| 3 Canadian soldiers of the South Saskatchewan Regiment, 6th Brigade, surrender to German soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 571st Infantry Regiment on Green Beach in front of Pourville near Dieppe. 1 (left) has a head wound, the middle 1 appears to be blinded and is supported or guided by the 1 on the right. The intent of the landing at Green beach was for the South Saskatchewan Regiment (SSR) to land astride the river Scie which ran through Pourville into the channel, secure the West headland, and neutralize artillery emplacements on top of the headland covering the main beaches of Dieppe. The SSR, with special technicians attached, was to also capture a radar site on the headland, strip it of important components and bring them back to England. Once these missions were accomplished, the Cameron Highlanders were to land, pass through the SSR and link up with the Calgary Tank Regiment in the rear area to assault the airfield and headquarters complex near St. Aubin. The SSR made good its landing at GREEN beach having taken the German garrison somewhat by surprise, however, instead of landing astride of the river Scie, the regiment landed entirely to the West of the river and the elements responsible for assaulting the headland had to fight their way through the town of Pourville. Of the 523 officers and men who landed, 355 returned to England, more than half of them wounded. The Cameron Highlanders landed on Green beach approximately 30 minutes late, and in the wrong location. The Camerons, who had been designated to land on the Western side of the river Scie, landed astride the river as had been planned for the SSR. Green beach became a confused mixture of the 2 regiments, both attempting now to reorganize and accomplish their respective missions. The Camerons on the Eastern side of Pourville attached themselves to the SSR and those on the Western side moved South along the Western bank of the River Scie in an attempt to link up with the Calgary Tanks. After moving South and discovering that the Calgary Tanks had never made it off the main beaches of Dieppe, the Camerons encountered the vanguard of the German 571st Regiment’s reserve arriving to reinforce the beaches. The Camerons began to retreat back toward Green beach and while en route, received the general signal for evacuation of all beaches. As men from both the SSR and the Camerons began collecting on the beach, the scene became reminiscent of Dunkirk. The Germans poured heavy fire down on the beach killing nearly 100 men of the SSR and later capturing another 89. After the last boat had left the beaches, Lieutenant Colonel Charles C. Merritt (November 10, 1908 – July 12, 2000) organized a defensive position along the seawall, which held out some time before capitulating. When a surrender of the remaining forces appeared to be imminent, Colonel Merritt asked if anyone had a white flag. Major E. W. “Lefty” White (July 27, 1903 – March 31, 1996) spoke up and said it was very much against his grain to show a white flag. He suggested Corporal Joe M. Wanner (February 1, 1919 – April 23, 1982), as an interpreter, give instructions to a prisoner to go out and tell the enemy to come in peacefully and take the surrender. Colonel Merritt agreed to this plan and the action was carried out. The remnants of the battalion and those of the Camerons were assembled and marched into Dieppe. They were eventually transported to prison camps in Germany. Many interesting stories are told of incidents happening in the prison camps. In 1 of the assemblies shortly after the capture, the Germans ordered the prisoners to be “on parade” for some reason or other, and the men were slowly slouching to obey. Lieutenant Colonel Merritt called Sergeant Major Henry B. “Dinty” Moore (1912 – 1985) to him and told him the South Saskatchewan Regiment would parade correctly and smartly at all times. The Sergeant Major saluted smarty and, stinging under the Colonel’s biting words, turned to the parade ground and barked his commands off in ceremonial drill fashion. The effect was magical, and the men caught the spirit of the show and marched proudly out, formed into their groups and the parade was turned over smartly to Lieutenant Colonel Merritt, thus exhibiting defiance into the face of the enemy even in defeat. The kanadischer kriegsgefangene (“Canadian prisoners of war”) were handcuffed and chained during daylight hours for 408 days in retaliation for the shackling of German prisoners of war at Pourville. Some wounded reported being shackled before and after their operations in the prisoner hospital at Obermassfeld, a few kilometres south of Meiningen. The medical orderlies at Stalag-VIIIB, where most of the Dieppe prisoners were sent, volunteered to be shackled to save the wounded from that fate. This made the Germans demur from shackling the wounded until they recovered. 523 SSR men embarked on the Dieppe raid. 78 were killed, 3 died of their wounds, and 3 died as prisoners of war for a total of 84 dead, which is 16% of the men who embarked. Of those taken Prisoner, 24 were wounded and 65 were unhurt and relatively physically fit. 166 men were wounded. Total fatal and non-fatal Casualties were 446. 268 men, wounded and not wounded returned to the United Kingdom (51%) which means 49% of those who embarked for the Dieppe Raid did not return. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0371.jpg |
| Image Size | 174.50 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 1240 x 958 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | Kriegsberichter |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | August 19, 1942 |
| Location | |
| City | Dieppe |
| State or Province | Normandy |
| Country | France |
| Archive | Signal Magazine |
| Record Number | 15585 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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