DIEPPE–Been in France a whole day now and still haven’t seen that dog from The Artist.
Seen plenty of other cool things however, including more Canadian flags here in Dieppe than you see at home in Brampton. I’m here to cover Dieppe Uncovered, a documentary premiering Sunday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on History Television. The production, from director/producer Wayne Abbott and featuring military historian David O’Keefe, sheds new insights into the 1942 invasion that was Canada’s costliest war time maneuver ever. Close to a thousand Canadian troops sacrificed their lives within three hours of the raid, cut down by German forces waiting on high in this seaside town across the English Channel from The U.K. O’Keefe sifted through hundreds of recently declassified documents to discover military strategies that suggest the lessons learned at Dieppe served the Allies well two years later when D-Day finally arrived. O’Keefe’s discovery of the full extent of Sir Ian Fleming’s full involvement in the planning of the Dieppe raid is also an eye opener. The future James Bond author saw the “pinch raid” as more about cracking German codes than establishing any kind of a beachhead.
Surviving Canadian veterans from the invasion are due her Saturday for two special screenings of the film. More on that later, off now to find Fido.
