CASUALTIES MAY BE HEAVY

Southland Times, Issue 24828, 21 August 1942, Page 5

CASUALTIES MAY BE HEAVY

Troops Embarked Almost To Time

(8.0.W.) RUGBY, August 19. On shore the fighting was fierce and the casualties are likely to have been heavy on both sides. The Germans claimed that the raid was an invasion attempt that failed, but actually reembarkation started only a few minutes after the scheduled time and was completed according to plan. While the Dieppe raid was in progress the Americans made two raids on Abbeville with Flying Fortresses. Combined Operations headquarters state that the troops taking part in the raid landed at all points selected. Heavy opposition was encountered at some places and on the left flank one landing party, though initially repulsed, reformed and later carried the beach by assault. The troops on the right flank, having achieved their objectives which included the complete destruction of a six-gun battery and an ammunition dump, re-embarked. In the centre tanks were landed and there was heavy fighting. The military force consisted mainly of Canadian troops. Also there were British special service troops, a detachment from the. United States Ranger Battalion and a small contingent of the Fighting French. This force was carried and escorted by the Royal Navy. Air support and protection on a large scale was provided by bomber and fighter aircraft of the Royal Air Force in the face of considerable enemy resistance. EMPLOYMENT OF TANKS The utmost interest has been evoked by the announcement that tanks were employed for the first time in the raid on the European coast. The capture' of a battery and the destruction of an anti-aircraft battery and a radio location station show that the much advertised strengthening of the German defences in the west has been matched by increased Allied striking power. Apart from the immediate gains, and the serious damage inflicted it is considered that invaluable experience has been gained in the employment of substantial forces and transport, including the new tank landing craft, and in the use of heavy equipment. The forces taking part were combined in every sense and the French special troops engaged are seen as a token of the overwhelming legions the free peoples are assembling to assault the aggressors. The Dieppe raid was apparently one of the most spectacular operations the commandos have so far carried out. The Exchange Telegraph Agency’s military observer says that fighting from the beginning appeared likely to continue throughout the day under cover of an umbrella which the Royal Air Force was maintaining at maximum strength. Large numbers of fighters and bomb? ers, including American planes, flew to France in a constant procession from the dawn. The Germans tried to intercept the raiders. Many dog-fights occurred and the swelling air battle extended in the early morning over the south coast of England. CONSIDERABLE STRENGTH Reuter’s military correspondent says: “This was no raid by 20 or 50 men. Our commandos could not have stayed ashore in daylight unless they were in considerable strength.’’ Details of the surface craft which participated in the raid are so far scanty. The only description available at present is that a sizeable party left the coast during the night in small craft.

A number of the men who participated in the Dieppe attack returned to their base in the afternoon. They were in high spirits. The German News Agency late in the afternoon claimed that not a single British, American or Canadian soldier remained on the mainland. Over 1000 prisoners, it said, had been taken and British losses in men and material had been considerable. An earlier Berlin report claimed that several hundred British soldiers had been killed. Berlin also stated that German naval units had participated in the action and that the Allied operation had been supported by strong air and naval forces.

TANK-LANDING CRAFT ON SECRET LIST

(Rec. 9.20 p.m.) LONDON, August 19. Details of the new British tank-land-ing craft are still on the secret list. They are similar to, but larger than, the troop-carrying barges. Ramps are lowered fore and aft, enabling the tanks to be driven on and off the barges in fighting trim. The types of tanks carried for beach landings are also a secret.