doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Vietnam Veterans Day

Larry, I went through all the yellowed debriefing papers of every soldier who returned from the raid in the national archives to find the name of the Riley who stuffed a bangalore torpedo into the pillbox that got what was left of the regiment off the beach, into the casino and then the town.

His name was Private Tommy Greaves, 19, son of a charlady who never knew what happened to him, informed missing and presumed dead. She hoped he was still alive and maybe a little out of his head. She said, "When he left the house to go overseas, he said 'Some day you will be proud of me, Mom'" and I really am."

Mike, don't stop questioning politics anywhere; when we do we're done for. Canada's refusal in the Second World War to allow its military to be entered piecemeal under British command was a result of the enormous unwarranted sacrifices to the mindless British generals of the First World War.

When it was reported to Ludendorff the Canadians were fiercely pushing back German forces during The 100 Last Days of WWI, he said "Brave men, led by donkeys." Foch called the Canadian Corps "an army second to none" and British historians later called it "The finest formation of all sides of the war."

I do know that American forces, especially Special Services, welcome their presence today.

Korean vets may remember Truman's Presidential Citation to the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry which held the line during the Chinese rout of Allied forces. From The Canadian Encyclopedia:

"The Battle of Kapyong is one of Canada�s greatest, yet least-known, military achievements. For two days in April, 1951, a battalion of roughly 700 Canadian troops helped defend a crucial hill in the front lines of the Korean War against a force of about 5,000 Chinese soldiers. Besieged by waves of attackers, the Canadians held their position amid the horror of close-combat until the assaulting force had been halted and the Canadians could be relieved. Their determined stand contributed significantly to the defeat of the Communist offensive in South Korea that year."

King Brown,
Don't forget there were Americans at Dieppe; a small unit of 50 of the first Rangers. They didn't all come home either. General Pershing resisted allowing American troops in WW1 to be placed under French command for the same reason the Canadians resisted British command. Pershing was forced to send some, and he sent African American units. They were welcomed and showed themselves as very fine fighters.
Mike

Dieppe was a political excursion billed as a military attack. My respect is for soldiers, politicians not as much.

There were a lot of people killed for something that was only "billed" as a military attack. Seems pretty military. One of the allies was being pretty well cut up and was begging for the western allies to do something to draw troops away from them, but we weren't able then to mount a full fledged invasion. Their mission was to get in, shoot them up and get out. We found out a lot of our tactics and equipment didn't work out. It helped us out later. Every one in the raid did the best he could.
Mike

Someone, Mountbatten, I think, said every life lost at Dieppe saved 10 at Normandy. Tough lesson though...Geo