Dieppe Raid Research Paper
The raid on Dieppe in World War Two was a disaster and woefully resulted in the loss of many lives, but why? The planning of the raid was incomplete and lacked many important factors. The intelligence that the Allied Forces had gained to plan the raid on Dieppe was incorrect or incomplete. There were no lessons learned at Dieppe that were not already known or could have been learned without the raid. The Dieppe Raid was highly flawed and this was the fault of the planners of the raid.
The Dieppe raid was a failure because its planning lacked many important factors. Before the planning for the Dieppe Raid, an older operation had been intended to be carried out at Dieppe. This was codenamed Operation Rutter. Prior to executing operation Rutter …show more content…
though, it was shelved. Now in 1942, the Dieppe Raid had been proposed and was much different from its predecessor and not necessarily for the better. Unlike the initial plan, there was to be no heavy aerial bombardment of the area before the raid. This was because the Allies did not want their bombers to be distracted from their nightly raids on Dieppe and also because the British thought there would be too many civilian casualties. However, an aerial bombardment of the area should have been a necessary part of the raid. It had so many more benefits and even the cost would not have been that much but it was still not a part of the plan. This deficiency contributed to the failure of the Dieppe raid. The battleship support was also greatly reduced to only 8 destroyers which employed the Royal Navys smallest calibre guns. Could a vaster majority of naval units such as battleships and cruisers have changed the outcome of the raid? Some say that the firepower of the guns on larger ships could have taken out some of the enemies men prior to landing on the beach. Operation Rutter employed the largest battleships and this operation, did not. In addition, the intelligence the Allies were given was insufficient, as explained later. Most of the intelligence was the same that had been carried out since the days of Operation Rutter, a few years earlier. Had great thought gone into the planning of the raid, this factor wouldve been considered. Most things at Dieppe were not the same as they were years ago, and an updated reconnaissance mission had yet to be undertaken. The initial operation, Rutter, was thoroughly planned out and had left no stone unturned but the planning of the Dieppe raid was highly flawed and relied on outdated factors. Therefore the raid on Dieppe was poorly planned and this flaw contributed to its failure.
The Dieppe raid was a complete failure because the intelligence that the planners of the raid had was either incorrect or incomplete. Due to navigational errors, 9 of the tank crews failed to arrive on time because their knowledge of the area was so limited. If they had been taught properly what the plan was and how to achieve it, they would not have gotten lost. Also, the arrival of the tanks should have meant that the Canadians were able to break the deadlock and advance into the town. Unfortunately, many of the tanks found it difficult to traverse the beach with its shingle and large pebbles. Even the topography of the beach was unknown to the Allies. This was a factor that should have been considered and taken into account to successfully proceed with the raid. The Allied Intelligence had also failed to reveal the positions of many gun and machine gun positions. Had a recent reconnaissance mission been undertaken before the raid, the Allies would have gained this knowledge and been able to avoid the guns. Without this data though, the troops were left to fight the enemy without knowing where they were located. In addition to that, no updated topographical reconnaissance had been undertaken. Information on the French terrain at Dieppe was confined to a few pre-war postcards and out-dated maps. The tanks struggled to get past the rocky shoals and almost 100% of those tank crews who landed, perished. Allied intelligence had also stated that the beach was not heavily defended. The truth is that the Germans had been slowly increasing their defences at Dieppe. They had begun to bring more troops and guns into the area. They had constructed a sea wall to prevent entry onto the beach. They had also blockaded all other ways into the town of Dieppe. All of this, the Allies were unaware of. Their intelligence was so outdated that they did not even know of the latest developments at Dieppe. This shows that the intelligence was greatly lacking and a few scouting missions could have saved quite a few lives. The planners knew very well that whatever knowledge they had about Dieppe was obtained during the time of Operation Rutter and was greatly outdated but chose to do nothing. This shows us that the failure at Dieppe was the fault of its planners.
All the lessons learned at Dieppe should already have been known or couldve have been foreseen.
Many people say that the Dieppe raid did serve some purpose as it taught the Allies some valuable lessons but this is not true. One of the lessons learned from the raid was that better intelligence would be required. How could this fact have ever been neglected? Intelligence should have been the first thing that the planners considered. They relied heavily on the knowledge of the area to create a plan but they should have thought about the fact that the raid could only be successful if the information they were given was recent and accurate. The planners were not taking the raid seriously otherwise, would they have settled for postcard views of the area? Another lesson claimed to have been learned from the raid on Dieppe was the need for heavier bombardment of entrenched defensive positions prior to the landing of men and supplies. Again, this was a lesson that should already have been known. Operation Rutter spelled out very clearly how the raid should have been executed but the planners of the Dieppe raid wanted to save civilians and money! The planners should have been trying to minimize casualties in general, not only of those French civilians on the beach. Why would it not make more sense to bomb the area before the raiding force entered? This would have saved the lives of so many people. An aerial bombardment would have made the raid more successful and the planners should …show more content…
have known this. If they knew it for Rutter, if they were prepared to do it for Rutter, what happened now? This was not a lesson that was learned from the raid, it was already known. The only thing this lesson was: ignored. In general, the lesson learned was that heavier fire power was needed. Again, this was not something that the failure at Dieppe needed to teach the army. A five year old child could tell you that you need to have power to defeat an enemy. Operation Rutter included what the Dieppe Raid didnt. So, how can it be claimed that these lessons were learned through the mistakes at Dieppe when they were already known for Operation Rutter? This shows us that the lessons learned from the raid were in fact already known and the planners simply chose to disregard them, making the Dieppe raid the failure it was.
The Dieppe raid was a failure because of its faulty planners.
There were an abundance of flaws with the planning of the raid. The intelligence was insufficient and the lessons learned from the raid were already known. The flaws within the plan of the Dieppe raid are countless. The intelligence that the allies had was faulty. The Allies had no recent or updated knowledge of the area or of the German position at Dieppe. No effort had been made to update the Allied knowledge of Dieppe either. Most lessons that were claimed to have been learned were only common sense. Many of the lessons learned had already been discovered from previous operations. The allied planners obviously did not put enough effort into the planning of this raid. The Dieppe Raid was highly flawed and this was the fault of the planners of the
raid.
Works CitedAuthor Unknown 5000 Canuck Troops at Dieppe The Globe and Mail 19 September 1942: Page unknownAuthor Unknown Military History of Canada during the Second World War April 2, 2007http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_Canada_during_the_Second_World_War (April 3, 2007)Cruxton Bradley J et al. Spotlight Canada 4th edition: Oxford University Press. Don Mills, Ontario.
Pitt, George H. Dieppe Raid Operation Jubilee 1942 April 29, 2007 http://www.combinedops.com/Dieppe.htm (May 1, 2007)
The Dieppe raid was a failure because its planning lacked many important factors. Before the planning for the Dieppe Raid, an older operation had been intended to be carried out at Dieppe. This was codenamed Operation Rutter. Prior to executing operation Rutter …show more content…
though, it was shelved. Now in 1942, the Dieppe Raid had been proposed and was much different from its predecessor and not necessarily for the better. Unlike the initial plan, there was to be no heavy aerial bombardment of the area before the raid. This was because the Allies did not want their bombers to be distracted from their nightly raids on Dieppe and also because the British thought there would be too many civilian casualties. However, an aerial bombardment of the area should have been a necessary part of the raid. It had so many more benefits and even the cost would not have been that much but it was still not a part of the plan. This deficiency contributed to the failure of the Dieppe raid. The battleship support was also greatly reduced to only 8 destroyers which employed the Royal Navys smallest calibre guns. Could a vaster majority of naval units such as battleships and cruisers have changed the outcome of the raid? Some say that the firepower of the guns on larger ships could have taken out some of the enemies men prior to landing on the beach. Operation Rutter employed the largest battleships and this operation, did not. In addition, the intelligence the Allies were given was insufficient, as explained later. Most of the intelligence was the same that had been carried out since the days of Operation Rutter, a few years earlier. Had great thought gone into the planning of the raid, this factor wouldve been considered. Most things at Dieppe were not the same as they were years ago, and an updated reconnaissance mission had yet to be undertaken. The initial operation, Rutter, was thoroughly planned out and had left no stone unturned but the planning of the Dieppe raid was highly flawed and relied on outdated factors. Therefore the raid on Dieppe was poorly planned and this flaw contributed to its failure.
The Dieppe raid was a complete failure because the intelligence that the planners of the raid had was either incorrect or incomplete. Due to navigational errors, 9 of the tank crews failed to arrive on time because their knowledge of the area was so limited. If they had been taught properly what the plan was and how to achieve it, they would not have gotten lost. Also, the arrival of the tanks should have meant that the Canadians were able to break the deadlock and advance into the town. Unfortunately, many of the tanks found it difficult to traverse the beach with its shingle and large pebbles. Even the topography of the beach was unknown to the Allies. This was a factor that should have been considered and taken into account to successfully proceed with the raid. The Allied Intelligence had also failed to reveal the positions of many gun and machine gun positions. Had a recent reconnaissance mission been undertaken before the raid, the Allies would have gained this knowledge and been able to avoid the guns. Without this data though, the troops were left to fight the enemy without knowing where they were located. In addition to that, no updated topographical reconnaissance had been undertaken. Information on the French terrain at Dieppe was confined to a few pre-war postcards and out-dated maps. The tanks struggled to get past the rocky shoals and almost 100% of those tank crews who landed, perished. Allied intelligence had also stated that the beach was not heavily defended. The truth is that the Germans had been slowly increasing their defences at Dieppe. They had begun to bring more troops and guns into the area. They had constructed a sea wall to prevent entry onto the beach. They had also blockaded all other ways into the town of Dieppe. All of this, the Allies were unaware of. Their intelligence was so outdated that they did not even know of the latest developments at Dieppe. This shows that the intelligence was greatly lacking and a few scouting missions could have saved quite a few lives. The planners knew very well that whatever knowledge they had about Dieppe was obtained during the time of Operation Rutter and was greatly outdated but chose to do nothing. This shows us that the failure at Dieppe was the fault of its planners.
All the lessons learned at Dieppe should already have been known or couldve have been foreseen.
Many people say that the Dieppe raid did serve some purpose as it taught the Allies some valuable lessons but this is not true. One of the lessons learned from the raid was that better intelligence would be required. How could this fact have ever been neglected? Intelligence should have been the first thing that the planners considered. They relied heavily on the knowledge of the area to create a plan but they should have thought about the fact that the raid could only be successful if the information they were given was recent and accurate. The planners were not taking the raid seriously otherwise, would they have settled for postcard views of the area? Another lesson claimed to have been learned from the raid on Dieppe was the need for heavier bombardment of entrenched defensive positions prior to the landing of men and supplies. Again, this was a lesson that should already have been known. Operation Rutter spelled out very clearly how the raid should have been executed but the planners of the Dieppe raid wanted to save civilians and money! The planners should have been trying to minimize casualties in general, not only of those French civilians on the beach. Why would it not make more sense to bomb the area before the raiding force entered? This would have saved the lives of so many people. An aerial bombardment would have made the raid more successful and the planners should …show more content…
have known this. If they knew it for Rutter, if they were prepared to do it for Rutter, what happened now? This was not a lesson that was learned from the raid, it was already known. The only thing this lesson was: ignored. In general, the lesson learned was that heavier fire power was needed. Again, this was not something that the failure at Dieppe needed to teach the army. A five year old child could tell you that you need to have power to defeat an enemy. Operation Rutter included what the Dieppe Raid didnt. So, how can it be claimed that these lessons were learned through the mistakes at Dieppe when they were already known for Operation Rutter? This shows us that the lessons learned from the raid were in fact already known and the planners simply chose to disregard them, making the Dieppe raid the failure it was.
The Dieppe raid was a failure because of its faulty planners.
There were an abundance of flaws with the planning of the raid. The intelligence was insufficient and the lessons learned from the raid were already known. The flaws within the plan of the Dieppe raid are countless. The intelligence that the allies had was faulty. The Allies had no recent or updated knowledge of the area or of the German position at Dieppe. No effort had been made to update the Allied knowledge of Dieppe either. Most lessons that were claimed to have been learned were only common sense. Many of the lessons learned had already been discovered from previous operations. The allied planners obviously did not put enough effort into the planning of this raid. The Dieppe Raid was highly flawed and this was the fault of the planners of the
raid.
Works CitedAuthor Unknown 5000 Canuck Troops at Dieppe The Globe and Mail 19 September 1942: Page unknownAuthor Unknown Military History of Canada during the Second World War April 2, 2007http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_Canada_during_the_Second_World_War (April 3, 2007)Cruxton Bradley J et al. Spotlight Canada 4th edition: Oxford University Press. Don Mills, Ontario.
Pitt, George H. Dieppe Raid Operation Jubilee 1942 April 29, 2007 http://www.combinedops.com/Dieppe.htm (May 1, 2007)