Unauthorized Action: Mountbatten and the Dieppe Raid

344 Pages·1989·21.906 MB·English

by  Brian Loring Villa

Brian Loring Villa
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Mountbatten and the Dieppe Raid
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One of the most memorable events of the
Second World War took place on 19 August
1942, when the largest amphibious raiding
force in modern history made its way across
the English Channel towards the German-
occupied French port of Dieppe. The result, a
few hours later, was a disaster. That some
3,300 Canadian soldiers and officers should
wait over two-and-a-half years for combat
and then be killed, wounded, or captured in
a single morning is one of the great tragedies
of the Second World War. It was a bitter
chapter, difficult for Canadians ever to ac¬
cept. For more than forty-five years a cloud
of mystery has hung over the event, which
has seemed to defy all rational explanation.
Why was it executed when it was known to
court failure? Who was responsible?
On the basis of much new research and a
meticulous and sensitive analysis of all the
forces—political, military, diplomatic, and
personal—that shaped the disaster, Brian
Loring Villa answers these questions and
casts new light on the horrendous affair, in
the process delineating the element of in¬
trigue and the acts of folly that lay behind it.
The event is examined in the context of the
political pressures that were being exerted
on Britain, Canada, and the United States
and of the Soviet Union's demands for as¬
sistance in the form of a Second Front. De¬
spite lost and destroyed documentation, and
the obfuscation engendered by the authors
Continued on back flap
Oxford University Press

Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2019 with funding from
Kahle/Austin Foundation
https://archive.org/details/unauthorizedacti0000vill_o9d5
Mountbatten and the Dieppe Raid
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Mountbatten and the Dieppe Raid
“riant r^l i
TORONTO OXFORD NEW YORK
Oxford University Press
1989
Oxford University Press, 70 Wynford Drive, Don Mills, Ontario, M3C 1J9
Toronto Oxford New York Delhi Bombay Calcutta Madras Karachi
Petaling Jaya Singapore Hong Kong Tokyo Nairobi Dar es Salaam
Cape Town Melbourne Auckland
and associated companies in
Berlin Ibadan
CANADIAN CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION DATA
Villa, Brian Loring
Unauthorized action
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-19-540679-6
1. Mountbatten, Louis Mountbatten, Earl, 1900-1979.
2. Dieppe Raid, 1942. 3. World War, 1939-1945 —
Canada. I. Title.
D756.5.D5V54 1989 940.54'21 C89-094812-7
Copyright © Brian Loring Villa 1989
OXFORD is a trademark of Oxford University Press
12345-32109
Printed in Canada
IN MEMORIAM
JORGE VILLA S.
VIRI CLARISSIMI
PATRIS MEI
INTELLEGENTIOR BENEVOLENTIOR
QUO NEMO GENEROSIOR
IN HONOUR ALSO
OF ALL THOSE CANADIANS
WHO SET SAIL ON 18 AUGUST 1942
FOR US
THE
ILLUSTRATIONS
APPEAR
BETWEEN
PAGES
122
AND
123