Hong Kong & Dieppe

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union which began on 22 June 1941. The operation was driven by Adolf Hitler's ideological desire to conquer the Soviet territories.

Operation Barbarossa Over the course of the operation, about four million soldiers invaded the Soviet Union - the largest invasion force in the history of warfare. Germany loses badly at Stalingrad. The Russia joins the allied forces after successfully repelling Germany (with heavy losses)

Hong Kong 8 hours after attacking Pearl Harbor, Japan attacks Hong Kong (A British colony) About 2000 inexperienced Canadian soldiers and a few nurses are there with British troops The Japanese have a quick victory Canadians surrender on “Black Christmas” 1941

Hong Kong: The Aftermath About 1700 Canadians become POWs (Prisoners of War) – are not freed until the end of the war in 1945 More than 260 Canadian POWs die in camps or as slave labourers The Japanese terrorize the Hong Kongese people

Reasons for the Raid on Dieppe (August 1942) A French seaport (under Nazi control) A raid is planned to: Test German defences as a “practice” for a later invasion – would they need to pre-bombard coastal fortifications? 2. Satisfy pressure from Stalin (he wanted them to attack from the West) 3. Test German radar abilities 4. Free imprisoned French resistance fighters 5. Provide action for restless troops 6. Compensate the fall of Hong Kong (British colony)

What Was Supposed to Happen… Two brigades (5000 Canadians and 1000 British soldiers) Use flanking attacks to precede a main raid Land at night, take the town, destroy German installations, collect intelligence, take prisoners and withdraw in the same day

What Happens… In just 6 hours… the Canadians are met with crossfire…a handful of men reach the town About 900 Canadians are killed, almost 2000 taken prisoner and the rest return to England German radar is checked then destroyed French resistance fighters are freed Russia realized that they had to be the main fighting force against Germany on the Eastern front for now…

Why Did the Raid on Dieppe Fail? Intelligence: lack of realization of German strength Geography: the Allies attacked a fortified beach without bombing it first Bad Planning: the Allies left too late and they were easily spotted by the Germans

Lessons Learned Stronger military would be needed to take on Germany A higher number of forces need to be part of a second attack Aerial and naval bombardment is needed first These failures would be used to plan the D-Day Invasion that ends the Western aspect of WWII

Winston Churchill on Dieppe… “Strategically the raid served to make the Germans more conscious of danger along the whole coast of occupied France. This helped to hold troops and resources in the West, which did something to take the weight off Russia. Honour to the brave who fell. Their sacrifice was not in vain.”

Historian Stephen Ambrose… “Allied propaganda tried to play Dieppe as a rehearsal from which critical lessons were learned, lessons that were applied June 6, 1944. But in fact the only lesson learned was Do Not Attack Fortified Ports Head-On. Dieppe was a national disaster.”

Historian John Keegan… “Dieppe, in retrospect, looks so recklessly hare- brained an enterprise that it is difficult to reconstruct the official state of mind which gave it birth and drove It forward…it is as illuminating to say of Dieppe – as it was and is often said – that it taught important lessons about amphibious operations as to say…of the Titanic disaster that it taught important lessons about passenger liner design.”