3 cdo Dieppe

Plan changed from a raid to a landing assault

The previous page was: "No.12 Army Commando"

3 cdo Dieppe; It was decided to use No.3 Commando and No.4 Commando in the Dieppe Raid. It was given a purely naval role: to seize the costal craft and barges in Dieppe harbour and sail them back to England. It would boost Britain's moral.

Then a change of plan was suddenly made in the initial stages of the raid. The raid on Dieppe was now seen as the main object to learn how best to plan, for getting troops and equipment ashore for a landing assault on French soil.

But there was a more serious political motive behind the plot. At the time the situation on the Eastern Front was far from good; the Russians wanted the West to contain in France, at least forty first-line German divisions.

No.12 Army Commando

Landing craft and Eureka boats

A raid on a scale much larger than had originally been planned was now required to create this diversion.

The No.3 Commando were then detailed to land on Yellow Beach 1. and No.4 Commando on Yellow Beach 2 which would be the centre of the main assault.

The Commandos would be reinforced with the Canadian Royal Hamilton Light Infantry, and a Tank Battalion. This operation has been described as a "Combined Operations."

The 3rd Commando was ordered to attack the battery of 5.9 guns near Berneval, to which the code name "Goebbels" had been given.

They crossed seventy miles across the Channel in twenty-three landing craft and Eureka boats, seaworthy craft but unarmed each carried twenty men when full.

The battery was situated four-hundred and fifty yards inland between Berneval and the edge of the cliff.

Five miles from Dieppe they encountered a German tanker, being escorted by armed trawlers. The action could have but one ending. The German trawlers opened fire on the flotilla of unarmed landing craft.

Before the flotilla set out it had been decided that, should the enemy be encountered at sea, its units were to scatter and make for home.

The destroyers HMS Brocklesby

They could see land when they were lit up by star shells, they were sitting defenceless targets when the heavy fire opened up by the enemy; landing craft were sunk and Commandos were killed before they could set foot on the shore.

The destroyers H.M.S. Brocklesby and the Polish destroyer Slazak, were about four miles away. Had they been closer then the action might have been different.

Failure to come to the rescue of the flotilla at the critical moment proved to be disastrous. It was obvious that the plan had miscarried and that it might not be possible to put the Commandos ashore.

In the dim light preceeding dawn they could see that only five landing craft remained in line.

Some landing craft had engine trouble and returned home others were badly damaged by enemy fire and also had to return. Seven made it to the coast of France; but four of these were sunk on the way in.

Lieutenant Smail spent seventeen hours in the water before stepping ashore at Dieppe and becoming a prisoner of war.

Major Peter Young made it ashore

Major Peter Young made it ashore, all told there were twenty men of all ranks. They had with them a three inch mortar with four bombs and a two inch with six; one semi-automatic rifle, nine Service rifles, one Bren gun, six Tommy guns and three pistols. With these arms they set out to attack a battery that held over two-hundred fully armed German troops.

It took twenty minutes for all of them to scale the cliffs. They at once took cover in a small wood, They could see the huge concrete bunkers with the big guns barrels poking out, it looked impenetrable. Young said: "although they might find it impossible to accomplish their full purpose, with the tools they had, they would still be able to inflict hurt upon the enemy, which was the only reason for their existence.

With two other officers available he divided them into three parties; they advanced through the cornfields. The guns of the 'Goebbels' battery roared out a short distance away.

They were firing at the main attack, now taking place on the beaches of Dieppe itself. Moving forward they came under fire from the left flank, two Tommy guns returned the fire then there was silence.

Which they knew was a 'Pansy.'

They came across a dummy gun which they had seen on the air photographs, which they knew was a 'Pansy.' But it told them exactly where they were. A man as brave, but less clear-headed than Young, might have led a charge. It would assuredly have failed, for what could twenty men inadequately armed have accomplished against ten times their number, entrenched, alert, and prepared to defend their guns to the last?

Standing in the corn they set about sniping the battery; firing at the troops in the trenches and shooting through the pillbox slits.

It was harassing fire, more or less controlled. The Germans returned the fire. Nevertheless, the fire of the Commandos must have proved galling, for the Germans swung one of the heavy guns round and fired at the Commandos'. It could not be sufficiently depressed; the shells landed somewhere in France.

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Like all tales of war

With the Commandos' ammunition almost exhausted; They fired the last of the mortar bombs; they could do no more. it was time to go back to the beach.

The gallant Buckee RN was still there. He had remained off shore, taking what shelter he could from the intermittent smoke screens laid by destroyers and aircraft. Under fire from the cliffs they scrambled aboard.

Like all tales of war it is a record of triumph and disaster, of caution and enterprise, of frustration and accomplishment.

But through it runs a strand of which, since England became a Nation, has been displayed on a hundred battlefields and has brought her victory not once, but many times.

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3 Commando Dieppe 4 Commando Dieppe

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