The Dieppe Raid At dawn of 19th August 1942, six thousand and one hundred Allied soldiers, of whom roughly five thousand were Canadians, landed at the French port of Dieppe in their first major test of the defence of the German-held coastline of Europe since Dunkirk. A combination of over-rigid planning, inadequate communication; lack of supporting firepower; and in the final hour before the raid, absolute bad luck inflicted on the Allies made the Dieppe raid one of their worst defeats