Dieppe Artifact 2: Veteran-Drawn Picture

  This photo was drawn by Canadian soldier Paul Dumaine who was part of the Dieppe Raid. In a personal recollection he provided on his experience in Dieppe he states "We landed in broad daylight. We got there and the beach was ablaze. The battle was full on. Everyone was getting killed and falling down all over the place, it was terrible." 

  Paul Dumaine sustained a head injury during the Dieppe raid and was captured as a prisoner of war alongside over 1900 other Canadian soldiers. During his time in the camp which he was held at he drew this photo shown above using only the tools available to him in the camp which he was at. 

  The photo that Paul Dumaine drew depicts one of the Dieppe raid's greatest issues being the tanks that were grounded on the rocky beach. Unknown to the Allied forces or possibly just overlooked, the beaches at Dieppe were covered in small pebbles of rock making tank warfare obsolete due to the tracks not being able to gain traction and also making an infantry assault difficult due to soldiers wiping out and injuring themselves on the unstable surface while dodging machine gun fire. 

References: 

Association, Juno Beach Centre. “Sketch of Dieppe: The Dieppe Raid: From Vimy to Juno: Canadians through Two World Wars: From Vimy to Juno: Canadians through Two World Wars.” Juno Beach Centre Association. Accessed December 1, 2024. https://museumvimytojuno.ca/en/articles/dieppe-raid/artifacts/dumainesketch.

Project, The Memory. "Paul Dumaine (Primary Source)." The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada. Article published July 20, 2021; Last Edited July 20, 2021.