Dieppe August 1942

Not really part of the Battle of Normandy, but I thought it worthy of inclusion
 

From the moment of the German attack against the Soviet Union on June 22nd 1941, and from that of the United States' entry into war the day after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour on 7th December 1941, the war became worldwide. In France, as in the whole of Europe, in order to face the war effort, Hitler's Germany imposed compulsory work service. While the "Todt Organisation" was building the Atlantic Wall, and was establishing Europe as a fortress, the "Third Reich" government intensified the implementation of Hitler's totalitarian and racial programme. Following the "Nacht und Nebel" decree in December 1941, which foresaw the putting into solitary confinement and the deporting of the enemies of the New Order, the Wannsee conference finalised the ultimate solution to the Jewish problem.

Operation Jubilee : aims and means
In April 1942, after the allied raid on St Nazaire, the British and American allies again took up the project of a wide ranging raid on a French harbour on the Channel coast. This raid was intended to test defences and to prove to the Soviets, who were asking for the establishment of a second front, that it was not easy to grab a foothold on the French coast. The Allied High Command chose Dieppe for two main reasons; the size of the township, and the distance, which were both compatible with the available means of transport, making uninterrupted air-cover easy.
The operation was to last twelve hours, a front attack taking distance, which were both compatible with the available means of transport, making uninterrupted air-cover easy.
A front attack taking place on the beach at Dieppe, after landings on both sides at Pourville and Puys, thus neutralising the defences overlooking the main beach. The long-range batteries at Varengeville and Berneval also had to be destroyed before the landing in Dieppe. The aim of the raid was to destroy the German coastal defences, the port structures and all the strategic buildings (petrol storage depots, radio and radar stations, headquarters, airfield?).
Over 6.000 men were to land, among them 4.965 Canadians from the 2nd Division (including the crews of 50 Churchill tanks) and 1.200 British men belonging to the Commandos and the Royal Marines. 250 boats effected the transport (duck-boats, destroyers, gunboats, patrol boats, landing-craft...). Around 1.000 aircraft (fighters, bombers) were used to support and defend the landing force. It was also the first time that Americans (Rangers) were used in the European theatre, also French forces. In August 1942, the area of Dieppe was under the responsibility of the 302nd Division of the Wehrmacht. About 2.500 men, highly trained and equipped (571st Regiment of Grenadiers, artillery units, Flak units and Kriegsmarine units?), were present at each of the different landing-points. Important fresh troops could be sent for at short notice. The defensive fortificaions were already dangerous, and the firepower significant (automatic weapons, mortars, medium and heavy guns, long-range coast batteries?). The German airforce, although less extensive, was still very dangerous and had the advantage of being close to its home-base