Dieppe Raid Aug 19 1942

[Tony]

I'd like to know which is the best book on the Dieppe Raid . There is a lot of info on it out there .Now that it's the 80th anniversary of the raid there must be more information that came out about it .

[Jordan Baker]

I can’t say there is any one book that stands out above all the others. Some are more focused on the overall higher level planning, some are more about individual soldiers or specific units. There was a really good French only one done by Hemidal that was very heavy on pictures. David Okeef wrote one a few years ago proposing a new theory that the raid was a cover for a british enigma snatch plot. Then there is books about the British commandos part. Mark Zuelkhe wrote Tragedy at Dieppe. I found it gives a pretty good mix of overall strategy and individual soldier view points.

I think it really depends on what type you are looking for

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Here are some interesting reads

https://www.france24.com/en/france/2...ii-80-years-on

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manit...ards-1.6555786

[maple_leaf_eh]

Originally Posted by Jordan Baker

I can’t say there is any one book that stands out above all the others. Some are more focused on the overall higher level planning, some are more about individual soldiers or specific units. There was a really good French only one done by Hemidal that was very heavy on pictures. David Okeef wrote one a few years ago proposing a new theory that the raid was a cover for a british enigma snatch plot. Then there is books about the British commandos part. Mark Zuelkhe wrote Tragedy at Dieppe. I found it gives a pretty good mix of overall strategy and individual soldier view points.

I think it really depends on what type you are looking for

I second David O'Keefe's work. The problem with the earliest books is their authors had limited sourcing, and felt they needed to tell a human story of brave regiments and tough combat, sent to the battle by an incompetent Mountbatten. It reinforced the victim myth. Those narratives prevailed for a long time. O'Keefe could have revisited all those, but chose to use newly declassified and previously well-hidden material to highlight the role of the commandos to capture the RADAR installations. The big raid was a distraction, which served a list of other purposes.

[Tony]

Yes , I saw an interview with David about that and it put the raid in more of a positive perseprctive .

[Jordan Baker]

The book Green Beach is another good read. It mostly follows one “soldier” and his mission to get into a radar installation just off the beach. However he wasn’t actually a soldier but a radar tech with an escort team to cover him but also shoot him if he was going to be captured.

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

One book to avoid is 'Unauthorized Action' by who cares. It's basically a conspiracy theory about why the raid was made. And of course the one movie that Canada made about the raid was based on this book.

A classic read that will tell the tale very well is "The Shame and the Glory" by Terence Robertson.

[Marc Montgomery]

Apparently you're referring to the CBC 2-part mini series Dieppe, based on the book you do not recommend.


Which given the CBC focus on recent years on everything bad about Canada, does not surprise me.
Of course also, given there is such little Cdn production, practically anything entered in any category is likely to win something.


From Wikipaedia.
It was criticized for not being completely accurate, and overdramatizing the events that took place.[1]
Dieppe was nominated for 11 Gemini Awards, winning two including Best Mini-Series.

[maple_leaf_eh]

I recommend, David O'Keefe, "One Day In August : The Untold Story Behind Canada's Tragedy At Dieppe", Alfred A Knopf Canada, 2013, ISBN 978-0-345-80769-4.

I've met David, and from his other works, I believe this is the better book.

Regarding your comment about the CBC's focus on everything tragic and sad in Canadian history, it has been noticed by others. https://torontosun.com/opinion/colum...ield-victories Brian Smol has been on a roll lately commenting on matters defence in the press. Maybe he'll replace Gwynne Dyer, who is getting a little long in the tooth in my opinion. I know Scott Taylor too, and I find his analysis too superficial.