HAMILTON REMEMBERS DIEPPE
ON THE RAID'S 69TH ANNIVERSARY

19 August 2011 was a hot and humid day – reminding those attending the annual Dieppe Memorial Service in Hamilton of what it was like on August 19, 1942, when 197 members of the RHLI were killed in the fateful raid on Dieppe, France, along with 710 other soldiers, most of them Canadian.

Held - as always now - at Dieppe Veterans Memorial Park along Beach Boulevard on the Lake Ontario shoreline, close to the Burlington Canal lift bridge, the service is a sombre reminder of the sacrifice of the Canadian army's 2nd Division in less than 10 hours.

Six survivors of the raid were able to attend. Maurice Lawson, Stan Darch, Fred Englebrecht, Jack McFarland, Frank Volterman and Fred Nicholls were given hero's welcomes from the large crowd of more than 300. Hamiltonians have come to the Dieppe service in large numbers since the park was dedicated in 2003.

Soldiers from today's RHLI were on hand as well, remembering their fallen regimental ancestors from 69 years ago, many thinking perhaps of their own recent combat experience in Afghanistan and other theatres of modern war.

2012 will mark the 70th anniversary of the Dieppe raid, and the RHLI's 150th anniversary. Plans are coming together for a special commemoration in conjunction with the RHLI Veteran's Association. These will be posted, as they develop, at www.150th.rhli.ca