Dieppe Beach and Seafront, Dieppe

On August 19, 1942, this beach witnessed one of WWII's most tragic operations - the Dieppe Raid (Operation Jubilee). Over 6,000 Allied soldiers, mostly Canadian, landed here in an attempt to test German coastal defenses. The operation was a disaster: in just nine hours, 907 Canadians were killed, 2,460 wounded, and 1,946 captured. The shingle (pebble) beach proved deadly, as tanks became bogged down in the large stones. However, the painful lessons learned here directly contributed to the success of D-Day two years later.