DIEPPE RAID

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 86, Issue 230, 30 September 1942, Page 5

DIEPPE RAID

INVASION REHEARSAL REVIEWED BY CANADIAN CORRESPONDENT NAZIS WARNED BY CHANCE ENCOUNTER (By Telegraph—Press Association Copyright) Montreal, Sept. 28. Mr Wallace Reyburn, the Montreal Standard correspondent during the Dieppe raid, speaking at a luncheon at the Canadian Club, answered questions which have frequently been raised about the raid. He said the reason for the raid was a prelude to a second front. Dieppe was chosen becar.se of its proximity to English air bases, which made a protective aerial umbrella, possible. Asked if it was a Commando rant, Mr. Reyburn replied: ...“No, it was an invasion in rehearsal, with Heavily armed infantry and tanks.” Asked if anything hampered its success, he replied: “A chance encountei with German patrol boats gave a warning to the enemy, causing heavier than otherwise casualties.”

Asked if the Germans were prepared or surprised, Mr. Reyburn said the E boat encounter had prepared the Germans’ left flank, but the raiders on the right flank dug the Nazis our of bed with their bayonets. The security precautions were perfect. Asked if the tank landing was succesiul, he replied that a sea wall had caused engineers great difficulty in getting tanks ashore, but German propaganda pictures showed they had penetrated for a great distance. He said that bombers were not used to ‘soften up” the coast beforehand, Decause that would have eliminated the element of surprise. Asked if Dieppe was worth the heavy casualties, he replied: “Certah.i>. It was realised beforehand that they would be heavy. The military knowledge gained will be invaluable and was necessary before a sect nd front could be launched. He said the French remained cool. One farmer continued bringing in his hay, while another cycled along a street under shell-fire*

Asked about the English part in the ra«ci, he replied that he was disgusted and shocked to hear statements that the Canadians were used unnecessarily and that the English troops had teen saved. Such statements must make Goebbels rub his hands with glee. The Canadians insisted on forming the spearhead of this invasion rehearsal, because, as General MacNaughton said, they wanted to.

Mr. Reyburn recalled the part of the English Commandos in carrying out the dangerous task of flanking the Geiman artillery. The British Navy, too, was wonderful. Sailors coolly went about their duties with gaping wounds in their arms and bodies. Asked if the troops were discouraged by the action, Mr. Reyburn repbed: “Assuredly not. A typical reaction was that of a soldier who said that with the wonderful Navy and Air Force he was ready to go back to-morrow and blast Heil out of them.”