Dieppe Blue Beach Every Man Remembered

From Loren Goat's diary March 9, 1945 Saw a lot of aircraft as we marched, or should say struggled along. The ranks are getting thinner. I don't know where thes...e chaps are going but they are dropping out all day long and some of them have just stayed in the barns as they were unable to get up and walk. One of our chaps who was sleeping in the barn across from us died of starvation last night. The Jerry officer says they will look after his burial sometime today. The civilians in the little village near here brought us some soup made of swedes, carrots and potatoes which was hot and tasted real good. It's nice to know that some of these German people have feelings. Maybe it was because they saw the condition we were in when we marched through their village. We only walked 10 kms today and I bedded down with a full stomach for the first time in weeks. See more

Today I Remember (1) Tuesday March 9, 2021 Agnès Cécile Marie-Madeleine Valois French Roman Catholic nun... June 30, 1914 April 19, 2018 Sister Agnès-Marie passed away in Dieppe on Thursday April 19, 2018. She was 103 years old. Sister Agnès-Marie was decorated by France and Canada for caring for Allied soldiers after the Dieppe raid. Sister Valois became an iconic hero to Canada’s veterans for defying Nazi authorities on the bloodstained beach who ordered her to treat wounded German soldiers before aiding Canadians. Valois was born in Rouen in 1914. Her grandfather Jules Vallois had a rope factory in Notre-Dame-de-Bondeville which her father Gaston inherited and which today is a museum. She entered the Hôtel-Dieu de Rouen convent of the Canonesses of St. Augustine of the Mercy of Jesus in 1936 where she lived in the started living as Sister Marguerite-Marie in 1937. She took a temporary vow to become a nun in 1938 and the permanent, solemn vow in 1941. Sister Agnès-Marie was educated as a nurse and worked at the military ward from 1936 to 1938 and then started working at the surgery ward where she eventually specialized in anesthesia. In 1942, Rouen had become part of the German occupied territory in France and Hôtel-Dieu was under German control. After the failed Dieppe Raid by allied forces, of which 6,000 were Canadians, she cared for the wounded and dying soldiers. After the war, Valois would go on to become a healthcare administrator. When Hôtel-Dieu in Rouen closed in 1968, Valois went to live in the convent Sainte-Marie de Thibermont in Martin-Église where she took the name Sister Agnès-Marie. She became a knight of the French National Order of Merit in 1992, a knight of the Legion of Honour in 1996 and promoted to officer of the latter order in 2009. She was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal, civil division, from Canada. In 2012, she received the key of the City of Windsor during an event commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Dieppe raid. Photo: Sister Agnes-Marie Valois References: http://nationalpost.com//angel-of-dieppe-who-stood-up-to-n http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43844090 https://www.thestar.com//angel-of-dieppe-sister-known-for- In memory of Agnès Cécile Marie-Madeleine Valois. Remember, Reflect and Respect. Thomas Joseph Simpson

From Lorne Goat's diary February 24, 1945 The roads were all muddy and it was cold and windy with a little snow and rain. What a life for a man that joined the ...Air Force and not the Army as he wanted to sleep in nice beds with sheets and not march in the filth. "Snowy" Campbell got pushed around by a couple of German bastards a couple of days ago. I just saw him and his face is a bloody mess. He claims it was for no particular reason and I would believe him as these bloody guards are getting fed up with this marching as much as we are and, when they feel like it, they just take it out on someone near them, someone who can't fight back. May they all rot in hell! See more

Please share this article so that we can find a photo of Simon Green, one of our Dieppe heroes who gave his life for our freedom at Dieppe. Thank you!

Pte Allan Neale.......Royal Regiment of Canada..... a soldier at 15......a prisoner after Dieppe.........Jayne Poolton-Turvey

From Lorne Goat's diary March 8, 1945 Last night, I don't know what time it was but it was dark as hell, I was awakened by the sound of a rifle shot. I, and eve...ryone else, jumped up thinking the guards had started to shoot all of us. However this was not the case. What had happened was that one of the guards opened the barn door to see if everything was all right when he saw the glow of a cigarette in the dark. Instead of calling out or getting some light he just raised his rifle and fired at the glow. As I've said before smoking was not allowed in the barns and that was agreed by all of us due to the high possibility of fire. It was Sid Bailey of Montreal who was taking a puff of his fag when the shot was fired. The bullet went through his wrist, the bottom of his jaw and came out the other side of his cheek. Naturally this caused some commoton and the Jerry officer was there in not time at all. In the meantime the chaps who were laying near Sid called out for everyone to lay on their stomachs as they were going to carry Sid to the barn door. Everyone turned over and the 3 fellows picked Sid up and walked to the door by stepping on the backs of all the chaps laying down. I have heard that the bullet wounds are not too bad but he may have to have some skin grafting done on his cheek when he gets back to Blighty. The Jerry guards took Sid to the local hospital to get patched up and we don't know if he will join us later. One of the Jerry guards looks and acts as if he is crazy, always walking around with his rifle at the ready, staring at us as if we were going to run away and every once in a while he starts yelling at nothing in particular. I hope he doesn't start shooting. According to Warrant Officer Currie and the Jerry officer, there will be no marching tomorrow unless we get some food as we have gone 2 or 3 days without any rations. See more

From Lorne Goat's diary March 7, 1945 Man oh man! This was the worst morning of my life as there was a lot of trouble between the farmers, the guards and oursel...ves. The cause of the problem was the farmer's wheat. As I mentioned before a lot of us steal this wheat whenever we get a chance because we are so hungry. It is understood by everybody that we never eat the wheat while in the farmer's yard as we might get caught. However, this morning all hell broke loose when the farmer saw one of the men take some wheat from his pocket and put it in his mouth. The farmer called the Jerry officer and yelled at him while pointing to the chap he saw eating the wheat. The officer then called one of the guards who came over to the group of us who were all lined up ready to march out of the farm yard. He searched the chap's pockets and when he pulled out a handfull of wheat the officer hit the roof. He then screamed something at all of the guards who took it out on us by making us line up in the usual rows of five, using their rifle butts on our shoulders and backs to make us move faster. When we were all lined up properly the officer said that everyone who had stolen the farmer's wheat were to step forward. Nobody moved. He then began yelling in German and English saying that if we didn't step forward immediately everybody would be searched and if any more wheat was found the thief would be shot immediately. This made me think very hard as my greatcoat pockets were full and I had quite a bit more in my kitbag. Hell, if I'm search it looks as if my time will come right now. This would be a hell of a way to finish the war, shot in a bloody German farm yard. The guards then went to the head of the line and searched the pockets of the first 5 men. Nothing was found so they were to told to march forward and the next 5 were search. Again nothing was found. In the 3rd row they found wheat in the pockets of 2 of the men. These men were pulled out of the line and forced over to the barn where they had to put their hands over their heads and face the wall while 3 of the guards, with their rifles at the ready stood over them. The search continued and I started to get scared and as they got closer to the row I was in my stomach felt like it was going to come right out of my mouth. This was it. I was the middle man in the row and when we were told to step forward we all took one pace. The 2 guards search the chaps on each end of the line, then the 2 chaps next to me. I was next and my knees were shaking so much I thought the guards would hear them knocking. Instead of touching my pockets he yelled at us to move forward and I never obeyed an order quicker in my life. The search went on for almost an hour. 28 chaps were lined up against the wall of the barn. Our medical officer was arguing with the Jerry officer about shooting the chaps that had been caught, yelling about the Geneva conventions, starving prisoners and lots more. He was told to shut up and get into the line like the rest of us. The Jerry officer then yelled something at the guards and the farmer. They immediately ran at the chaps against the wall and started to beat the living hell out of them with their rifle butts and pieces of wood. God, did they ever get a beating. When we started yelling and moving forward to help the poor buggers the other guards cocked their rifles and pointing them at us made us stop and keep still. We had no option but to stand there and watch our friends beaten up. Finally the officer yelled at the guards to stop and when they stepped back he told us to pick up the chaps and bring them back into the column. Gad, some of them were a bloody mess but, thank goodness, there were no bones broken. This is a day I'll never forget and I'm sure I will never forgive those German bastards that beat up chaps that couldn't defend themsleves. See more

From Lorne Goat's diary Febuary 23, 1945 Rumour, supposedly from the German officer, is that we have to march 28 kms today as the place where we were supposed t...o sleep tonight has been bombed. The bombing is good but forcing us to do 2 days marching in one is not good at all. Through another town called Gronitz then Eutzen and on to Meuselwitz. Man this place has been bombed to hell, it was a real shambles and to me it looked good. All the homes and the stores on the streeets we marched on were gone, even the streets themselves were full of craters. I must admit I didn't see any big plants or warehouses so I don't know why we bombed the town. We were bedded down in a large barn without a roof. The Jerries said that as we had bombed it we could bloody well sleep in it. Hell I hope it doesn't rain before morning. Once again we had more trouble with the queuing for soup. This time it got so rough the Jerry guards fired their rifles into the air and that quieted things down for a while. I don't think anyone wants to get shot at this stage of the game as we all believe the war will be over soon. Today we marched 30 kms which is a bit more than we were told about this morning. Which is why it was dark when we finally got to this place. See more

From Lorne Goat's diary March 6, 1945 Since leaving this morning we have marched 23 kms and that is one of the longer days. Will this marching ever stop? How mu...ch more can we take? More fellows dropped out today and I'm sure there will be more tomorrow. Please let the war end so we can all go back home! This is a large barn and as soon as we got through the doors Shorty, Bill and I found a spot on the floor for the three of us. As soon as I had taken my kit bag off my shoulders and dropped it on the floor I took off in search for some food around the barn. This time I was able to climb over a partition and drop into a small room which contained 4 or 5 sacks of grain. This was a godsend, a miracle from heaven, so I took the shirt out of my jacket pocket, along with two of Shorty's socks which I had put there before I went on the scrounge for food. I immediately tore open one of the sacks and, after tying the cuffs together, I filled the arms of my shirt and Shorty's socks. Hell I was happy as this would give the 3 of us ample wheat for the next week or so. I then crawled back over the partition and found my sleeping place with Shorty and Bill and told them the good news. Bill then took a couple of shirts out of his kit and went and got some more of the wheat. By that time some of the other chaps had found the sacks and there was a mad scramble for the wheat. Bill was lucky and got four sleeves full and returned to our sleeping spot without too much difficulty. As there was not going to be any more food issued I crawled under the blankets, muched on the wheat and then went to sleep, knowing it was snowing and raining outside. See more

From Lorne Goat's diary February 22, 1945 I had coffee and 2 slices of bread. Four of the chaps lost about half a loaf of bread each last night. It appears th...at some son of a bitch stole it during the night. I'm sure if we ever caught the chap or chaps that did it we would beat the hell out of them. We are all in the same boat and we are hungry as hell all of the time so I am convinced that the buggar that is caught stealing food should get what's coming to him, and I would be willing to help knock him around. Shorty, Bill and I were lucky as we got a good place in the barn. During the day more chaps had to drop out of the column because of dysentery. I wonder if they will catch up with us or wait out the war in some hospital. Rumour has it that we will only have to walk 37 kms in the next 3 days and Red Cross parcels will be waiting for us when we get there. See more

As there’s been quite a bit of interest in this am attaching a full copy for those interested

From Lorne Goat's diary February 20, 1945 11th day on the road. Rations were handed out for 3 days and consisted of 7/10 loaf of bread and 7/20 of a tin of meat.... I finished eating the dried spuds but Harry Spratt was caught stealing and spent the night in the clink. At least he wasn't shot as they threatened to do last night. One thing that I am noticing every day is that fellows are dropping out of the column all along the roadway. Most of the time they are just done in and can't walk any farther even if they are not carrying anything with them. In a lot of cases one man will carry two kit bags so his mucker can have a rest but if this doesn't happen then the sick chap just leaves everything on the side of the road. Other chaps are getting dysentery. It is a pitiful sight to see airmen and army chaps who, a few short weeks ago, were in fairly good condition and now, when they are forced to march along these roads without sufficient food, have to fall out to the side of the road or in a ditch, pull down their pants and underwear and let go all over the ground and sometimes over their own pants and shoes. God help them. Some do this numerous times in a day and then get back into the column and keep walking. Every once in a while you will see a man shit and when trying to pull up his pants be unable to do so and just fall over where he is and lay there as if asleep. We can't do a thing and are foced to march on as we know we can't carry this chap or help him in any way. All we can do is pray that a German army truck will pick the chap up and get him to a hospital. See more