Dieppe 72 years later: Hamilton Remembers [Replay]

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It was 72 years ago today that 582 soldiers of the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry landed on the beaches of Dieppe in Nazi-occupied France as part of one of the most disastrous military operations in Canadian History.

Of the 582 – part of a Canadian force of over 5,000 men – only 211 would return to England that fateful August 19 of 1942. 109 of the 211 were wounded.

Left behind in France were 197 dead or dying, 174 prisoners of war including 85 wounded.

The raid scarred Hamilton, there was hardly a person who didn’t know one of the men killed in the raid, for weeks, the awful news made the front page of the local newspapers.

It is the bloodiest day in Hamilton’s history, it is an event Hamilton will never forget.

Hamilton’s Annual Commemoration

and only a handful of the veterans – all in their 90s – are still with us.

Today, at 11am, they gather at Hamilton’s Dieppe memorial on the Beach Strip to remember.

Join us at 11am for live video of the event here: https://new.livestream.com/joeycoleman-ca/events/3306040