Dieppe - WWII

From Belgium and Flanders, we finally headed into Normandy. Our first stop was the city of Dieppe.

This short blurb is taken from a very reliable source: Wikipedia

"The Dieppe Raid, also known as The Battle of Dieppe or Operation Jubilee, during the Second World War, was an Allied attack on the German-occupied port of Dieppe, on the Northern coast of France on 19 August 1942. Over 6,000 infantrymen, predominantly Canadian, were supported by large British naval and Allied air force contingents. The objective was to seize and hold a major port for a short period, both to prove it was possible and to gather intelligence from prisoners and captured materials while assessing the German responses.

No major objectives of the raid were accomplished. 3,623 of the 6,086 men who made it ashore were either killed, wounded, or captured. The Allied air forces failed to lure the Luftwaffe into open battle, and lost 119 planes, while the Royal Navy suffered 555 casualties."

So basically the raid was a disaster but it is said that the Canadians learned a great deal.
Part of the problem was the beach. This beach is completely rocky. There is no sand in sight. The Allies had vehicles designed to come up on the beach and zip along, on sand. Unfortunately, this beach being rocky meant that the rocks got caught in the mechanism of the tracks and the vehicles were stopped, literally, in their tracks.
I only noticed after taking this picture that the Canadian flag is flying above the French. There are a lot of Canadian flags to be seen in this city.