IN THE NEWS: Marston attends Dieppe memorial service

PUBLICATION: The Hamilton Spectator

BYLINE: Raveena Aulakh

Dieppe vets relive bloody raid 65 years later

Stan Darch stood in tears at the Dieppe Memorial on Beach Boulevard, remembering the raid on Dieppe in France 65 years ago and the soldiers and friends who died there.

The 87-year-old Royal Hamilton Light Infantry veteran also shed tears for the memorial itself, which was vandalized a few weeks ago.

"I wish I could get a hold of them ... I would kill them," said a tearful Darch.

Darch and other RHLI veterans, along with their families, attended the 65th anniversary memorial service at the Dieppe Memorial Park yesterday.

There were plenty of tears, some wan smiles and a feeling of camaraderie as RHLI veterans and their families paid respects to the fallen soldiers. Some 4,973 Canadians were part of the invasion force on Aug. 19, 1942. Nine hundred and thirteen Canadians died; 200 of them were from Hamilton.

"Dieppe was a massacre," said Darch, who can't bear to walk on the stones near the memorial. The stones, meant to recreate the stony Dieppe beach, do their job too well. Darch can only take so much remembering.

He went back to Dieppe in 1977, but turned down a chance to go again in 1982. "The memories are too bad," said his daughter Debbie Adams.

"He's always in tears when he comes to the memorial."

In another corner, veteran Gordon McPartlin stood quietly talking to his grandson, Kris Nichols, pointing out the damage to the memorial.

"I was really angry when I heard about it," said McPartlin. "I wondered what kind of people would vandalize a place which honours dead men."

McPartlin, 86, who also fought at Dieppe, was taken prisoner. He spent two years and eight months as a PoW.

He always attends the anniversary service. "It means a lot to me," he said, talking about Operation Jubilee, as the Dieppe raid was code-named.

Darch and McPartlin were among the four Dieppe veterans who attended the yesterday's service.

Lieutenant Colonel Rev. Bryan Robertson, who conducted the first service four years earlier, says the number of Dieppe veterans is going down, although some of them had gone to France for the anniversary.

"They must also be at the service right now," said Robertson while conducting the ceremony.

Indeed, a group of nearly 50 veterans, soldiers and family members from the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry joined hundred of other soldiers, dignitaries and French citizens in ceremonies marking the 65th anniversary of the 1942 Allied raid on Dieppe.

Former Hamilton police officer Jack McFarland was among those making the trip and, with Jim Forsyth, the regiment's honorary colonel, he laid a wreath on the RHLI monument under wet, grey skies.

Back in Hamilton, MP Wayne Marston, MPP Andrea Horwath and Councillor Bob Bratina, attended the beachfront service with about 300 others.

Among the sombre crowd was Anne Dukes Schilte, whose father fought at Dieppe and came back home but he was never the same again.

"He could never talk about the battle," said Dukes Schilte. "It was too painful for him."

Her father, William Dukes, died in 1957 but his daughter says Dieppe is a part of her life.

"I'm proud to be here," said Dukes Schilte, who has never missed an anniversary service.

This time, she also wanted to see the damage to the memorial.

"It's a sacrilege," she said, pointing to where the vandals had left their mark.

Earlier, Robertson said the city had advised that the damage will be fixed in six weeks.

"I hope so," said Dukes Schilte. "This means a lot to us."