City man to travel to Dieppe

Grandson of soldier to commemorate historic Second World War battle

ALethbridge man will join thousands of Canadians commemorating one of this nation’s most famous military events. For Trevor Anderson, it will be his first visit to Dieppe, on the north coast of France. It was there, 75 years ago this Saturday, that more than 900 Canadian soldiers lost their lives on a beach during a pivotal raid on Nazi-controlled land.

Nearly 5,000 Canadians led the 1942 raid, and Anderson’s grandfather was one of the ones who survived. But he was captured by the enemy and spent years as a prisoner of war.

Archie Anderson was farming south of Calgary before he enlisted with the King’s Own Calgary Tank Regiment. Anderson Road, now an urban thoroughfare, is named in his memory.

“The bulk of the men (in the raid) were Canadian,” his grandson says. “About 2,000 of them were taken prisoner.”

Archie Anderson — later awarded the Military Medal — was taken to various “stalag” camps in Poland, then later sent on a three-month forced march west as Russian troops began to contain the Nazi forces.

“The Germans were hoping to use them as bargaining chips,” Trevor Anderson believes.

After the successful D-Day Invasion in 1944 — based heavily on lessons learned at Dieppe — the captive Canadians were sent to England to recuperate. Nevertheless, Anderson says his grandfather returned home a shadow of his previous 185 pounds.

In years since, other members of the family have had an opportunity to visit the historic site as well as other time-honoured battlefields where Canadians fought and died for their country.

Now Anderson is planning to visit several of those after attending memorial events at Dieppe.

“There will be several ceremonies there,” he understands.

One will be in “Canada Park,” a protected area facing the beach.

“Maybe we’ll stop at Vimy Ridge, or Dunkirk.”

Calgary MP Kent Hehr, minister of veterans’ affairs, will lead observances Saturday in Dieppe.

In Calgary, Lieutenant Governor Lois Mitchell will join members of the King’s Own Regiment Association for a 10 a.m. ceremony Saturday at the Calgary Military Museum on Crowchild Trail SW.