Remembering Dieppe

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Posted with full permission from the Hamilton Spectator.
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TheSpec.com - Local - Remembering Dieppe

August 18, 2007
John Burman
The Hamilton Spectator
(Aug 18, 2007)
When Jack McFarland stands on the stony beach in Dieppe tomorrow, this is what the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry veteran will remember, 65 years after he fought in the raid on the French port:

* 4,963 Canadians attacked on Aug. 19, 1942.

* 3,367 became casualties.

* 913 died.

* 200 of them came from Hamilton, 197 from the RHLI and three more from other units

* 1,946 men were taken prisoner.

* 2,210 men returned to England at the end of the day.

McFarland, Captain Tim Fletcher, the RHLI's information officer, and about 50 other Hamilton and Burlington residents are in France this weekend for the 65th anniversary memorial service for those who died proving the Second World War allies could not capture a fortified port.

After Dieppe, planning for the invasion of Hitler's Europe turned to open beaches in Normandy.

This will be one of the last anniversaries actual Dieppe veterans will attend.

Veterans Affairs took 15 Second World War veterans to Dieppe this year. Only nine of them fought in the actual battle.

"Their numbers are dwindling," says Fletcher.

McFarland, 86, who became a city police officer after the war, will also remember how he got a nasty scar on his right arm when he was strafed at Dieppe by a German fighter plane.

After the raiders were forced to surrender, he spent seven months in hospital and three years as a prisoner of war.

The driving force behind Hamilton's Dieppe memorial on the Beach Strip, McFarland may also be remembering the damage done to the marker about a week ago.

Tomorrow's 11 a.m. memorial service will be held at the monument in Dieppe Memorial Park, just south of the Burlington Canal lift bridge.

jburman@thespec.com

905-525-4819

Photo- Kaz Novak, the Hamilton Spectator
Canadian Guards veteran John McColl places a poppy on the Dieppe Memorial.

 

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Due to work and being off somewhere on vacation, this was the first year I was able to attend the Dieppe remembrance ceremony.
I have attached a few pics from today, including one WWII plane that buzzed around for the first part and one of local politicians that attended. From right to left, Bob Bratina (Councillor), Andrea Horwath MPP, Wayne Marston MP and the fellow on the far left is not familiar to me, anyone know who he is??

 

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Dieppe vets relive bloody raid 65 years later

Raveena Aulakh
The Hamilton Spectator
(Aug 20, 2007)
Stan Darch stood in tears at the Dieppe Memorial on Beach Boulevard, remembering the raid on Dieppe in France 65 years ago and the soldiers and friends who died there.

The 87-year-old Royal Hamilton Light Infantry veteran also shed tears for the memorial itself, which was vandalized a few weeks ago.

"I wish I could get a hold of them ... I would kill them," said a tearful Darch.

Darch and other RHLI veterans, along with their families, attended the 65th anniversary memorial service at the Dieppe Memorial Park yesterday.

There were plenty of tears, some wan smiles and a feeling of camaraderie as RHLI veterans and their families paid respects to the fallen soldiers. Some 4,973 Canadians were part of the invasion force on Aug. 19, 1942. Nine hundred and thirteen Canadians died; 200 of them were from Hamilton.

"Dieppe was a massacre," said Darch, who can't bear to walk on the stones near the memorial. The stones, meant to recreate the stony Dieppe beach, do their job too well. Darch can only take so much remembering.

He went back to Dieppe in 1977, but turned down a chance to go again in 1982. "The memories are too bad," said his daughter Debbie Adams.

"He's always in tears when he comes to the memorial."

In another corner, veteran Gordon McPartlin stood quietly talking to his grandson, Kris Nichols, pointing out the damage to the memorial.

"I was really angry when I heard about it," said McPartlin. "I wondered what kind of people would vandalize a place which honours dead men."

McPartlin, 86, who also fought at Dieppe, was taken prisoner. He spent two years and eight months as a PoW.

He always attends the anniversary service. "It means a lot to me," he said, talking about Operation Jubilee, as the Dieppe raid was code-named.

Darch and McPartlin were among the four Dieppe veterans who attended the yesterday's service.

Lieutenant Colonel Rev. Bryan Robertson, who conducted the first service four years earlier, says the number of Dieppe veterans is going down, although some of them had gone to France for the anniversary.

"They must also be at the service right now," said Robertson while conducting the ceremony.

Indeed, a group of nearly 50 veterans, soldiers and family members from the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry joined hundred of other soldiers, dignitaries and French citizens in ceremonies marking the 65th anniversary of the 1942 Allied raid on Dieppe.

Former Hamilton police officer Jack McFarland was among those making the trip and, with Jim Forsyth, the regiment's honorary colonel, he laid a wreath on the RHLI monument under wet, grey skies.

Back in Hamilton, MP Wayne Marston, MPP Andrea Horwath and Councillor Bob Bratina, attended the beachfront service with about 300 others.

Among the sombre crowd was Anne Dukes Schilte, whose father fought at Dieppe and came back home but he was never the same again.

"He could never talk about the battle," said Dukes Schilte. "It was too painful for him."

Her father, William Dukes, died in 1957 but his daughter says Dieppe is a part of her life.

"I'm proud to be here," said Dukes Schilte, who has never missed an anniversary service.

This time, she also wanted to see the damage to the memorial.

"It's a sacrilege," she said, pointing to where the vandals had left their mark.

Earlier, Robertson said the city had advised that the damage will be fixed in six weeks.

"I hope so," said Dukes Schilte. "This means a lot to us."

raulakh@thespec.com

905-526-3404
Photo-Paul Chiasson, the Canadian Press
Stan Egerton, who was with the Toronto Scottish 2nd Command Division, spends time with three young men dressed as Canadian soldiers during ceremonies in Dieppe, France, on the weekend.

 

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Exceptional veterans raise the bar

September 19, 2007
John Burman
With files from Spectator wire services
(Sep 19, 2007)
Murray Floyd says he is honoured to be in the same company as Hamilton Dieppe veteran Jack McFarland in receiving a Veterans Affairs commendation.

"I was just so thrilled to be there getting this thing with guys like Jack McFarland," said Floyd, 76, after the Ottawa ceremony last month. "(McFarland) is a true hero, the guy I look up to. I was honoured to be with him and humbled."

The commendation has been awarded annually to exceptional veterans who have "contributed in an exemplary manner to the care and well-being of veterans and/or the remembrance of contributions, sacrifices and achievements of veterans."

Floyd, of Dundas, who served in the Armed Forces after the Second World War, was nominated and honoured for his assistance of veterans through the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 60 and involving young people in annually tending and marking the graves of Dundas war dead with small crosses in cemeteries in the town.

"Through his wonderful initiative, Mr. Floyd has helped pass the torch of remembrance to local youth," says a Department of Veterans Affairs announcement.

Chief Warrant Officer (Ret.) McFarland of the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry, who was wounded at Dieppe Aug. 19, 1942, and taken prisoner, received the commendation for his years of service to fellow veterans.

He has served on the Hamilton council of veterans, as chair of the Dieppe Veterans committee and was the driving force to get the city to build and dedicate the memorial to the 197 Rileys who died at Dieppe.

A recipient of the French Legion of Honour, McFarland is active in the Prisoner of War Association of Canada-European Theatre, conducts tours of the Dieppe memorial on the Beach Strip and lectures about his own experiences in schools.

Seven Hamilton and Halton veterans, including McFarland and Floyd, have been awarded the commendation since the honour was instituted in 2002.

In April 2001, Queen Elizabeth approved the design of the special bar to be worn with decorations to be known as the Minister of Veterans Affairs Commendation.

The commendation consists of a certificate, a lapel pin for civilian wear and a bar for wear with decorations. It features a gold maple leaf resting on a red poppy, a flower long associated with the sacrifices of war, with the Royal Crown on the top of the pin.

jburman@thespec.com

905-526-2469


Handout Photo
Jack McFarland and Murray Floyd were awarded civilian pin and decoration bar.

Handout Photo
McFarland