Red Sox Quiz: 1) Name the managers who have guided them to
1st place finishes since 1967? 2) Who has the longest hitting
streak? 3) Most stolen bases, season? Answers below.
Canada and World War II…The Dieppe Raid
In the spring of 1942, a plan for what would become the largest
single raid of the war was hatched. Originally, up to 10,000 men
were to be employed against German positions along the French
coastline.
Codenamed RUTTER, the raid was planned by the British and
was to be under the command of Lt.-Gen. Montgomery. It was
ostensibly designed to be a morale-booster and probing action for
an eventual Second Front.
The original date for the operation was July 4 and the troops
embarked at ports in the Isle of Wight. But the weather proved
to be unfavorable and the date was changed to July 8. The foul
weather continued, however, so it was canceled on the 7th and
Gen. Montgomery recommended that it be postponed “for all
time” since the troops had been briefed and were now dispersed
ashore.
Winston Churchill, though, felt that some sort of large-scale
operation should take place that summer “and military opinion
seemed unanimous that until an operation on that scale was
undertaken no responsible general would take the responsibility of
planning for the main invasion (what would become D-Day).”
[Churchill]
So, British Vice-Admiral Mountbatten (who would be killed by
the IRA in 1979) revived the operation under the codename,
JUBILEE. Extraordinary security steps were taken in order to
ensure secrecy. No written records were kept.
Intensive photographic reconnaissance had revealed most of the
German defenses – though not the gun positions in the headland
cliffs that were to cause such slaughter – but intelligence was
lacking on other essentials. Little was known about the strength
of the positions or the whereabouts of the German command
posts.
Under pressure from Canadian authorities, who desired to see
their troops in action, the 2nd Canadian Division under the
command of Maj. Gen. J.H. Roberts was the main fighting force
(about 5,000, along with 1,000 British personnel and 50 U.S.
Rangers). At dawn on August 19, 1942 the attack was launched
along a ten-mile front.
Sent in without benefit of a softening-up bombardment, the main
body of the force landed directly at the fortified port of Dieppe
instead of on the open beaches nearby. Unreported machine gun
nests cut down the troops as they came ashore; one regiment lost
80 percent of its men. As the attack developed, it was directed
mainly against the heaviest defenses instead of flowing around the
flanks. About six hours after the raid was launched, withdrawal
commenced.
Of the 4,963 Canadians who had taken part, 3,367 were killed,
wounded, or taken prisoner, though 4,056 eventually survived.
British casualties amounted to 275. 33 landing craft were
destroyed and, equally disastrous, the RAF lost 106 aircraft, the
Luftwaffe just 48 of the 945 committed. German ground
casualties were only 591.
Churchill commented on the aftermath in his memoirs.
“Our postwar examination shows that the Germans did not
receive, through leakages of information, any special warning of
our intention to attack. However, their general estimate of the
threat to the Dieppe sector led to an intensification of defense
measures along the whole front. Special precautions were
ordered for periods like that between August 10 and August 19,
when moon and tide were favorable for landings…The Canadian
Army in Britain had long been eager and impatient for
action…and (while) many splendid deeds were done, the results
were disappointing and our casualties were very heavy.”
“Looking back, the casualties of this memorable action may seem
out of proportion to the results. It would be wrong to judge the
episode solely by such a standard. Dieppe occupies a place of its
own in the story of the war, and the grim casualty figures must
not class it as a failure. Tactically it was a mine of experience. It
shed revealing light on many shortcomings in our outlook. It
taught us to build in good time various new types of craft and
appliances for later us. Above all, it was shown that individual
skill and gallantry without thorough organization and combined
training would not prevail…Strategically, the raid served to
make the Germans more conscious of danger along the whole
coast of Occupied France. This helped to hold troops and
resources in the West, which did something to take the weight off
Russia. Honor to the brave who fell. Their sacrifice was not in
vain.”
That is Churchill”s take…and obviously, written for history. But
the same history shows that JUBILEE may not have been a
needed prelude to D-Day. It may have simply been an unjustified
gamble undertaken to please Sir Winston. [Your editor is a big
time fan of Churchill, but it needs to be acknowledged that
everyone makes mistakes and maybe this was one of them.]
[Sources: “The Oxford Companion to World War II.”
“Winston Churchill: Memoirs of the Second World War.”]
Fusaichi Pegasus
From sportswriter Ray Kerrison…”Unleashing one of the
greatest, smoothest, easiest finishing runs of modern times,
Fusaichi Pegasus simply devastated the 126th Kentucky Derby
to become the best Triple Crown prospect in years.”
“He is that, not because he won the Derby nicely, but because he
made a field of first-class horses look like Army mules.”
Top 3 songs for the week 5/4/74: #1 “The Loco-Motion” (Grand
Funk) #2 “TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)” (MFSB featuring
The Three Degrees) #3 “Bennie And The Jets” (Elton John)
Quiz Answers: 1) Winning Red Sox Managers – Dick Williams
”67, Darrell Johnson ”75, John McNamara ”86, McNamara / Joe
Morgan ”88, Joe Morgan ”90, Kevin Kennedy ”95.
2) Dom DiMaggio, 34 (1949) 3) Tommy Harper, 54 (1973).
Next Bar Chat, Wednesday…Underrated / Overrated. (Sorry for
the false alert last Friday)…and the final installment of songs that
peaked at #4.
