Dieppe 1942

Dieppe 1942
Dieppe 1942

Dieppe Operation ~ The Naval Action
An Action Stations Scenario

I awakened to a stab of early morning sunlight searing my eyelids. My batman, Corporal Mino, peered through the tent flap. “Sir wake up! Admiral Mountbatten has ordered you to attend a debriefing in London two hours from now.”

I sat up groggily. Christ, I was a mess. I was still wearing my battledress, filthy, streaked in grime and dried blood.

“They said you were the only officer of the whole brigade who came back from the beaches. You’re all that’s left.”

Captain Denis Whitaker, Royal Hamilton Light Infantry

Introduction

August 19th 1942 was a date that many Canadians would never forget . on that day, three thousand Canadian infantry troops (out of an initial total of five thousand) were killed, wounded or taken prisoner on the beaches of Dieppe on the French coast. The Royal Navy lost boats and personnel, the RAF and RCAF had one hundred and eight planes shot down with sixty pilots lost. The Allies had raided a heavily fortified port and had paid the price, a heavy price.

In 1942, Aldof Hitler and his armed forces held most of Europe and was probing deep into Russia. Stalin called on his allies to open a second front.

The allies knew that if they were to liberate France than they would need a port, logistics is what wins wars, not necessarily better weapons The Dieppe raid was conceived as a precursor to a larger landing in France at some later date.

Many lessons were learnt on that day, but just under two years later on the 6th June 1944, the allies landed on the beaches of Normandy, D-Day was the beginning of the end of the Nazi occupation of Europe. D-Day saw the use of “funnies”, tanks specially designed to overcome beach obstacles, mulberry harbours and a wide range of other new equipment.

Scenario

The Allied situation in the spring of 1942 was grim. The Germans had penetrated deep into Russia, the British Eighth Army in North Africa had been forced back into Egypt, and in Western Europe the Allied forces faced the Germans across the English Channel.

The German convoy was small, but vital; a tanker escorted by six armed S-Boats. It was the middle of the night, when at 03:47 on August 19th 1942, a starburst lit up the sea. The German convoy had encountered part of a beach landing party heading for Dieppe.

August 19th 1942 was a date that many Canadians would never forget . on that day, three thousand Canadian troops were killed, wounded or taken prisoner on the beaches of Dieppe on the French coast. The Allies had raided a heavily fortified port and had paid the price, a heavy price.

In 1942, Aldof Hitler and his armed forces held most of Europe and was probing deep into Russia. Stalin called on his allies to open a second front. The raid on Dieppe was an attempt to see if a major Channel port could be captured and to test the new Churchill tank in combat. Though seen by many as a disaster, many valuable lessons were learnt which resulted in the successful Operation Overlord on June 6th 1944.

This is a scenario for Action Stations.

The German Forces

The German convoy consisted of a tanker and six S Boats, though not expecting opposition, they knew they could come up against MGBs. Finding a beach landing party, now that was different. As for the actual boats used, sources are not even sure there were six escorts; so use the models you have in your collection. The Germans start on the west side of the board, their objective is to get the tanker across the board and inflict maximum damage on the allied forces.

The Allied Forces

You have to remember this was a beach landing party, not a coastal defence force. No 3 Commando were in twenty-three R Boats and escorted by a “Grey Goose” class Steam Gun Boat.

The allied forces start on the north side of the board and must get as many R Boats to the south of the board.

R Boats

Class 3L

Hull Boxes 2

Speed 10

Guns Small Arms (1)