I was wondering if any of you saw this documentary on History Channel and what you thought of it.
Personally his claims of finding the TRUE reason for the Dieppe raid is stretching it quite thin.
Firstly everyone knows that the Dieppe raid was a RECONNAISANCE IN FORCE. What did Mr. O'Keefe think that meant ??? Well I am not a "Doctor" but I am pretty sure it can be translated to mean a raid with the primary purpose of gathering intelligence.
He claims the raid was mounted around a special section of 40 RM Commando sent to Dieppe by Naval Intelligence to snatch a 4 rotor enigma machine. Well it is widely known that that was actually part of the operation and that it was NOT the only aspect of intelligence gathering underway by SIS AS PART OF THE LARGER OPERATION.
After all, what else would British Intelligence want from such an operation? ALL such military operations planned during WW2 had similar objectives. For example, just off the top of my head, the VAAGSO Raid in Norway was partially mounted to extricate Norwegian agents.
I think it is stretching it all out of proportion to suggest that mounting such a large raid to achieve such a goal ALONE seriously hurts the credibility of Doctor O'Keefe as a MILITARY historian.
I also think it is sad he is filling the heads of elderly veterans with such speculation as if it were fact.
I think it would have been more beneficial to O'Keefe to simply do a documentary on the role of this detachment of 40 RM Commando as PART of the overall Dieppe raid. Much like the book Green Beach covers the efforts of a team to recover radar intelligence.
For all we know there were other special teams at Dieppe. Possibly a plan to pick up or insert agents from France etc. etc.
If all they wanted out of the raid was intelligence on enigma, I think the many SUCCESSFUL commando operations up till Dieppe could have been a less costly and more viable option.
It makes no sense to land such a large scale of troops and equipment near DAWN to achieve such a goal. It is also rediculous to think 17 minutes would make such a big difference in the battle. Why did they not land a large commando force ( as orignally planned ) under complete darkness to do this "pinch" operation.
The British were not that stupid. Previous successes and subsequent planning prove this. It would have been far easier to acquire the info they needed via complete stealth than to mount a full scale operation against a port completely protected at both flanks against an enemy that still held air superiority.
It is my opinion these special units went along just in case the operation did succeed. They were NOT the complete reason for the operation.
Even though Churchill convinced Roosevelt that North Africa should be the next target, both he and Stalin continued to pressure Churchill to do more. The only other plan at that time was Jupiter. This was already being poo-poo'd by those involved in planning including the review by General McNaughton. If TORCH did not go ahead, the US and the Russians would have pressured Churchill into an invasion of France. In order to take some of the heat off, Churchill promised both that a large scale operation would be mounted IN ADDITION to TORCH.
IF Dieppe had been a success, how long do you think the US and Russians would have continued to support a landing in North Africa???
Like JUPITER, the Dieppe operation originally started as a grandiose operation involving RM Commando's ( like the guys O'Keefe talks about ) Parachute troops, larger air screen and naval vessels with large enough guns to penetrate the casements around Dieppe and other beaches. Like Jupiter, the plan continued to be scaled back and options inserted that made little sense.
While JUPITER was scaled back in order to keep it on the drawing table so it could remain a deception, Dieppe was revised so that it's chances of success were limited.
If they really wanted the enigma and other intelligence, I am certain more planning and better safeguards would have been in place. In other words, rather than sacrificing the Canadians and some tanks, they would have made more of an effort and taken more risks with resources to make the operation work. That means stronger naval power, stronger air power, parachute troops, the use of fledgling local agents /underground forces and the inclusion of EXPERIENCED British Commandos as the main force landed under complete cover of darkness and not inexperienced Canadians with tanks landing at dawn.
Anyway, I was not happy with the doc and feel it is going too far with its assertion.
Ken
Personally his claims of finding the TRUE reason for the Dieppe raid is stretching it quite thin.
Firstly everyone knows that the Dieppe raid was a RECONNAISANCE IN FORCE. What did Mr. O'Keefe think that meant ??? Well I am not a "Doctor" but I am pretty sure it can be translated to mean a raid with the primary purpose of gathering intelligence.
He claims the raid was mounted around a special section of 40 RM Commando sent to Dieppe by Naval Intelligence to snatch a 4 rotor enigma machine. Well it is widely known that that was actually part of the operation and that it was NOT the only aspect of intelligence gathering underway by SIS AS PART OF THE LARGER OPERATION.
After all, what else would British Intelligence want from such an operation? ALL such military operations planned during WW2 had similar objectives. For example, just off the top of my head, the VAAGSO Raid in Norway was partially mounted to extricate Norwegian agents.
I think it is stretching it all out of proportion to suggest that mounting such a large raid to achieve such a goal ALONE seriously hurts the credibility of Doctor O'Keefe as a MILITARY historian.
I also think it is sad he is filling the heads of elderly veterans with such speculation as if it were fact.
I think it would have been more beneficial to O'Keefe to simply do a documentary on the role of this detachment of 40 RM Commando as PART of the overall Dieppe raid. Much like the book Green Beach covers the efforts of a team to recover radar intelligence.
For all we know there were other special teams at Dieppe. Possibly a plan to pick up or insert agents from France etc. etc.
If all they wanted out of the raid was intelligence on enigma, I think the many SUCCESSFUL commando operations up till Dieppe could have been a less costly and more viable option.
It makes no sense to land such a large scale of troops and equipment near DAWN to achieve such a goal. It is also rediculous to think 17 minutes would make such a big difference in the battle. Why did they not land a large commando force ( as orignally planned ) under complete darkness to do this "pinch" operation.
The British were not that stupid. Previous successes and subsequent planning prove this. It would have been far easier to acquire the info they needed via complete stealth than to mount a full scale operation against a port completely protected at both flanks against an enemy that still held air superiority.
It is my opinion these special units went along just in case the operation did succeed. They were NOT the complete reason for the operation.
Even though Churchill convinced Roosevelt that North Africa should be the next target, both he and Stalin continued to pressure Churchill to do more. The only other plan at that time was Jupiter. This was already being poo-poo'd by those involved in planning including the review by General McNaughton. If TORCH did not go ahead, the US and the Russians would have pressured Churchill into an invasion of France. In order to take some of the heat off, Churchill promised both that a large scale operation would be mounted IN ADDITION to TORCH.
IF Dieppe had been a success, how long do you think the US and Russians would have continued to support a landing in North Africa???
Like JUPITER, the Dieppe operation originally started as a grandiose operation involving RM Commando's ( like the guys O'Keefe talks about ) Parachute troops, larger air screen and naval vessels with large enough guns to penetrate the casements around Dieppe and other beaches. Like Jupiter, the plan continued to be scaled back and options inserted that made little sense.
While JUPITER was scaled back in order to keep it on the drawing table so it could remain a deception, Dieppe was revised so that it's chances of success were limited.
If they really wanted the enigma and other intelligence, I am certain more planning and better safeguards would have been in place. In other words, rather than sacrificing the Canadians and some tanks, they would have made more of an effort and taken more risks with resources to make the operation work. That means stronger naval power, stronger air power, parachute troops, the use of fledgling local agents /underground forces and the inclusion of EXPERIENCED British Commandos as the main force landed under complete cover of darkness and not inexperienced Canadians with tanks landing at dawn.
Anyway, I was not happy with the doc and feel it is going too far with its assertion.
Ken
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