Great Air Battles During Dieppe Raid

Taranaki Daily News, 21 August 1942, Page 3

Great Air Battles During Dieppe Raid

British Official Wireless.

Begrimed Commandos shepherded home bv Royal Air Force.

Rec. 11.30 p.m. Rugby, Aug. 19. fHE Combined Operations raid on the Dieppe area was: completed nine hours after its commencement; During : the action 91 enemy aircraft were destroyed, 10 of them by escorting ships, and 100 others were possibly destroyed or damaged. Ninety-eight of Royal Air Force machines are missing but 30 fighter pilots are known to be safe. Some of the tanks are also missing. On shore fighting was fierce and casualties are likely to have been heavy on both sides. The Germans claimed that the raid was an invasion attempt that failed but actually re-embarkation started only a few minutes after the scheduled time and was completed according to plan. Allied Commandos, their faces begrimed and smeafed with the sweat of battle, marched singing through the streets of a southern port to-night after their return, shepherded by the R.A.F. to the last from Dieppe aboard power-driven barges. All were tired but in the highest spirits. Hospital trains arrived for the wounded. The Commandos wore balaklavas and helmets and most of them wore sandshoes. One walked barefoot along the street carrying his boots in his hands. Several lost a trouserleg below the knee. There was little delay as the men were loaded into trucks and motor coaches. Cottagers ran indoors and appeared with cups of tea, matches and cigarettes. One coach moved off so quickly that one Commando had. not time to return the cup. The woman owner cheerf ully said : "Well,- he is worth it." •

Most of the Commandos carried rifles. All had a deflated rubber lifebelt across the chest. A man who had made his third Commando raid said: "It was the hottest 1 have been in. When I arrived there 1 did not think of anything but fighting, but when I was back on the boat I got scared. Now I think it was a lot of fun. and I enjoyed it." United States army headquarters reported that 23 Flying Fortresses dropped bimbs on or near the Abbeville target. The bombs were seen to burst on runways, a dispersal area and on fuel storage sites. Weather conditions were good. Twelve or 15 enemy planes were observed in the vicinity of the target, but the Fortresses encountered little fighter opposition. Some flak was experienced but none of the Fortsesses was seriously damaged and all returned to the)r base. Paris radio said the attitude of the French people during the Dieppe fight was beyond reproach. A German news agency war , correspondent, describing the raid, said: "The Allied forces, after landing on both sides of Dieppe, advanced along the coast to the town. By noon most of the tanks that had landed had been krtocked out on the beaches, and the position of the raiders had become grim. The British prepared to retreat six hours after the initial landing. They had surrounded their ships with artificial fog. Landing barges burst into flames under attack by bombers and fighter-bombers. Air supremacy over the fighting area belonged to the Luftwaffe. It was another Dunkirk. The Allies gained the beaches at 1 p.m. to find the barges burned out, and they were obliged to surrender. Two sunken transports were fully laden with troops. „ The raid was apparently one of the most spectanular operations the Commandos have so far carried out. The Exchange 'Telegraph's military observer said the fighting continued throughout daylight under cover of an umbrella which the RA.F. maintained at its maximum strength. Large numbers of fighters and bombers, including American planes, were flown to France in a constant procession from dawn. The Germans tried to intercept the raiders and many dogfights occurred. A swirling air battle extended early in the morning over the south coast of England. A special announcement from Herr Hitler's headquarters states: "German costal defence. troops repelled the Dieppe

landing, which was made by a force landed under the protection of strong naval and air forces. Since 4 p.m. not a single armed enemy soldier has remained on the Continent. This great success was achieved without drawing on reserves. . "The first wave of landing troops transferred from transports to 300 to 400 .landing barges. They reached the coast at 6.5 pm. under strong protection of between 13 cruisers and 15 destroyers and strong air fighter formations. Behind them was a floating reserve comprising six transports and- three freightr ers. Further to the north was a group of 26 transports as an operational reserve. These were to go into action when the first wave suceeded in establishing a bridgehead near Dieppe port. Hand-to-hand Fighting. •'However, the enemy forces which landed were everywhere repuised in hand-to-hand fighting and thrown back into the sea. So far 28 tanks are known to have been destroyed on the shore. We held all our strong points. Over 1500 men were taken prisoner, including 60 Canadian officers. The enemy's casualties were very high. Three destroyers, two torpedo-boats and two transports were sunk by artillery. The Luftwaffe shot down 83 planes, sank two special troop transports and one motor torpedo-boat and also damaged five cruisers or large destroyers and two transports. "The enemy suffered a devastating defeat, which served political purposes but defied all military reason. The German watch in the west has given the proper answer to an amateurish undertaking and awaits further enemy efforts with the cairn strength of a military force which has gained victory in hundreds of battles." In addition to the destruction of a sixgun battery and a munitions dump. a radio location station and a flak battery were destroyed. Apart from the losses inflicted on the enemy vital experienee was gained. Intensive activity by aircraft of all commands of the R.A.F also took place in support of the landings by our troops. Air flghts on a most intensive scale developed. Radio reports say that despite the plain statement issued in the first coramuniquji and the broadcast to the French people on the raid on Dieppe, German propaganda is claiming that the raid was an invasion attempt which they frustrated.