Evening star., 1942-09-18
Canada Reveals
'HighPrice'P Paid
ForDieppeRaid
Two hirds Of 5000
In Attack Lost
Or Wounded
(Tert OF Canadian Statement on
Dieppe Raid on Page A-6.J
BY the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
OTTAWA, Sept. 18.-The Ca
madam government disclosed to-
day that tWo-thirds of the
Canadian armed force used in
the Dieppe raid August 19 was
lost, dead, wounded or missing,
and said that "a very high price
was paid" considering what was
gained.
The Government announced that
5000 Canadian troops were used in
the attack Canadian casualties.
which had been announced earlier,
totaled 1880.
A 4,000-word review Issued by De-
tense Minister J. L. Ralston. the
first comprehensive official state
ment on the operation, summed up
the raid as follows:
For lessons learned and the ad-
vantages gained, the forces, and
particularly the land forces, paid
very heavy price"
Constantine Brown. Evening
Star columnist, pointed out the
heavy cost of the Dieppe raid on
August %, three, days after the
attack. At that time. he termed
the raid of little, if any, strategic
Importance. First British re-
ports of the raid had pictured it
as a great SllccesS)
The Canadian Army furnished all
but small part of the land forces
and suffered 1880 casualties-17O
killed, 633 wounded and 2,547 miss
lng-ln the costliest Canadian mill
tary operation of the war.
Encountered Escort Tanker.
These losses, the statement said.
were probably due in part to the
misfortune" of chance encounter
with an escorted German tanker in
the English Channel.
Such small circumstances are
often important in operations of
this kind" the statement said, for
that mishap marred complete
achievement of surprise
Out of the convoy, one armed
enemy trawler was sunk and an
other probably was destroyed, but
the incident had two results on
the later land operation:
1. The British No, 3 Commando
force which had the task of attack
ing and destroying battery at Ber-
neval, six miles east of Dieppe, was
unable to complete its assignment.
2. The Royal Regiment of Can
ada was 20 minutes late reaching
the beach at Puts, a mile east of
Dieppe, and had to land in broad
daylight instead of semi i-darkness.
Immediately Under Heavy Fire.
The enemy garrison at this point
tPuits) were manning formidable
prepared defenses, were well pro-
vlded with machine guns and NOR
tars and were on the alert" the
statement said.
In consequence, the Royal Regi-
ment came under fire before landing
and under very intense fire at the
moment of touching the beach.
Although the troops rushed to the
attack through a deadly cross-fire
with the utmost gallantry, the
regiment suffered extremely heavy
casualties and only a temporary
logdement was obtained"
This failure prevented the clear
ing of headland east of Dieppe,
part of the plan to protect the main
force which attacked the beaches
of Dieppe itself.
Silent on Objectives.
For reasons of military security
the statement was silent regarding
the main objectives of the operation
and the important results achieved.
But 1t said certain points could be
made and it outlined them as fol-
lows:
l. Crossing of the Channel by a
large naval and air. escorted force
and the fact that a naval force re-
mained for many hours off the
enemy occupied coast represented
"a significant achievement"
2. The demonstration of the pos
sibility of transporting and landing
tanks was important.
3. The Allied air forces were able
to inf1ict "a very serious strategic
reverse" on the Germans.
In addition, more limited and local
objectives were achieved, such as the
destruction of batteries and radio
location station. capture of prisoners
and i11icting of heavy casualties on
the enemy.
The statement said the Germans
had been strengthening the French
coast generally because of the
avowed aggressive policy of the
United Nations and only shortly be-
fore the raid had brought addi-
tional troops and guns into the
Dieppe area.
Raj Planes Rnmh Dnrk<