Thank you NetGalley and Pen & Sword, Pen & Sword History for accepting my request to read and review Eyewitnesses at Dieppe: The Only First-Hand Account of WWII's Most Disastrous Raid.

Published: 8/30/22

Mixed feelings on this one. When I think of WW II Canada does not spring to mind. This is the story of Canada's worst war disaster. The synopsis spells it out. There is no need to repeat.

My problem, the eyewitness was the author's father who wrote his own book. Now, his son has taken his work, his notes, criticized holes in the original account, as well as brought in Lord Mountbatten, who is deceased, putting this book together.

This just didn't sit well with me. At this stage, I am for letting sleeping dogs (Lord Mountbatten) lie, and letting those who died and witnessed the massive casualties rest in peace.

2.5 stars, I will round up -- history does not go away, nor should it be covered up. What bothers me, may not be an issue for you.

This interesting book by Ross Reyburn is a re publication of a book originally released in 1943 covering the Dieppe raid by a war correspondent (Wallace Reyburn, the Author's father) who actually took part in the raid, . Ross provides a lengthy forward covering the full life of his father and explaining how the original publication was subject to many wartime restrictions thus limiting the degree of criticism which rightly needed to be levied to those who planned the raid. If. like me, you were vaguely familiar with the details of the raid then you will get a lot out of this book. Surprising details of what was successful and what was a disaster and plenty of opinions on what was expected to be gained from a raid which had no target objective to be destroyed nor land to be gained just simply a day visit to gather intelligence then return. Of the 6000, mostly Canadian, troops who took part well over half of them were killed, wounded or taken prisoner, 106 aircraft were shot down as well as the loss of 33 landing craft and a Destroyer. These are shocking statistics and demand analysis on how they came about and whether they could have been and should have been avoided. The Author(s) provide plenty of information for the reader to draw their own conclusions.
Apart from the controversy of the Dieppe Raid, Wallace Reyburn's original book in itself is fascinating as a first hand account of a civilian taking part in a nighttime beach landing, subsequent street to street fighting, artillery bombardment as well as air raids and finally a desperate retreat back to England all within a 24hr period. This is not only a valuable historical record but also a real life adventure story!
I would recommend this book to all WW2 readers and those interested in getting a graphic impression of wartime combat.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Pen&Sword for providing access to this book.

The authorship and history of the book itself offer an interesting angle to the Dieppe account. With the son revisiting the work of the father, freed from the constraints of wartime censorship, new life is breathed into the account making for a terrific read. This is a tragic event and the loss of life was incredibly impactful for Canada, in part. It is pleasing to see this recorded and reissued so sensitively,