Returning to Dieppe

Well I am very keen to go back to Dieppe. When I was, when my battalion initially went to Germany in 1962 we sent a delegation, a one hundred man guard of honour to participate in the 20th anniversary celebration so although I was only two years old at the time of the raid, I am a Veteran of the 20th anniversary commemoration. So I am looking forward to going back and seeing the old sights. The raid was not a resounding success, I think, as everyone realizes. Some may even say that it wasn’t very well planned but I think the big thing that I took away from it in 1962 was the appreciation of the local people for the effort that we had made. The way that they minded the grave sites and erected little monuments around the town and that sort of thing. And then in the way that they welcome us when we go back. I think any Canadian is always welcome in these sites because those people realize that the large sacrifice we made was on their behalf. And I think they also appreciate that the planning took into consideration minimizing local casualties, that sort of thing. So that’s the highlight for me is meeting the people and seeing the enthusiasm. When I was there in 1962 we were marching through the old town down the cobblestone street and there were crowds and people up in the 2nd storey windows and balconies and things and I was really concerned because they started throwing things at us and things were hitting us and it took me a bit aback until I realized that they were flowers. They were whole roses and basically the street in front of us was littered with these flower petals. So that’s a memory that sticks with me, I guess.