"Jim Doyle"
Hang on Ed, surly you can't pin Dieppe on British ineptitude - being an
Allied venture, it needed Allied ratification. If anything it was a
Canadian
effort (something like 5,000 Canadian troops), the only British employed
were a number of commandos, IIRC about the same number of US Rangers were
also used. Plus what on earth did the Brits do to Hong Kong except turn it
into the prosperous place of commerce and business it is now?!
Can't argue with your stating that often British officers were born to

I'm not necessarily blaming the Brits for Dieppe except for Montbatten's
involvement. Canadian officers were just itching to get into action. The
whole plan was just stupid. Promised support did not materialize and the
numbers were not near enough for an effective assault. That's why Ike
didn't listen to the Russian's demand for a second front until the allies
were ready. As for Hong Kong, I'm talking about the stupid Canadian
decision to send a poorly equipped and poorly trained battalion into a place
they had no chance of winning. I don't think they even delayed the Japanese
victory at Hong Kong. It was a lost cause from the start. This was probably
much a political decision but the Generals must have agreed to it. People
killed and maimed for nothing with no hope of success. Just a plain stupid
loss of life. This was a decision by politicians and high ranking officers
not the grunts who suffered and died!
Ed