"...a true gem, providing Second World War history enthusiasts with a unique look at how in August of 1942 a hardly imposing German defensive grouping defeated a far better trained and equipped Allied raiding force." — Globe at War

The German part in the 19 August 1942 Dieppe raid has largely been ignored. Launched by Winston Churchill to appease his Soviet counterparts, Operation JUBILEE was one of the Allies’ greatest debacles of the war. The majority of the 6,100 soldiers and marines dispatched by Lord Louis Mountbatten were captured or killed. Just 2,211 of the 4,963 Canadians involved returned to England. Two years later the Canadian Army fought from Normandy into Germany with fewer men captured than at Dieppe.

By exploring the German experience, this superbly researched book provides answers to previously unasked operational questions. How well were the Nazi occupiers prepared for an attack on Dieppe? What threat did the raid pose to the Germans’ defense of mainland Europe? What lessons did the Wehrmacht learn, and did their High Command use the Dieppe experience when preparing for the inevitable Allied invasion of ‘Fortress Europe’? How did Hitler and his henchmen respond to the Western Allies' failure to break down their defenses in occupied western Europe? The book also addresses how Goebbels’ propaganda machine exploited the victory, and the reaction of the German people.

Drawing on extensive German source materials, the Wehrmacht's role in defeating Operation JUBILEE is comprehensively examined in fascinating detail, adding a new dimension to the history of this poorly-planned and under-resourced adventure.

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Note on the Text
• Principal Commanders and Characters
• Maps
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Part I: The Raid in its German Context
  • Chapter 1 1942 – War in West and East
  • Chapter 2 The Dieppe Division: 302nd Infantry Division
  • Chapter 3 Anticipation
  • Chapter 4 A New Siegfried Line? The Myth of the Wehrmacht’s ‘Steely Rear’
  • Chapter 5 Facing Up Across the Channel
  • Chapter 6 Eve of Battle – 18 August
• Part II: 19 August, Day of Decision
  • Chapter 7 Confusion: 0430–0700 hrs
  • Chapter 8 Action and Reaction: 0700–1000 hrs
  • Chapter 9 Cruel Attrition: 1000–1230 hrs
  • Chapter 10 Pursuit: 1230–1400 hrs
• Part III: After the Battle
  • Chapter 11 An Ignominious Defeat
  • Chapter 12 ‘A Picture like Dunkirk’: The Day After
  • Chapter 13 The Ignoble Trudge into Captivity
  • Chapter 14 ‘Your Success is Our Success’: The Occupier and the Occupied
• Part IV: War Beyond the Beaches
  • Chapter 15 A Triumph for OB West
  • Chapter 16 ‘Next Time He Will Do Things Differently’: Dissecting Victory and Defeat
  • Chapter 17 A War of Words, not Bullets and Bombs
  • Chapter 18 Dieppe Through a Strategic Lens
  • Chapter 19 The Enemy Within: Inter-Service Rivalry and the Response to Dieppe
  • Chapter 20 Dieppe in Review
• Notes
• Plates Section