Author: David O'Keefe
Publisher: Icon Books
ISBN: 1785786318
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 409
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Book Description
'A lively and readable account' Spectator 'A fine book ... well-written and well-researched' Washington Times In less than six hours in August 1942, nearly 1,000 British, Canadian and American commandos died in the French port of Dieppe in an operation that for decades seemed to have no real purpose. Was it a dry-run for D-Day, or perhaps a gesture by the Allies to placate Stalin's impatience for a second front in the west? Historian David O'Keefe uses hitherto classified intelligence archives to prove that this catastrophic and apparently futile raid was in fact a mission, set up by Ian Fleming of British Naval Intelligence as part of a 'pinch' policy designed to capture material relating to the four-rotor Enigma Machine that would permit codebreakers like Alan Turing at Bletchley Park to turn the tide of the Second World War. 'A fast-paced and convincing book ... that clears up decades of misinformation about the ignoble raid' Toronto Star
Author: Robin Neillands
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 9780253347817
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 332
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Book Description
In 1942, a full two years before D-Day, thousands of men, mostly Canadian troops eager for their first taste of battle, were sent across the Channel in a raid on the French port town of Dieppe. Air supremacy was not secured; the topography of the town and its surroundings - hemmed in by tall cliffs and steep beaches - meant any invasion was improbably difficult; the result was carnage, the beaches turned into killing grounds even as the men came ashore, and whole regiments literally decimated. Why was the Raid ever mounted? Was the whole thing even, as has been darkly alleged, expected and even intended to fail, a cynical conspiracy to prove to the Americans, at the expense of so many Canadian lives, the impracticability of staging the Normandy landings for another two years? Robin Neillands goes behind the myths to tell what really happened, and why.
Author: Mark Zuehlke
Publisher: D & M Publishers
ISBN: 1553658361
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 309
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Book Description
With its trademark "you are there" style, Mark Zuehlke's tenth Canadian Battle Series volume tells the story of the 1942 Dieppe raid. Nicknamed "The Poor Man's Monte Carlo," Dieppe had no strategic importance, but 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 against France. Since 1939, Canadian troops had massed in Britain and trained for the inevitable day of the mass invasion of Europe that would finally occur in 1944. But the Canadian public and many politicians were impatient to see Canadian soldiers fight sooner. The first major rehearsal proved such a shambles the raid was pushed back to the end of July only to be cancelled by poor weather. Later, in a decision still shrouded in controversy, the operation was reborn. Dieppe however did not go smoothly. Drawing on rare archival documents and personal interviews, Mark Zuehlke examines how the raid came to be and why it went so tragically wrong. Ultimately, Tragedy at Dieppe honors the bravery and sacrifice of those who fought and died that fateful day on the beaches of Dieppe.
Author: Tim Saunders
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781844152452
Category : Dieppe Raid, 1942
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
This book details the planning and execution of the unsuccessful Dieppe Raid of 1942, which involved Canadian and British soldiers, sailors, and airmen. Also included is a suggested tour of the Dieppe battlefields.
Author: Patrick Bishop
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0241986001
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 314
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Book Description
On the warm night of 18 August 1942, a flotilla pushed out into the flat water of the Channel. They were to seize the German-held port of Dieppe, destroy key installations, seize intelligence material and then sail for home. This was the greatest amphibious operation since Gallipoli, with the biggest accumulation of fighter power ever assembled. But by the morning of the attack, one of its architects already feared that the operation would "go down as one of the great failures in history". Its key players claimed it was essential to D-Day, with the media telling listeners that it was a success -- but the tragedy was all too predictable. Using first-hand testimony from combatants and civilians, and colourful analysis of the roles of Mountbatten and Montgomery, bestselling author Patrick Bishop's gripping account brings Operation Jubilee powerfully and vividly to life, in an epic demonstration of how ambition, folly and courage came together in one of the most tragic episodes of the war.
Author: Leah Garrett
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0358177421
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 373
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Book Description
WALL STREET JOURNAL BOOK OF THE MONTH "This is the incredible World War II saga of the German-Jewish commandos who fought in Britain’s most secretive special-forces unit—but whose story has gone untold until now." —Wall Street Journal “Brilliantly researched, utterly gripping history: the first full account of a remarkable group of Jewish refugees—a top-secret band of brothers—who waged war on Hitler.”—Alex Kershaw, New York Times best-selling author of The Longest Winter and The Liberator The incredible World War II saga of the German-Jewish commandos who fought in Britain’s most secretive special-forces unit—but whose story has gone untold until now June 1942. The shadow of the Third Reich has fallen across the European continent. In desperation, Winston Churchill and his chief of staff form an unusual plan: a new commando unit made up of Jewish refugees who have escaped to Britain. The resulting volunteers are a motley group of intellectuals, artists, and athletes, most from Germany and Austria. Many have been interned as enemy aliens, and have lost their families, their homes—their whole worlds. They will stop at nothing to defeat the Nazis. Trained in counterintelligence and advanced combat, this top secret unit becomes known as X Troop. Some simply call them a suicide squad. Drawing on extensive original research, including interviews with the last surviving members, Leah Garrett follows this unique band of brothers from Germany to England and back again, with stops at British internment camps, the beaches of Normandy, the battlefields of Italy and Holland, and the hellscape of Terezin concentration camp—the scene of one of the most dramatic, untold rescues of the war. For the first time, X Troop tells the astonishing story of these secret shock troops and their devastating blows against the Nazis. “Garrett’s detective work is stunning, and her storytelling is masterful. This is an original account of Jewish rescue, resistance, and revenge.”—Wendy Lower, author of The Ravine and National Book Award finalist Hitler’s Furies
Author: Tim Saunders
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1783409541
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 373
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Book Description
A comprehensive history of the Allied attack on German-occupied France during World War II, examining its planning, execution, and failure. In 1942, with the outcome of the war very much in the balance, there was a pressing need for military success on mainland Europe. Churchill ordered Admiral Lord Mountbatten’s Combined Operations HQ to take the war to the Germans. The Canadians were selected for the Dieppe raid, which, while a morale raiser, was a disaster. Over 3,000 men were lost. This authoritative account looks at the planning, execution and analyses the reasons for failure.
Author: Stephen C. McGeorge and Mason W. Watson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 80
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Book Description
Author: David O'Keefe
Publisher: Vintage Canada
ISBN: 0345807707
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
One of the most important Canadian non-fiction books we have published: the groundbreaking, thrilling, ultra-secret story behind one of WWII's most enduring mysteries, which fundamentally changes our understanding of this sorrowful event in Canada's past. The Dieppe Raid--the darkest day in Canadian military history--has been one of the most perplexing mysteries of WWII, when almost 4,000 Canadian amphibious troops stormed the small French port town, only to be ambushed by the waiting Germans, slaughtered, wounded or captured. This catastrophe, coupled with the 7 decades-long mystery surrounding the reason for the operation, left a legacy of bitterness and recriminations and controversial charges ranging from incompetence to conspiracy. O'Keefe's detective-like research over 15 years in the Intelligence archives of 5 countries now reveals that it was a vitally secret "pinch raid," organized by British Naval Intelligence and the Joint Intelligence Committee. The mission: under cover of a raid to secretly steal the German code books that would unlock the Enigma cipher machine that held the key to the German High Command's plans. One of the key figures behind the mission, along with Mountbatten and Churchill, was Commander Ian Fleming, waiting in a ship off-shore for the code books that might have saved countless lives and shortened the war by some years.
Author: Michael Julius King
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Government publications
Languages : en
Pages : 102
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Book Description
This Leavenworth Paper is a critical reconstruction of World War II Ranger operations conducted at or near Djebel el Ank, Tunisia; Porto Empedocle, Sicily; Cisterna, Italy; Zerf, Germany; and Cabanatuan in the Philippines. It is not intended to be a comprehensive account of World War II Ranger operations, for such a study would have to include numerous minor actions that are too poorly documented to be studied to advantage. It is, however, representative for it examines several types of operations conducted against the troops of three enemy nations in a variety of physical and tactical environments. As such, it draws a wide range of lessons useful to combat leaders who may have to conduct such operations or be on guard against them in the future. Many factors determined the outcomes of the operations featured in this Leavenworth Paper, and of these there are four that are important enough to merit special emphasis. These are surprise, the quality of opposing forces, the success of friendly forces with which the Rangers were cooperating, and popular support.
