Attack on Dieppe
In order to demonstrate the difficulties of seizing landing grounds in Europe, on the initiative of Churchill, a number of attacks were carried out on the French coast in 1942, including Operation "Djibouti" - the attack on Port Dieppe under the command of General Mountbatten. Before the landing force landed in Dieppe, British radio broadcast a message that the attack had a limited purpose. It is not difficult to understand that this forenotice deprives the attack of its suddenness, and in essence it was not addressed (as the British explained) to the French patriots who had prematurely prepared the uprising, but to the Germans, the purpose of which was to prepare them to "pick up" the landing force. The Germans knew very well that the Dieppe area would be threatened, so they strengthened the defenses of the area. If in peacetime there had been only one German battalion of 1,400 men and auxiliary units in the Dieppe area, a full division would have been concentrated in the area after this kind announcement was broadcast on British radio. Churchill did not hesitate to sacrifice British and Canadian soldiers simply to prove that a second battlefield could not be opened.
The brave men of the British "commando", the landing flotilla and its escorts, and the Canadian soldiers all showed extraordinary bravery and devotion to the cause. The participants in the attack, transporting tanks to the beachhead, attacked from the shore, advanced for several miles, but held out for about a day and night, and then retreated to their own boats.
The operation did not involve a large number of troops, and it was inevitable that it would suffer heavy losses, with about 1,000 killed and 2,000 captured out of 5,000 people. In the aftermath, the British press openly engaged in heated discussions, which strongly proved the impossibility of a large-scale landing in France. At the joint military meeting, as long as some US officers showed some optimism when talking about the reality of opening up a second battlefield, the British officers carried the wounded veterans in Dieppe into the hall, explaining that there were "insurmountable difficulties" in the landing. No wonder American journalist Ralph Mogsall expressed doubts about the real purpose of the attack. He said that "the only purpose of deliberately arranging such an attack was not to provide a basis for the British to oppose any subsequent attempt to invade the European continent." ”
However, the US officer who had studied the Dieppe attack had come to the conclusion that although the conditions were extremely unfavorable, the operation was actually not a failure, but a success. Britain and Canada held the coast with a small striking force, and the reason for the large losses was first of all that the assault did not receive follow-up support. In a large-scale offensive, as long as it can be supported by a large number of new troops, there is every hope of victory.
But these perceptions were insignificant to Churchill and the British generals. As usual, they put political considerations above military strategy and the obligations of allies.
Churchill's political wait-and-see line not only involved the question of opening up a second battlefield, but also the question of waging war with the vassal states of fascist Germany was also a major political issue in the relations between the allies.
Romania, Finland, Hungary, together with Germany and Italy, took part in the treacherous attack on the Soviet Union. The Finnish, Romanian and Hungarian invaders, together with Hitler's bandits, committed bloody crimes on Soviet territory.
However, Britain did not declare war on Finland, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria until December 1941. In fact, it has not been at war with those countries.
To be continued, this article** comes from the Internet).