LESSONS LEARNED?

wo years and 14 days after the Dieppe raid – 1 September 1944 – the first group of men from the 2nd Canadian Division entered the town. The lead reconnaissance unit had prepared for gunfire, but instead they encountered crowds of cheering people thronging the streets. “There’s an operation that’s going to bring in heavy bombers,” says Dr Cook. “They’re going to saturate-bomb [Dieppe]. And at the last moment… a Canadian scout who goes in and sees the Germans have fled… they call off this operation. And wouldn’t that have been a bit of a different story — if the Canadians were waiting