Lets Never Forget........
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Lets Never Forget........
Monday August 19, 05:27 PM
Veterans mark doomed beach raid
DIEPPE, France (Reuters) - War veterans and officials from Canada, Britain and France have gathered in Dieppe to mark the 60th anniversary of a controversial World War Two allied raid on the French port.
In an emotional memorial service on Monday, they paid homage to the 6,100 soldiers who took part in Operation Jubilee, a sea and air raid designed to weaken Germany's Channel defence that killed 1,200 allied soldiers in less than 10 hours of frenzied battle.
The war cemetery in Dieppe holds the remains of 907 Canadians who fell in the ill-fated attack. Most of the soldiers who took part were killed, injured or taken prisoner.
There are still conflicting assessments of the value of the operation, with some saying it was a useless slaughter while others maintain it was necessary preparation for the successful invasion of the continent on D-Day two years later.
Some 5,000 Canadians, 1,000 Britons and 50 Americans took part in the raid on August 19, 1942. A small number of soldiers from Poland, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, France and the former Czechoslovakia also participated.
"I came to fight, not to surrender. My war only lasted eight hours," said Canadian veteran Robert Croshwaite, who said he harboured regrets about surviving his friend and fellow soldier Peter Oliver.
"It wasn't my time. I don't see any other explanation," he said.
Dignitaries at the ceremony included Canadian minister of veteran affairs Rey Pagtakhan, Canadian defence minister John McCallum, British undersecretary of state for defence Lewis Moonie and French veterans' affairs minister Hamlaoui Mekachera.
Veterans mark doomed beach raid
DIEPPE, France (Reuters) - War veterans and officials from Canada, Britain and France have gathered in Dieppe to mark the 60th anniversary of a controversial World War Two allied raid on the French port.
In an emotional memorial service on Monday, they paid homage to the 6,100 soldiers who took part in Operation Jubilee, a sea and air raid designed to weaken Germany's Channel defence that killed 1,200 allied soldiers in less than 10 hours of frenzied battle.
The war cemetery in Dieppe holds the remains of 907 Canadians who fell in the ill-fated attack. Most of the soldiers who took part were killed, injured or taken prisoner.
There are still conflicting assessments of the value of the operation, with some saying it was a useless slaughter while others maintain it was necessary preparation for the successful invasion of the continent on D-Day two years later.
Some 5,000 Canadians, 1,000 Britons and 50 Americans took part in the raid on August 19, 1942. A small number of soldiers from Poland, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, France and the former Czechoslovakia also participated.
"I came to fight, not to surrender. My war only lasted eight hours," said Canadian veteran Robert Croshwaite, who said he harboured regrets about surviving his friend and fellow soldier Peter Oliver.
"It wasn't my time. I don't see any other explanation," he said.
Dignitaries at the ceremony included Canadian minister of veteran affairs Rey Pagtakhan, Canadian defence minister John McCallum, British undersecretary of state for defence Lewis Moonie and French veterans' affairs minister Hamlaoui Mekachera.
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