Alan Brown 4

August 20, 1942

Dear Diary,
After finally waiting for two years in England, the Canadian troops got a mission to do called Dieppe. We were told that we would be coming from England and going to Dieppe, France to get the major port there and hold the port for a short period of time.
As we reached the shores of Dieppe, there was a lot of machine gun fire and bombs exploding. We left England and made our way over to Dieppe, but the mission was terrible executed because we landed later than we were supposed to land. That gave the Germans an advantage when it came time to fight because they were ready for us. As soon as we got out of the boat we were taking machine gun fire. Many of our crew was killed. Of the 50 of us that came by boat only 6 of us made it to the beaches. This was a terrible loss for us and we needed to find a way to overcome this loss.
We finally reached the beaches, but we were so outnumbered that we didn’t stand a chance. The Germans took all 6 of us down one by one. Luckily, I got shot in the leg and I pretended to be dead on the floor until help came. I am writing this in the hospital in Manchester, England.
I read in the newspaper that no army division made it to their objective. The Canadians were slaughtered in this battle and army equipment such as tanks and car were destroyed. It stated that half of the Canadian army sent to Dieppe was killed in the battle. The newspaper says that Dieppe was the worst mistake by any army in a war.
I am lucky that I had taught quickly on the spot, otherwise I wouldn’t be here today. The allies will learn from this mistake and make a mission where Germany wouldn’t be prepared to fight.

Sincerely,
Alan Brown