Area commemorates Dieppe Raid
Street names pay tribute to famous Second World War event
In August 1942, 5,000 Canadian military personnel and 1,000 British commandos attacked the French port of Dieppe. The raid was an attempt to invade German-occupied Europe.
The Dieppe raid lasted nine hours, resulting in the death of 1,000 men and the capture of 2,000 others. While the Dieppe raid was unsuccessful, it provided information later used in the planning for D-Day in 1944.
Dieppe, and the soldiers who fought there, is commemorated in Lethbridge in the Glendale-Dieppe neighbourhood, created through the work of Veterans Affairs Canada under the authority of the Veteran’s Land Act (VLA). Veterans Affairs bought land in the area to provide housing for veterans following the war. The city donated 125 acres to the project.
Land was divided into lots for 100 houses with initial lots generally sized at one acre. The minimum lot size permitted was a half-acre. The large lots were intended to give veterans and their families room to grow gardens and supplement their incomes. These large lots started to be subdivided around the 1970s.
Many roads in the Dieppe area have names related to the Second World War.
Astra Street — Astra means “star.” The motto of the Royal Air Force and Royal Canadian Air Force was Per ardua ad astra or “Through adversity to the stars.”
Cassino Street — Cassino was part of the Italian campaign in 1944.
Corvette Crescent — Corvette was a small, lightly armed ship used by Canada during the war, primarily for antisubmarine work.
Falaise Street — Falaise refers to the Battle of the Falaise Pocket which occurred in August 1944 as part of the Battle of Normandy.
Normandy Road — The Battle of Normandy and the Normandy invasion are remembered in Normandy Road.
Ortona Street — The Battle of Ortona, in December 1943, resulted in 2,300 Canadian casualties.
Join the Galt and Stéphane Guevremont on Sunday, Sept. 24 from 2 to 4 p.m. for our Café Galt lecture entitled “Dieppe: 75 Years Later.”
Your old photos, documents, and artifacts might have historical value. Please contact Galt Museum & Archives for advice before destroying them.