RAID ON DIEPPE REVIEWED

Southland Times, Issue 24862, 30 September 1942, Page 5

RAID ON DIEPPE REVIEWED

Invasion Rehearsal (Rec. 7 p.m.) MONTREAL, Sept. 28. Wallace Reyburn, The Montreal Standard correspondent during the Dieppe raid, speaking at a luncheon at the Canadian Club, answered questions which were frequently rala f d about the Dieppe raid. He said the reason for the raid was a prelude to a second front. Dieppe was chosen because its proximity to English air bases made a protective aerial umbrella Asked was it a commando raid, Mr Reyburn replied that it was not. It was an invasion in rehearsal, with heavily * armed infantry and tanks. Asked if anything hampered its success, he replied that a chance encounter with German patrol boats gave a warning to the enemy, causing heavier casualties than otherwise would have been suffered. Asked if the Germans were prepared or surprised, Mr Reyburn said the E-boat encounter prepared the Germans on the left flank, but the raiders on the right flank dug the Nazis out of bed with their bayonets. The security precautions were perfect. Asked if the tank landings were successful ,he replied that a sea wall caused the engineers great difficulty in getting the tanks ashore, but the German propaganda pictures showed that | they penetrated a great distance. He I said bombers were not used to soften I up the coast beforehand because that I would have eliminated the element of I surprise. Asked if Dieppe was worth the heavy casualties, he replied that it certainly was. It was realized beforehand that they would be heavy. The military

knowledge gained would be invaluable and was necessary before a second front could be launched. He said the French remained cool. A farmer continued bringing in hay and another cycled along a street under shell-fire. Asked about the English part in the raid, Mr Reyburn replied that he was disgusted and shocked _ to hear statements that Canadians were used unnecessarily and English troops had been saved. Such statements must make Dr Goebbels rub his hands in glee. The Canadians insisted on forming the spearhead of this invasion rehearsal, because, as their commander, Lieu-tenant-General A. G. L. McNaughton said, they wanted to. Mr Reyburn recalled the part of the English commandos in carrying out the dangerous task of flanking the German

artillery. The British Navy, too, was wonderful. Sailors coolly went about their duties with gaping wounds in their arms and bodies. They did not flinch. , Asked if the troops were discouraged by the' action, he replied: “Assuredly not." A typical reaction was that of a soldier who said: “With a wonderful navy and air force we are ready to go back tomorrow and blast Hell out of them.”