18 August – Dieppe Day 1

Seagulls woke us at 9 am. Off to breakfast where we met two nice couples from Winnipeg, one whose father also fought at Dieppe with the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada. They asked if we knew where the Canadians went after they were captured. Luckily, we had my book with us to explain most of the events during that fateful day on 19 August 1942. After breakfast, we went to the Museum (Mémorial 19 août 1942) to see Alain Caillet (one of our contacts) but it was closed until the afternoon. We then walked to the promenade to see the recreation of a military encampment. Lots of interesting displays but the abundance of U.S. equipment and signage confused us (there were only 50 U.S. Rangers at Dieppe). We asked one of the men looking after an armoured car and he explained the U.S. Army sold equipment to the French Army after the war. The French military later sold the vehicles and gear to French citizens who restored, maintained and displayed their vehicles with a passion. He told us he finds parts and authenic uniforms through eBay and other sources. It’s an expensive but much-loved hobby of many in France.

As we walked about, we spoke with many veterans, a very moving and emotional experience. We talked with a Free-French veteran who now lives with his family on the Isle of Wight in England.

We met some fellow Canadians who are now retired from the Air Force (Gary & Irene George). They told us where the POWs’ train stopped after they left Verneuil-sur-Seine when they were enroute to the German POW camps. It was in Momignies, a town in Belgium. The townsfolk wanted to give food and water to the POWs but the Germans threatened to shoot anyone providing nourishment. Doing research about this town has been their passion for many years.

At 3:00 pm we went to the Mémorial 19 août 1942 museum for a ceremony which included many official dignitaries from Canada and France. The town of Longueil, Quebec, presented Dieppe with a flag, a painting was presented to Canadian dignitaries, a contingent from Scouts Canada made a presentation, a widow of a Fusiliers Mont-Royal veteran presented the museum with a regimental flag, and other official presentations were made. We also saw the legendary Sister Agnes Valois, a French Sister who helped the wounded at Dieppe. She’s now 98 years old!

After the ceremony, we decided to skip some of the bus tours and instead opted to walk around the town to meet and talk to veterans. The town was packed with tourists, veterans and their families who were here for the 70th anniversary ceremonies. We spoke to a few more people and then headed off to supper. The Tout Va Bien restaurant treated us to mussels and marmite Dieppoise (a type of fish stew) which included some giant snails. While at the restaurant, I spoke to a British veteran from Lewes, England, just up the road from where my mother and father met in Northease. He laughed and spoke fondly of the Canadians who were based in the area.

At 8:00 pm we went to the city hall where we waited for buses to take dignitaries, veterans, and public to the Canadian War cemetery. There I met Jacques Nadeau, a much-decorated Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal veteran of Dieppe who knew my father and Maurice Jolicoeur. We chatted with a few other people then headed off in buses to the cemetery with a police motorcycle escort guiding us through roundabouts and red stoplights. Johanne befriended a Royal Navy veteran who missed taking the veterans’ bus. Believe it or not, the 91 year-old was hitting on my wife. There were over 500 people at the cemetery and when the ceremonies began, a fog came drifting in. Johanne said they were the ghosts of the fallen Canadian soldiers joining us. The ceremony was extremely moving and we both had tears in our eyes all the time we were there. We arrived back at the hotel around 11:00 pm and called it a night.