[April 6, 2020] Britain’s raid on the northern French coastal town of Dieppe in 1942 was supposed to test Nazi Germany’s Fortress Europe. Mission goals were simple; siege a major port, gather intelligence, destroy critical defenses, raise the morale of the UK, and get out. The WWII disaster at Dieppe failed to achieve any those goals. But essential lessons were learned from the disaster. These lessons would lay the foundation for a successful D-Day landing in 1944.
Operation Jubilee, more commonly called the Dieppe Raid, was meticulously planned. On the morning of August 19, 1942, the battle began with a combined-arms attack involving heavy fighter support, a major naval bombardment, and large numbers of landing craft to siege a beachhead. Britain and Canada were itching for a fight with the Germans, and they were about to get it.
Unfortunately, the Dieppe Raid planning was critically flawed. The German Army had constructed coastal defenses where defenders could easily cover large swaths of the beaches with machine guns and artillery. But even before the landings took place, German attack boats discovered the landing craft and attacked. This naval engagement alerted the German coastal defenders to the pending allied attack. The tactical element of surprise was lost.
When the allied forces landed, Canadian and British tanks were stalled on the beaches because beach conditions ground them to a halt. Furthermore, the beach inclines were too steep for vehicles to maneuver quickly or efficiently. This problem stripped armor protection and support from the infantry. Other issues rapidly developed for the attackers. For example, a planned smokescreen occurred, but infantry forces were late and couldn’t take advantage of the smoke. Infantrymen were caught in the open by the Germans.
Back home in the UK and Canada, newspapers initially reported that the raid was a success. “Every objective is achieved on 9-hour foray into France,” read the headline of the Toronto Daily Star. Canadian troops comprised nearly 80% of the attacking forces. Canadian leaders had been complaining to Britain that their troops were not seeing enough combat. Britain, on the other hand, had not made any significant efforts in the war after the Battle for Britain in their defense against the Nazi Luftwaffe in 1940. Dieppe was to rectify this issue.
This amphibious landing at Dieppe was the first major operation of this type to occur in modern history. On the positive side, the allies learned crucial lessons. Shortly before D-Day 1944, the beaches were selected more carefully, beach physiology studied, coordination between air, land, and sea elements was perfected, and sufficient forces were employed. The allies also took great care to ensure a complete surprise. Relevant experience and good leadership made a difference.
I never heard of this battle before today. I went back to read up on the Dieppe Raid and found out a lot of things that I never even thought of. I can also see how it made for a better D-Day landing despite the casualties.
Well said and I’m doing the same. Amazing what you can learn here.
Good job today on this historical article about a generally unknown battle during WWII. I think most of us never heard of it but have learned just a little bit more on how senior leaders can really screw up. Thanks.
The fact that you did not know this battle is very sad. The education system today is more sadly lacking than I thought if they did not teach you about one of the most important battles in World War 2.
Another new reader to Brig Gen Satterfield’s leadership website. Thanks. I’m glad that I stumbled upon it.
Welcome Atkinson 22. I hope your reading about leadership continues.
Welcome Atkinson.
Hi everyone and good morning (depending on where you are in the world). I find this article playing out in today’s world with the pandemic spreading across all nations. Leaders are learning that not only is their planning not perfect but that new solutions are always needed. I see our politicians acting a bit stupidly sometimes but their mistakes are often quickly corrected. The only group I see not learning from this is the news media. The news media continues to over-hype the pandemic and purposefully distort (eg. CNN, NYT) what is really happening.
Thanks Max for pointing a finger at those who are responsible for making it harder for real leaders to do their jobs. The newspapers and tv reporters are not doing a very good job. They are earning a reputation for lies and distorting what is really happening.
Excellent points, Max and thanks. Keep up your analysis, as I always look for it.
Hi, I’m a long-time reader of this blog but today is my first post in the leader forum. Thank you Yusaf for making a point I wanted to say. Max and others help me understand better and flush out the logic. Well done!
Excellent article today and tough lessons learned for the Allies.
Interesting article. Despite being a bit of a amateur history fan of WWII, I’d never heard much about the Dieppe Raid nor had I heard about the lessons learned from it and how that was applied to the main D-Day invasion.
Hi everyone here at this leadership website. I’m a new reader and quickly became a fan. I hope to make contributions to this forum in the future. I’m from south Texas. The coronavirus is here and making our lives a bit miserable too despite warm weather. Have a great day everyone.
Hi ARay, I’m relatively new too but find that those here help us make better logical arguments. Keep reading. You will learn a bunch.
Welcome Mr. Pittman. We hope your stay is enjoyable and you learn more about leadership and see the entertainment here to be useful also.
Thanks to all of you for your support and welcomes.
Welcome aboard, ARay Pittman. I hope your time here is worthwhile.
Thanks Gen. Satterfield for bribing up the lessons from the Dieppe Raid during WWII. There are many such lessons from the military and that can be translated into every-day life. But also there are lessons from life that matter a great deal ….. if only we paid attention to them.
Thanks Army Capt for your insights and for reinforcing today’s article.
Well said, Army Captain. Thanks for your contributions to the defense of our nation and to the logic of good decision making and leadership. Maybe you could write an article for Gen. Satterfield sometime in the near future (if you have time).
Good idea. Thanks JT.
Spoken plainly for all of us to hear. Thank you Army Capt, well said.