Documents
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Some historical documents of interest
(Note: These are all PDF files and will open in a new browser window. Adobe Acrobat or a compatible reader is required to view them.)
Pre-Dieppe
The British Commandos received a great deal of news coverage and were widely admired for their exploits, even in the U.S. Stories about them were often wildly inaccurate, but served to boost public morale. Here are some examples from the NY Times.
Commandos held Nazi base
In praise of the Commandos
VC awarded
The American phase
Pearl Harbor meant that the U.S. was involved in the war. But it would quite some time before the army was really ready to fight. The president and his generals were aware of this, but sought to keep up spirits and build the momentum. Part of the job meant announcing plans as they advanced.
Marshall announces Ranger formation
The 'American phase'
Dieppe raid
The initial reports of the raid were highly inaccurate, though reading through them now an informed reader can ferret out nuggets of truth even in the most wild flight of fantasy. The Germans, of course, broadcasted the 'truth' of the raid as soon as they were able. While their reports were very slanted, on the whole they were more accurate than the allies', at least at first.
An initial (highly misleading and erroneous) report
The Germans have their say
Reality begins to set in
Larry Meir's eyewitness account
Ross Munro's eyewitness account
The first hint that Zip Koons will be honored
A follow-up feature with information on Combined Operations & the Rangers
Canadian historical reports
Immediately following the battle, the Canadian army began recording accounts in an effort to understand what went wrong. While there are problems with some of the historical "facts" recorded, on the whole the reports issued under the direction of military historian C.P. Stacey rank among the finest of their kind.
These are just three examples of the series, much of which is available on-line through the Canadian Library & Archives.
The basic report (108), issued with corrections of earlier accounts at the beginning
A followup (128) to report 108, with new information, corrections and clarifications
Further corrections and additional information from eyewitness, including an account of what happened to the prisoners of war (142).
(Note: These are all PDF files and will open in a new browser window. Adobe Acrobat or a compatible reader is required to view them.)
Pre-Dieppe
The British Commandos received a great deal of news coverage and were widely admired for their exploits, even in the U.S. Stories about them were often wildly inaccurate, but served to boost public morale. Here are some examples from the NY Times.
Commandos held Nazi base
In praise of the Commandos
VC awarded
The American phase
Pearl Harbor meant that the U.S. was involved in the war. But it would quite some time before the army was really ready to fight. The president and his generals were aware of this, but sought to keep up spirits and build the momentum. Part of the job meant announcing plans as they advanced.
Marshall announces Ranger formation
The 'American phase'
Dieppe raid
The initial reports of the raid were highly inaccurate, though reading through them now an informed reader can ferret out nuggets of truth even in the most wild flight of fantasy. The Germans, of course, broadcasted the 'truth' of the raid as soon as they were able. While their reports were very slanted, on the whole they were more accurate than the allies', at least at first.
An initial (highly misleading and erroneous) report
The Germans have their say
Reality begins to set in
Larry Meir's eyewitness account
Ross Munro's eyewitness account
The first hint that Zip Koons will be honored
A follow-up feature with information on Combined Operations & the Rangers
Canadian historical reports
Immediately following the battle, the Canadian army began recording accounts in an effort to understand what went wrong. While there are problems with some of the historical "facts" recorded, on the whole the reports issued under the direction of military historian C.P. Stacey rank among the finest of their kind.
These are just three examples of the series, much of which is available on-line through the Canadian Library & Archives.
The basic report (108), issued with corrections of earlier accounts at the beginning
A followup (128) to report 108, with new information, corrections and clarifications
Further corrections and additional information from eyewitness, including an account of what happened to the prisoners of war (142).
