RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build
Posted: Tue Jul 20, 2021 6:54 pm
Hi,
Presenting my next build, a Churchill Mk III tank as used during the Dieppe raid of August 19, 1942.
Honestly, i always disliked the Churchill tank very much. It's gun and shape were so outdated even when it entered service. But its the close relationship with the failed Dieppe Raid that makes me dislike it even more as a Canadian. I asked myself why would i then build an RC model of it... My answer is so that i can study what happened, reflect and honour the ones who valiantly lost their life. I will try to build their mount as best as i can.
First, some history,
The Dieppe raid is actually a landing on 4 beaches around the Dieppe port city area. Meant as a diversion to excite the Germans so that they would give a break to the Russians, the raid objectives were limited in scope and much of the burden was shared between the Canadian Army and the British navy and air force. Its execution was terrible and is viewed as a model of what not to do on a landing;
- No element of surprise. The Germans knew something was coming and reinforced the garrison just before the raid.
- No heavy bombing preparation or support by any air force before and during the raid, just light fighter planes... Sir Harris preferred to bomb German civilians than supporting troops.
- No Navy battleship or heavy cruiser bombing preparation or support during the raid, just destroyers with small calibre guns
- Lack of reconnaissance
- Bad planning
- Lack of experience
This German picture made after the raid represents pretty much what Germans wanted the world to know. The raid was a dramatic failure where no one got off the beach. Not far from the truth but things were a bit more complicated though.
I had a chance to visit DIeppe in 2011 with my father on a 2 week roadtrip of European WW1 and WW2 sites in France and Belgium. Not sure if it was because of the weather but i really felt that the Dieppe area is a difficult, dark and very sad place. Why would someone decide to make a raid there... there is a port but it is big enough for small fishing boats, nothing strategic.
The shingle beach we heard of. It is far from the nice sand beaches of Normandy. The Dieppe beach is made of round rocks of different sizes. It is difficult even to walk on it.
A close up. It is not true that the shingle stopped all Churchill tanks from advancing to the sea wall. It is clear that such rocks can get in between tracks, road wheel and sprockets, and cause a break up of the track. However, out of the 29 Churchill tank that landed in front of Dieppe itself, 2 sank in the sea because they were too far when they left the barge, 12 were bogged down on the beach, either by the shingles or else, and 15 made it to the promenade.
When we see a line up of Churchill tanks like this on a Dieppe beach, parallel to the Germans, it is because these are actually operational tanks that made it to the promenade, did fight the whole time, and then came back to the beach later to provide cover for the troops that could re-embark.
Many of the Churchill tanks that made it to the promenade had their tracks damaged by German light anti-tank guns and were immobilised. No tanks armor were actually penetrated by German guns, a good news for the crews. They fought until their ammunition were exhausted. The complexity was to escape the immobilized tanks because the side hatches were sealed watertight for the raid.
From what i could see, all Churchill tanks did not have track guards on top. This is definitely something of interest that need to be reproduced, with nice tracks. This is unique to the Churchill in early years.
The Churchills at Dieppe were not all Mk III. There were a total of seven Mk I, five Mk II and eighteen Mk III used at Dieppe.
Why would a one day raid be made directly against a defended city in a frontal assault ? It is clear from this view of a damaged Churchill tank on the promenade that any window of these brick buildings in the back can provide a good emplacement for a German machine gun or sniper, with view over the whole beach, preventing any infantry from advancing with the tanks. The tanks actually spent much of their time and ammo shooting at individual windows where mouvement was spotted.
continuing on following post
Presenting my next build, a Churchill Mk III tank as used during the Dieppe raid of August 19, 1942.
Honestly, i always disliked the Churchill tank very much. It's gun and shape were so outdated even when it entered service. But its the close relationship with the failed Dieppe Raid that makes me dislike it even more as a Canadian. I asked myself why would i then build an RC model of it... My answer is so that i can study what happened, reflect and honour the ones who valiantly lost their life. I will try to build their mount as best as i can.
First, some history,
The Dieppe raid is actually a landing on 4 beaches around the Dieppe port city area. Meant as a diversion to excite the Germans so that they would give a break to the Russians, the raid objectives were limited in scope and much of the burden was shared between the Canadian Army and the British navy and air force. Its execution was terrible and is viewed as a model of what not to do on a landing;
- No element of surprise. The Germans knew something was coming and reinforced the garrison just before the raid.
- No heavy bombing preparation or support by any air force before and during the raid, just light fighter planes... Sir Harris preferred to bomb German civilians than supporting troops.
- No Navy battleship or heavy cruiser bombing preparation or support during the raid, just destroyers with small calibre guns
- Lack of reconnaissance
- Bad planning
- Lack of experience
This German picture made after the raid represents pretty much what Germans wanted the world to know. The raid was a dramatic failure where no one got off the beach. Not far from the truth but things were a bit more complicated though.
I had a chance to visit DIeppe in 2011 with my father on a 2 week roadtrip of European WW1 and WW2 sites in France and Belgium. Not sure if it was because of the weather but i really felt that the Dieppe area is a difficult, dark and very sad place. Why would someone decide to make a raid there... there is a port but it is big enough for small fishing boats, nothing strategic.
The shingle beach we heard of. It is far from the nice sand beaches of Normandy. The Dieppe beach is made of round rocks of different sizes. It is difficult even to walk on it.
A close up. It is not true that the shingle stopped all Churchill tanks from advancing to the sea wall. It is clear that such rocks can get in between tracks, road wheel and sprockets, and cause a break up of the track. However, out of the 29 Churchill tank that landed in front of Dieppe itself, 2 sank in the sea because they were too far when they left the barge, 12 were bogged down on the beach, either by the shingles or else, and 15 made it to the promenade.
When we see a line up of Churchill tanks like this on a Dieppe beach, parallel to the Germans, it is because these are actually operational tanks that made it to the promenade, did fight the whole time, and then came back to the beach later to provide cover for the troops that could re-embark.
Many of the Churchill tanks that made it to the promenade had their tracks damaged by German light anti-tank guns and were immobilised. No tanks armor were actually penetrated by German guns, a good news for the crews. They fought until their ammunition were exhausted. The complexity was to escape the immobilized tanks because the side hatches were sealed watertight for the raid.
From what i could see, all Churchill tanks did not have track guards on top. This is definitely something of interest that need to be reproduced, with nice tracks. This is unique to the Churchill in early years.
The Churchills at Dieppe were not all Mk III. There were a total of seven Mk I, five Mk II and eighteen Mk III used at Dieppe.
Why would a one day raid be made directly against a defended city in a frontal assault ? It is clear from this view of a damaged Churchill tank on the promenade that any window of these brick buildings in the back can provide a good emplacement for a German machine gun or sniper, with view over the whole beach, preventing any infantry from advancing with the tanks. The tanks actually spent much of their time and ammo shooting at individual windows where mouvement was spotted.
continuing on following post