DIEPPE RAID RESULTS

Southland Times, Issue 24830, 24 August 1942, Page 5

DIEPPE RAID RESULTS

STRONG GERMAN DEFENCES (Chicago Daily News Foreign Service) (Rec. 9.30 p.m.) NEW YORK, August 21. William Stoneman, in a copyright message from London, says: “Allied service chiefs are studying the results of the Dieppe raid to determine what went right and what went wrong and why. It can be said immediately that the German defences are very formidable and there is nothing to suggest that an Allied invasion of Western Europe would be any easier than had been thought. “Except on the flanks, where the commandos smashed isolated gunposts, opposition was heavy throughout the raid and the ships lying offshore were under heavy shell-fire until the end. In other words, much opposition was never overcome. This indicates that the British, with the massed might of the Royal Air Force, just did not have the weapons. “Proponents of the dive-bomber inevitably argue that pill-boxes and artillery emplacements could have been knocked out if dive-bombers had been available. It is admitted that they were not knocked out either by can-non-fighters or bombers. As for the big guns farther to the rear, the immediate suggestion is that air-borne troops could have been used, as in Crete, to overcome heavily defended positions behind the coast. “It now seems more evident than ever that the United Nations can hope to over-run the German defences only if they are heavily supplied with divebombers, paratroops and troop-carriers. Whether something is being done about this will probably be known only when an invasion is attempted. “The outstanding success was the performance of Royal Air Force and Allied fighter pilots. CANADIANS" THRILLED DIFFICULTIES REALIZED (Rec. 7 p.m.) NEW YORK, August 22. The New York Times Ottawa correspondent says Canada has been thrilled by the stories of the Dieppe attack, in which Canadian units from Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, Windsor and Hamilton played a conspicuous part. However, with the thrill of satisfaction has come a full realization of what the United Nations“armies must face before they can make good their promises to liberate the peoples under the Nazi domination. Casualties at Dieppe and on the other beaches were heavy. It is evident the raid failed to surprise the enemy, who was ready and made very skilful use of the intricate ground. The moral being drawn here from the whole adventure is, therefore, a sober one. There is no questioning the necessity for the attack and no criticism of the manner in which it was carried through. It is recognized that its actual accomplishments cannot be fully appraised without more knowledge, but it is considered that it has shown that any attempt to land in France with a view to establishing permanent contact with the enemy forces will have to be made on a scale and manner very different from that of this raiding force. An Ottawa message says the Government has released two casualty lists since the Battle of Dieppe, totalling 48 killed, 23 missing and 53 wounded. According to a Vancouver message Lieutenant-General Stuart, Chief of the General Staff, said: “In the Dieppe raid we walked into the Boche’s parlour through the front door at a time we chose and left by the same front door when we wanted to leave. We were able to test the Boche defences, test the landing arrangements under actual combat conditions, kill Huns and destroy what we could.”

SPITFIRES PAY RETURN VISIT TO DIEPPE

(8.0.W.) RUGBY, August 23. The Air Ministry states: “Spitfires made low level attacks on objectives in Occupied France and Belgium. Gunposts, factories, airfields and German troops were among the targets attacked. Four of our fighters are missing.” Spitfires went back to Dieppe to attack heavy >gun positions. Very few men were seen and some of the positions do not appear to be manned. West of Dieppe the only opposition came from a light flak post, which fighters silenced.

In the early morning bombs were dropped at a place on the coast of southern England. Slight damage was done, but no one was hurt. In the afternoon, a small number of enemy aircraft flew over the south coast and dropped bombs at two places. A small number of persons was injured and some damage was reported.