Operation 'Jubilee' - Wednesday, 19th August 1942

Introduction

With literally dozens of sites on the web and many books on the subject, an explanation for writing this article is necessary. The purpose is not to relate what so much has been written about, the lessons learned at the cost of so many lives, rather the opposite. Despite Hitler, after Dieppe, commenting: "This is the first time the British have had the courtesy to cross the sea to offer the enemy a complete sample of their new weapons," one lesson that could have been learned by the Germans was not. Despite the many difficulties facing the Churchill tanks in their first action, no other World War II AFV could have performed better.

Sources that are not always reliable¹ have not been used in the construction of this article, rather those known for the accuracy of facts presented and, where possible, confirmed by cross-checking with other reliable sources.

The Landings

Canada's Churchill equipped Calgary Regiment (14th Canadian Tank Regiment) was chosen to provide tank support for the infantry (also Canadian) destined to go ashore. The thirty tanks scheduled to land were loaded on to Mark II LCTs (Landing Craft, Tanks) which could carry the normal fighting troop complement of three Churchills. Some of the twenty-eight tanks comprising the floating reserve were loaded on the more capacious Mark III LCTs.

The site chosen for the landing was not one of the wisest decisions as samples, taken from the beach earlier under cover of darkness, showed that it was composed of chert, a compact rock consisting essentially of microcrystalline quartz, often found in quite large chunks. As chert was known to be a substance infinitely more difficult for tracked vehicles to negotiate than shingle, over which test runs had been practised. While one wonders why landings should be attempted where chert was known to be abundant, however, its presence was not the principle reason, so often put forward, for the failure of the Churchills to do better as will be explained later.

Typical Dieppe Beach

The plan called for thirty Churchills to be landed (the last Churchill to exit towing out a support vehicle) the remaining twenty-eight tanks to stay on board their LCTs as a floating reserve. Twenty-nine tanks successfully exited the LTCs, unfortunately two into water deeper than the six-foot wading depth for which they had been modified, the Calgary's Commanding Officer, Lt. Colonel J.G.Andrews' tank being one of them. The third Churchill, commanded by Major J. Begg Second-in-Command, was unable to disembark and subsequently returned to England.

The Climb

As can be seen on the above photograph, the climb up was not an easy one, especially on chert. However, of the twenty-seven Churchills that made it ashore, fifteen managed to climb up and over the seawall on to Dieppe's promenade. Due to the many road blocks (which the Engineers failed to blow-up as planned) further progress was impossible, thus ten of the tanks returned to the beach. One of those left behind had fallen into quite a deep hole and was abandoned after attempts to tow her out had failed.

The Aftermath

None of the Churchills that landed was recovered, however, not all had been destroyed, some being crewed by Germans as portrayed in the second photograph.

A post-battle German report,² a copy of which came into British hands, contained nothing that was positive about the Churchills. Simply put, their assessment was that it was out-dated and "offers nothing worthy of consideration by technical personnel, nor has it any new constructive features either in the metallurgical field, or in the field of weapon technology." However, they did carry out tests with a Panzer to ascertain its climbing ability.

As written by David Fletcher,³

"This showed that on beaches with a slope between 15 and 20 degrees the German tank could manage quite well but where the slope increased to between 30 and 40 degrees the tank started to slip then dug itself in until the tracks ceased to function."

That the Panzer "dug itself in" is indicative that the tests did not replicate the conditions at the Dieppe beach.

The Germans failed to learn a lesson that was presented to them on a plate, especially as the Churchills, by climbing over the seawall, had shown that could scale slopes greater than thirty degrees. It was a fatal mistake and a lesson that continued to be ignored up to the war's end. Time after time, the Churchill climbed up to where the Germans thought no tank could possibly go. Of the many mountains ascended to seek and destroy the enemy the most epic climb was most certainly up Djebel Tanngoucha in Tunisia.

In its first action (as later at El Alamein) the Churchill proved to be a tank that could take a tremendous amount of punishment, which is reflected by the proportionately lower casualty figures suffered by their crews. Of the 907 Canadians who gave their lives at Dieppe, 14 were from the Calgary Regiment of which just 2 were killed in their tanks - some sources vary slightly with the figures above quoted.

Summation

Several reasons for the Churchill's "poor" alleged performance have been espoused:

The inability to traverse a chert covered beach:
Not to minimise the difficulty encountered by the Churchills, only five failed to get off the beach directly due to a build up up chert. Of more significance, the non-destruction of the many road blocks, rarely mentioned, encountered by the tanks that climbed over the sea wall, effectively blocked entrance into the town.

Loss of command and control:
Allegedly due to the early deaths of the Commanding Officer and B Squadron's OC, plus Major J.Begg, Calgary's Second-in-Command, being unable to disembark. However, C Squadron's OC Major A.Glenn, aboard 'Chief' the first Churchill to land, having positioned his tank to give a good view of the beach and both flanks of the beach, effectively was able to take over command.

Lack of 6-pdr HE ammunition:
It did not become available until later in the year.

However, despite the problems above mentioned, encountered by the Calgary Regiment at Dieppe, the Churchill proved itself to be a not only safe tank to crew, but one capable of ascending to places not expected by the enemy, amply proven later when Churchills went into full-scale operation in North Africa and Italy.

Addendum
Notes:
The suffix * to a tank's name indicates it was one of the fifteen that managed to climb on to the promenade.
The suffix ** indicates that it was one of the ten which later returned to the beach.
Type of vehicle, towed by the last Churchill exiting LCTs, is noted in the Remarks column.
The Mark II Daimler Scout Cars belonged to Regimental HQ Squadron.
Tanks listed in disembarking sequence.
Blanks in the Remarks column indicate that the Churchill remained effective up until the surrender.
Twenty-eight Churchills remaining aboard their LCTs as a floating reserve, were: A Squadron 18; C Squadron 9;
HQ Squadron 1.
The mark OKE-1, of 9 Troop, B Squadron's Churchill flame throwers, stems from the name of it’s designer, Major J.M. Oke.

 Regimental Headquarters
 Transported aboard LCT number: 125

Name	Commander	Number	Mark	Remarks
Ringer	Capt. A.G.Stanton (Adj.)	T68881	Mk II	Broke left track soon after landing.
Regiment	Lt-Col. J.G.Andrews (CO)	T31923R	Mk II	Tank sank on exiting into eight feet of  water..
Rounder	Major J.Begg (2 I/C)	T68452	Mk II	Unable to disembark - returned safely to  UK with Jeep and Universal Carrier.

 B Squadron, HQ Fighting Troop
 Transported aboard LCT number: 126

Name	Commander	Number	Mark	Remarks
Burns	Major C.E.Page (OC)	T31135R	Mk I	Right track broken by shellfire.
Backer	Lt. R.H.Wallace	T68352	Mk II	Left track broken, probably by shellfire.
Bolster	Sgt.  T.R.Cunningham	T31107R	Mk I	Towed Daimler Scout Car 'Helen'.  Right track broken by chert build-up.

 B Squadron, 6 Troop
 Transported aboard LCT number: 163

Name	Commander	Number	Mark	Remarks
Bob**	Lt. J.H.Dunlap	T68557R	Mk III	.
Bert*	S.S.M. G.M.Menzies	T68560R	Mk III	Left track broken by shellfire..
Bill**	Cpl. C.A.Heck	T68558R	Mk III	Cable towing Bulldozer D7 snapped.

 B Squadron 7 Troop
 Transported aboard LCT number: 166

Name	Commander	Number	Mark	Remarks
Brenda**	Sgt. W.W.Olive	T68760R	Mk III	Interior destroyed by commander using  sticky bombs.
Betty*	Lt. A.L.Breithaupt	T68176R	Mk III	Fell into entrance of underground bunker  located on the promenade - efforts to tow  her out failed.
Blondie	Cpl. D.W.G.Jordon	T68880	Mk III	Towed Daimler Scout Car 'Hare' F64319.  Jeep CM4218884 was also aboard the  LCT. Left track broken by chert build-up,  later repaired and put into service by the  Germans.

 B Squadron, 8 Troop
 Transported aboard LCT number: 159

Name	Commander	Number	Mark	Remarks
Bull	Capt. D.G.Purdy	T31862	OKE Mk I	Sank into about ten feet of water on  disembarking.
Boar**	Sgt. J.Sullivan	T32049	OKE MkI	Immobilised by crew on return to beach.
Beetle	Lt. G.L.Drysdale	T68875	OKE Mk I	Towed Bulldozer D7  Right track pin snapped immediately after  landing.

 B Squadron 9 Troop
 Transported aboard LCT number: 121

Name	Commander	Number	Mark	Remarks
Buttercup**	Sgt. J.D.Morrison	T31655	Mk III	.
Blossom	Lt. M.J.A.Lambert	T68561R	Mk III	Right track broken by chert build-up.
Bluebell	Cpl. D.L.Brownlee	T68759R	Mk III	Towed Daimler Scout Car 'Harry'  Bogged down on beach

 B Squadron, 10 Troop
 Transported aboard LCT number: 124

Name	Commander	Number	Mark	Remarks
Beefy**	Sgt. H.R.Patrick	T68177R	Mk III	.
Bellicose**	Lt. E.Bennett	T68175	Mk III	Left track broken by build-up of chert  on return to the beach.
Bloody**	Sgt. R.B.Lee	T68701R	Mk III	Towed Daimler Scout Car 'Hunter' on  loan from Royal Canadian Corps of  Signals.  A Jeep was also on board.  Right track broken by shellfire on return  to beach.

 C Squadron, HQ Fighting Troop
 Transported aboard LCT number: 145

Name	Commander	Number	Mark	Remarks
Chief	Major A.Glenn (OC)	T31124R	Mk I	.
Company	Capt. G.T.Valentine (2 I/C)	T31878R	Mk I	Shellfire destroyed left front idler wheel.
Calgary	Lt. B.G.Douglas	T68559	Mk III	Towed Daimler Scout Car 'Horace' F64318  Left track broken by shellfire.

 C Squadron, 13 Troop
 Transported aboard LCT number: 127

Name	Commander	Number	Mark	Remarks
Cougar*	Lt. T.R.Cornett	T68173	Mk III	Both tracks broken while on the  promenade. Left by a rock jamming idler  wheel, right by shellfire.
Cheetah*	Cpl. G.H.Wiggins	T68171	Mk III	Hit by Ju 87 "Stuka" Dive-bomber.
Cat*	Sgt. J.Weaver	T68696	Mk III	Towed Daimler Scout Car 'Hector'  F64306, Daimler Scout Car to reach the  promenade. Commander set off sticky  bombs destroying the interior.

 C Squadron, 15 Troop
 Transported aboard LCT number: 165

Name	Commander	Number	Mark	Remarks
Caustic**	Lt. A.B.Patterson	T68702	Mk III	.
Canny**	Sgt. N.R.Thompson	T68870	Mk II	.
Confident	Cp. R.W.Dowling	T68704R	Mk III	Towed Daimler Scout Car 'Hound'  F64306 ashore where she accidently  rammed it when reversing. A Jeep was  also on board.  Interior destroyed by sticky bombs.

Notes 1 New Vanguard's "Churchill Infantry Tank 1941-51" quotes Calgary wounded as being just four. Also, both the number of Churchills that landed and those that were able to climb on to the promenade are incorrectly stated. 2 & 3 Fletcher, David. Mr. Churchill's Tank, Page 79. Schiffer Publishing Ltd., Atglen, Pennsylvania, 1999. Sources Hugh G. Henry Jr., Dieppe Through the Lens of the German War Photographer, Battle of Britain Prints International Ltd., London. Juno Beach Centre, Canada. The Laurier Centre for Military, Strategic and Disarmament Studies, Wilfred Laurier University, Waterloo. Ontario, Canada. Copyright photographs reproduced courtesy Imperial War Museum. Return to: Articles Index