A Look Back At WWII's Dieppe Raid And James Bond Creator Ian Fleming's Role In The Military Operation

James Macgowan at the Toronto Star offers a review of David O'Keefe's One Day in August: The Untold Story Behind Canada's Tragedy at Dieppe.    

More than 71 years after 907 Canadians were cut down on the stony beaches of Dieppe during Operation Jubilee, Canadian historian David O’Keefe has produced a fast-paced and convincing book, One Day in August, that clears up decades of misinformation about the ignoble raid and should provide comfort for the few remaining survivors of that notorious massacre.

 

Over the years many historians have speculated about the purpose of the Allies’ August 19, 1942, raid on the French coastal town. Was it to relieve pressure on the Eastern front, where the Soviet Union was going it alone against the Nazis? Or was it a trial run for a European invasion? Perhaps it was Winston Churchill’s gift to his wife Clementine, who had once visited Dieppe and was very fond of the seaside resort. Just what was it the Allies were doing that day, when 250 ships carrying more than 6,000 troops — 5,000 of them Canadian, of which 68 per cent were either killed wounded or captured — and numerous tanks crossed the channel?

 

In 1995, O’Keefe began the process of finding out. While conducting research at the National Archives in Britain he came across a just-declassified file that contained a cryptic reference to something called the 30 Assault Unit, a commando group formed by none other than James Bond creator Ian Fleming. (Fleming, as O’Keefe discovered, was much closer to a Bond-like character than previously thought.) Further on, he spied another mystery: A 13-word sentence that read, “As regards captures, the party concerned at DIEPPE did not reach their objective.”

 

What party? What captures? What objective?

 

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

 

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2013/11/05/one_day_in_august_by_david_okeefe_review.html

You can also read an excerpt from the book via the below link:

http://www.macleans.ca/culture/books/rbc-taylor-prize-nominees-david-okeefe-on-the-secrets-of-dieppe/ 

 

 

And you can read my Counterterrorism magazine piece on Ian Fleming's wartime service and his creation of the 30 Assault Unit via the below link:

 

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2011/11/look-back-at-30-assault-unit-british.html 

A Look Back At Ian Fleming's 1964 Memorial Service

As Ian Fleming died on this day in 1964, I was pleased to come across Fleming's good friend William Plomer's address at Fleming's memorial service.

Thanks to the web site Spyvibe, one can read what Plomer said about Ian Fleming at the service:

Only since his death has it begun to be more generally understood that he had done well in several different careers, and that he was a character of some complexity. But those who were at school with him, or who used to work with him in the City, or in Reuters, or in the Admiralty, or in the newspaper world, who had watched him creating his original and important library, or who saw him enjoying life in Jamaica, or who at any time travelled or played cards or golf with him, can confirm that he was a man who touched life at many points. And how many men can one say of him, not only that he had much to give but gave all he had got? One is reminded of James Bond's saying: "I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time."

... from 1939, seven years of his life were absorbed by his work in the Naval Intelligence Division. Just before the War, Admiral Godfrey, the Director of Naval Intelligence, who had long shown a more elastic understanding of the world and of his own profession than was likely to be discernible in more conventional sailors, recruited Ian from the City. This was on the recommendation of no lesser persons than Sir Edward Peacock and Sir Montague Norman, the Governor of the Bank of England.

It wasn't only his quick and resourceful brain that Ian brought to the service of his country, but administrative ability. He was an unfailing source of brilliant and constructive ideas, and he had the faculty of knowing how to apply them in a practical way. Also, in a service traditionally silent, and sometimes tongue-tied, he was notably articulate both in conversation and on paper; and, like most capable officers, he felt that there were times when the risk of giving offense was nothing compared with the importance of being, if necessary, blunt. He was never ready to defer to pomposity, incompetence and red tape. As right-hand man to the Director of Naval Intelligence, Ian was inevitably tied down to the Admiralty, but he did make a number of necessary sorties, with or without his chief.  No doubt it was his anxiety to take his own share in active service (though his own kind of service could hardly be called inactive) that caused Admiral Godfrey to send him to sea as an observer during the assault on Dieppe, with strict instructions to take care that he didn't get lost in France. 

I wish to emphasize, because it may not be fully understood even among many who knew him, or thought they knew him, that long before he began to write his first book, Ian was one of those whose services to his country, during those menacing years, made it possible for us to survive and to be here together indulging in reminiscence today. That may seem to you too obvious a remark, a kind of memorial cliche, but it isn't. When I was lately talking over with Admiral Godfrey the nature of Ian's wartime services, he summed it all up in a most memorable phrase, better I think than any laurel wreath or shining medal. "Ian," he said, "was a war-winner."

You can read the rest of the address via the below link:

http://spyvibe.blogspot.com/2013/08/ian-fleming-memorial-service.html   

World War II Dieppe Raid Uncovered: James Bond Creator Commander Ian Fleming Helped Devise The 1942 Battle

Globalnews.com offers a report on the the Dieppe Raid in 1942.

The news site notes that Royal Navy Commander Ian Fleming, an assistant to the Director of British Naval Intelligence and the future author of the James Bond thrillers, had a hand in the planning of the battle.

Commander Ian Fleming, whose commando group, the 30 Assault Unit, was involved in the raid, observed the battle from a Royal Navy ship off the coast.

You can watch the news video via the below link:

http://www.globalnews.ca/video/battle+of+dieppe+uncovered/video.html?v=2265652663#top+stories

Below is a brief explanation of the raid from the History Channel:

During World War II, an Allied force of 7,000 men carry out a large daytime raid against German positions at the French seaport of Dieppe. Aided by tanks and aircraft, the commando force--made up of approximately 5,000 Canadians, 2,000 British soldiers, and a handful of American and Free French troops--gained a foothold on the beach in the face of a furious German defense. During nine hours of fighting, the Allies failed to destroy more than a handful of their targets and suffered the death of 3,600 men. More than 100 aircraft, a destroyer, 33 landing craft, and 30 tanks were also lost. Despite its high costs, the Dieppe raid provided valuable logistical information later used in planning the successful 1944 Allied landing at Normandy.

You can also read my Counterterrorism magazine piece on Ian Fleming and his 30 Assault Unit via the below links:

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/IanFlemingsCommandos.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/IanFlemingsCommandos2.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/IanFlemingsCommandos3.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/IanFlemingsCommandos4.jpg

Ian Fleming died on August 11, 1964.