sources 313