The dates of August 18th and 19th loom large in Canadian history, for reasons that range from trivial and triumphant to downright tragic.
For instance, we have August 18th, 1979 , when Canada opened up the 645 km Dempster Highway, which was Canada's first all-weather road across the Arctic Circle.
Also, in 1938 , in Kingston, Ontario -- U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, accepting an honorary degree from Queen's University, told a cheering crowd that America would not stand idly by if Canada was invaded.
It was back in August of 1882 that Methodist minister John Lake gave Saskatoon (Cree word for berry) its name, and in 1869 a chap by the name of Hamilton was granted Canada's first patent, for a fluid meter that measured gases and liquids.
Then there was the birth of Canadian singing star Susan Jacks , born as Susan Pesklevitz in Saskatoon, Saskatchewwan, in 1948, on August 19th.
But, it was August 19th, 1942, when Canadian forces landed in France, at Dieppe...and chaos, confusion and consternation resulted.
The Dieppe Raid was one of the most devastating and bloody chapters in Canadian military history.
Of the 4,963 Canadians who embarked from England for the operation, only 2,210 returned, and many of them were wounded. Casualties totalled 3,367, including 916 dead and 1,946 prisoners of war.
Reasons cited for the debacle..... Weak bombardment of enemy positions...... support tanks sank after launching...... reserves were sent in not knowing the first wave hadn't penetrated the town.....and much more.
The Dieppe Raid, also known as the Battle of Dieppe, Operation Rutter and, later, Operation Jubilee, was a Second World War Allied attack on the German-occupied port of Dieppe. The raid took place on the northern coast of France on 19 August 1942. The assault began at 5:00 a.m. and by 10:50 a.m. the Allied commanders were forced to call a retreat. Over 6,000 infantrymen, predominantly Canadian, were supported by a Canadian Armoured regiment and a strong force of Royal Navy and smaller Royal Air Force landing contingents. It involved 5,000 Canadians, 1,000 British troops, and 50 United States Army Rangers.
A total of 3,623 of the 6,086 men (almost 60%) who made it ashore were either killed, wounded, or captured.
The Dieppe raid was a major operation planned by Vice-Admiral Lord Mountbatten of Combined Operations Headquarters. Apparently, some so-called "valuable" intelligence was gathered from this fiasco, but the events of August 19th, 1942, on the beaches of Dieppe, proved that Allied forces at that time were not yet prepared to stage a full scale invasion of the continent of Europe. Not until June 6th of 1944 was another invasion launched.
See the attached video for other August 19th goings on. Thanks for the click.