Battle Depicted in a Painting

Heroes Remember

Battle Depicted in a Painting

Transcript

Well, what I saw is actually engrained into a picture that was painted by Adam Sheriff Scott from my description in 1945 that took him six days to paint it. It depicts the aircraft overhead. There were 145, or there abouts, British planes shot down and only about 45 Germans and they were… the beach that we were on I could see the seawall which was supposed to be four feet high so that the tanks could go over. It wasn’t four feet, it was seven feet so the Intelligence was bad. The wounded were lying up against that seawall but the Germans had not only artillery centred on the tank landing craft and the tanks, but they also had mortars which were zeroed in behind where the men were trying to seek cover and they’re clawing away at the ground to try to get as far underneath as they could. I saw a lot of them getting killed and a lot of them being wounded and I couldn’t do a damn thing about it because I was too far. I was about twenty feet out watching all of this.

Description

With vivid recall of the Dieppe Raid, Mr. Hart tells of how he assisted in capturing the moment through an artist’s painting.

David Hart

Mr. Hart was born in Montreal, Quebec on July 8, 1917. One of seven boys, Mr. Hart joined the army reserves and high school cadets later graduating from college as an accountant. Joining with the Fourth Divisional Signals in 1937, he then joined active service August 1939. Mr. Hart continued on with his service as a signalman with the Royal Canadian Corps Second Divisional Signals taking part in The Dieppe Raid as a sergeant. For his part in this historical event, Mr. Hart received the Military Medal for bravery, awarded to him by His Majesty King George VI at Buckingham Palace. Upon returning to Canada, Mr. Hart continued on with his accounting career. Having great pride for his service, Mr. Hart has returned to Dieppe six times and with this being the 75th Anniversary of the Dieppe Raid, along with his wife and son, he will be joining the Canadian delegation in recognition of this commemorative event. At 100 years of age, Mr. Hart continues to enjoy life with his wife of 99 years of age, still residing in their own home. Mr. Hart continues to promote the importance of the Dieppe Raid so that Canadians will truly understand the sacrifice that was given during this battle. He and his wife now reside in Montreal, Quebec.

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