Remembering Dieppe, Remembering “Our Boys”

During the Second World War, on 19 August 1942, the Allies launched a major raid on the French coastal port of Dieppe. Operation Jubilee was the first Canadian Army engagement in the European theatre of the war, designed to test the Allies’ ability to launch amphibious assaults against Adolf Hitler’s “Fortress Europe.” The raid was a disaster: More than 900 Canadian soldiers were killed, and thousands more were wounded and taken prisoner. Despite the bloodshed, the raid provided valuable lessons for subsequent Allied amphibious assaults on Africa, Italy and Normandy.

In terms of local Mississauga connections, almost certainly there were many from this community who were present at Dieppe, and research into our Second World War fallen is ongoing.

Private Robert Charles Butler of Clarkson, aged 28, served with the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry. He was killed in action at Dieppe on 19 August, 1942. He is remembered at the Brookwood Memorial in Surrey, United Kingdom and on the Port Credit War Memorial. We remember his brave service.

For more information on the Dieppe Raid, please visit:
www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/dieppe-raid/