Regiment Moves Into Town of Dieppe
The Dieppe Raid
Regiment Moves Into Town of Dieppe
Transcript
Description
As the morning of the Dieppe Raid wore on, one of the platoons managed to enter the town of Dieppe.
Donald Gorman
Mr. Gorman was born June 23, 1921. His father was a stationary engineer at one of Windsor’s high schools and was a veteran of both the Boer War and the First World War. Mr. Gorman left school after achieving junior matriculation. He held jobs in a bakery, a fish market and as an apprentice mechanic at Remington-Rand typewriter factory in Windsor. After enlisting on September 16, 1939, he took his basic training in Windsor before being moved to Camp Borden for advanced training in June, 1940. Mr. Gorman went overseas with the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry Regiment and was involved in the Dieppe Raid.
Meta Data
- Medium:
- Video
- Owner:
- Veterans Affairs Canada
- Duration:
- 02:37
- Person Interviewed:
- Donald Gorman
- War, Conflict or Mission:
- Second World War
- Location/Theatre:
- Europe
- Battle/Campaign:
- Dieppe
- Branch:
- Army
- Units/Ship:
- Essex Scottish Regiment
- Rank:
- Lance-Corporal
- Occupation:
- Signalman
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Posted Overseas
Mr. Gorman’s battalion, stationed at Camp Borden, Ontario, was assigned go overseas. However, he and several other members of his platoon were not old enough for overseas duty. How he got around this problem is a humorous story with some rather sad results.
Meeting His Future Wife in England
Now in England, stationed at Aldershot, Mr. Gorman tells how he met his future wife, Gwen, at a neighbouring town’s firehall dance.
Dispatch Rider Risky Job
Mr. Gorman served as a dispatch rider for a period of time while stationed at Aldershot in England. He was asked to explain the high casualty numbers among dispatch riders while still some distance from the actual war front.
Day of Dieppe Raid Starts Early
Early in the moring of August 19, 1942, events began to unfold that would lead to the Dieppe Raid. Mr. Gorman was asleep in his bed.
Boarding a Ship for Dieppe
Mr. Gorman continues his account of the events that took him to the beach at Dieppe, France. He’s aboard the ship Leopold sailing from a port in Southampton, England.
On the Beach at Dieppe
Landing on the beach at 5:20 a.m., on August 19, 1942, Mr. Gorman oversees the set-up of radio communication equipment. The heavy rain from mortar fire results in a serious injury to his arm.
Finding Safe Shelter on the Beaches of Dieppe
Feeling very vulnerable during the Dieppe Raid in the open space of the beach, it was decided to try to take refuge behind one of the nearby disabled tanks.
Prisoner of War
Little could be done at the Dieppe hospital. As German Prisoners of War, the men were loaded into train boxcars for an overnight journey to a large hospital in Rouen, France for treatment by German doctors. Mr. Gorman’s friend, Ted Broadbent, accompanied him. He speaks of his friend’s kindness to the injured, refusing to tell anyone of his own injury which eventually resulted in Broadbent’s hospitalization in Germany.
POW in Germany
As a Prisoner of War in the Rouen hospital, Mr. Gorman continues the story of his treatment there and his subsequent move to a POW camp located in Eastern Germany.
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