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Published: September 2nd 2013
Very Few US flags Here
People at the marina always seem impressed that we came from the US by boat.Okay- its history test time! How many of you know why the French city of Dieppe is so important to Canadians (I will give you a hint - it has to do with World War II)?
Okay, times up! It was the site of the first Allied invasion of France almost 2 years before the Normandy invasion. Never heard of it? Well, neither had we before we arrived here after a very quiet passage from Fecamp.
Dieppe was the site of what was called the Dieppe Raid. On August 19, 1942, 6,000 soldiers embarked from southern England made up of 5,000 Canadians, 50 American Rangers, 20 Free French soldiers and almost 1,000 British. The objective was to test the ability of allied forces to seize a harbor intact. Some considered this a critical step in the liberation of Europe. The plan was never to hold the harbor for more than a day, but essentially just to determine if it could be done. Casualties from the raid included 3,367 Canadians killed, wounded or taken prisoner, and 275 British commandos. The Royal Navy lost one destroyer and 33 landing craft, suffering 550 dead and wounded. The RAF lost 106 aircraft to
Dieppe Beaches are Similar
to those in Fecamp with stone & miles of cliffs along the shore. the Luftwaffe's 48. The German army casualties were 591. Though the Canadians fought bravely in the face of a determined enemy, the circumstances were a disaster for them and the objective was not obtained. The American Rangers were put ashore some distance away from the center beach and were able to achieve their goal with no casualties. There is a great deal more to the story, but the politics and the in-fighting of the British chiefs of staff with Mountbatten are blamed for the lack of success and the high loss of life. It was said that even though this was a tragic loss, the lessons learned here helped the troops that later landed in Normandy on D-Day in 1944. Churchill stated it “was a Canadian contribution of the greatest significance to final victory”. The Dieppe Raid and the men that battled here are honored in Dieppe with monuments, a museum and the allied cemetery of those that lost their lives here.
As usual when we get to a new town, we wandered around the streets of the town, checked out the local churches, stopped at one or two of the cafes, checked out the sunsets from the beach
Beach "Huts" are Popular
Sea bathing became popular in the 1800’s and this area is still popular as a tourist area. (if there is one) and just generally enjoy our time there. We also get a chance to meet people at the dock who are helpful with information of where to go and what to see in the town we are in as well as further up the coast. This time we also met a couple that were just starting out on their full time cruising life so we had them over on Tsamaya. It was nice to be able to share some of what we have learned with people who are just beginning the adventure. We wish both Henry and Siv well!
We have found that many of the villages on this coast are part of what is called the “Impressionists Trail”. In these villages they have signs which show various impressionists paintings at the locations where the painters were inspired. Dieppe had a few of these and when you see the views here, you aren’t surprised that the artists picked this area of Normandy.
We waited for the winds to change to a more favorable direction for us and after 4 nights in Dieppe we left again to move further east along the French coast. That
St. James Church Started in 12th C.
is one of the stop offs for pilgrims going to Santiago de Compostella in Spain. It was completed in the 16th C. will be in the next entry.
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