Bravery of men in Dieppe Raid

LESLIE Taylor featuring in the Detroit Free Press in 1942

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IN the wake of the 75th anniversary of the Dieppe Raid of the Second World War the Chronicle has been given an insight into the bravery of two brothers, one of whom was born in Oldham, who faced machine-gun fire, mortar shells and flames on the beaches of Northern France.

The Dieppe Raid was an Allied attack on August 19, 1942. The objectives were to seize and hold a major port for a short period, both to prove it was possible and to gather intelligence.

Bill Taylor, whose great uncles were part of the raid, contacted the Chronicle to give an insight into the bravery of his uncles, supplying photos and articles from The Detroit Free Press showing their experience.

James and Leslie Taylor were two of the 553 men from the Essex Scottish Regiment that were part of the raid.

They were born to Margaret Taylor, who emigrated from Oldham to Windsor, Canada in 1911 with Leslie and Harry after being abandoned by her husband, James, who was born in Canada in 1913.

During the raid James was killed, but Leslie was one of only 51 that were not killed or captured.

While the raid is considered unsuccessful, with the last Allied troops killed, captured or evacuated after less than 10 hours of the first landings, the raid did pave the way for D-Day to succeed with fewer casualties thanks to the lessons learnt from the raid.

Elsie Taylor, Leslie's wife, received a message from the Canadian government saying that he had been wounded and was in Scotland, however he had already returned by this time.

He was one of a group of 100 soldiers who attacked in one of the centre salients in the Dieppe assault and was injured in the thigh by a six-inch mortar shell.

Speaking to The Detroit Free Press, he said: "As we approached for a landing the Germans poured machine-gun fire at us. The officer at the wheel was killed. Another man jumped to his place and was killed himself within a few seconds. Then another man took the wheel and was met with the same fate."

He told how after the tanks landed, the men had to swim 250 yards to shore.

"One of our lieutenants reached the beach safely, then swam back to help some of the men who were wounded. One of my friends saw him coming and waved him away, saying 'I'm done for - don't bother with me.'

"Our group was pretty well done for by the time we reached the beach. We were right in the centre of the town and the Germans were shooting at us from windows in the resort hotels that faced the beach."

They made some headway towards the boulevard but it was when they took shelter from a machine gun nest in the rear of a house that it was hit by a shell.

"I was afraid to look. I felt to see if the leg was still there. You don't feel anything when one of those hits you - it just makes you numb." Pvt Taylor said.

He passed out and when he came to the fighting had gone quiet, so he crawled half-a-mile to the beach.

As he reached the beach a scout car was hit with a shell and burst into flames. He told the paper: "There was a fellow in the back seat who hadn't been hit. He tried to get the driver out. Finally the fellow leaped out of the car, blazing from head to foot.

"He ran into the water and dived in, putting out the flames. Then he came back and helped me to the boat that had landed the tank. A Navy medical crew fixed us up."

Pvt Taylor was to remain with his wife and mother until November 12 when he was scheduled to return to active service.