Tragedy at Dieppe: Operation Jubilee, August 19, 1942
On August 19, 1942, 5,000 Canadian troops stormed the beaches of Dieppe, France, in the largest Allied raid launched until then against German-occupied Europe. By raid’s end, 907 Canadians were dead or mortally wounded and 1,946 were prisoners of war. The Dieppe raid became Canada’s most disastrous military failure of the war. The reasons for the raid, its composition, and its defeat remain hotly debated issues today.
With its trademark “you are there” style, Tragedy at Dieppe—Mark Zuehlke’s tenth book in the best-selling Canadian Battle Series—presents an unflinching account of those nine horrific hours of battle on the beaches of Dieppe and analyzes the political jockeying and ambitious scheming of senior officers that ultimately led to Operation Jubilee’s tragic end.
Published by Douglas & McIntyre, 2012: 437 pages.
reviews:
Publishers Weekly
On August 19, 1942, Allied troops landed at Nazi-held Dieppe and the subsequent carnage, particularly Canadian, so faithfully portrayed in this book, continues to shock, appall and disturb decades later…With exquisite detail and methodical description, Zuehlke plows through the months of enthusiastic staff reshuffling, chaotic planning, tedious drilling, desperate political juggling and hasty training prior to that fateful dawn…On the beach itself, no detail is spared, as Zuehlke chronicles the Dieppe raid from every agonizing perspective. This testimony is a brilliant combination of scholarly analysis and emotional human breath. Readers who thought they knew Dieppe will be contrite, astonished and, above all, deeply moved.
Winnipeg Free Press
B.C.-based military historian Mark Zuelhke presents an astonishingly detailed account of the Dieppe raid, surely one of the most disastrous days in our country’s military history. This 10th volume in his ambitious series on Canadian battles in the Second World War is the result of thorough research, an array of support materials, and generous sharing of scholarship by colleagues.
His is a truly moving presentation, with quotations and facts that make this piece of history something to read through your tears.
Windsor Ontario's Retired Living
From the clashes of personalities, egos and ambitions of those masterminding the raid to the experiences of the common soldiers who’s task it was to carry out the raid, the story is compelling and unflinching…a fitting tribute timed to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the raid.
