Hamilton man took part in 1942 Dieppe Raid
With Fred Engelbrecht’s death at 98, only one known survivor from Hamilton regiment is still living
HAMILTON - One of the last surviving Royal Hamilton Light Infantry soldiers from the disastrous raid of Dieppe in the Second World War has died.
Fred Engelbrecht, 98, passed away early Wednesday after suffering a stroke. In recent weeks, he had been in hospital but was released Friday to live in a long-term care facility on Hamilton Mountain.
“On Monday he took part in a small party there, but suffered a severe stroke from which he could not recover,” said Val Patrick, a retired warrant officer with the RHLI.
Engelbrecht’s death means there is only one known RHLI survivor from the Aug. 19, 1942 allied military operation that cost the lives of 916 Canadian soldiers, 197 of whom were from the Rileys, as the Hamiltonbased regiment is known.
“I’m the last one left. I don’t know what to say. I wasn’t expecting this,” said Ken Curry, 95, who lives in Victoria B.C. Last month he suffered a heart attack but is back living at his home after having a stent inserted into a coronary artery.
“Fred and I used to say that the best thing would be for us to both go at the same time. But now it is just me.”
Both Engelbrecht and Curry were captured by the Germans and became prisoners for the duration of the war.
A total of 582 RHLI soldiers landed on the beach, part of a Canadian force of nearly 5,000 in various regiments. In addition to the nearly 200 Rileys who died, 85 were wounded and 174 taken prisoner of war.
Canadian military historian David O’Keefe estimates there are “probably less than a half dozen survivors” from 4,963 Canadian soldiers who participated.
“It’s sad to see them go. We are closing a chapter in our country’s history. We’re past the 75th anniversary of Dieppe and it will soon be the 75th anniversary of D-Day. It will not be long before the last the Second World War vet is gone.” said O’Keefe.
The Battle of Dieppe was a controversial allied attack on the German-held city on the coast of France that is remembered as one of the biggest military disasters in Canadian history. It saw the worst ever loss of life by Hamiltonians in a single day.
The event is commemorated each August at Dieppe Veterans Memorial Park on the Hamilton Beach Strip.
The raid, which also involved about 1,000 British commandos and 50 American Rangers, has been described as an illplanned suicide mission.
But others argue the effort was necessary as a learning experience for the successful D-Day landing two years later.
More recently, O’Keefe — in his book “One Day in August” — claimed newly released documents suggest the attack was really part of an unsuccessful, commando operation to “pinch” cryptographic material for code breakers at Bletchley Park in England.
Engelbrecht lived an extraordinary life. Not only did he survive the hail of fire in Dieppe, and forced labour as a PoW, he also worked for more than 30 years as a Hamilton firefighter, retiring in 1980.
Fire Department spokesperson Claudio Mostacci says Engelbrecht was the oldest surviving member of the department.
Each year he would come out to an annual dinner for pensioners and be acknowledged for his longevity.
“Back in his day the safety measures were not quite up to today’s standards, it is really amazing that he lived as long as he did to be our longest surviving member,” said Mostacci.
Engelbrecht’s daughter Brenda Blain said, “my dad was definitely a survivor. We really thought he was going to come back from the stroke.
“He attended horrible fires in Hamilton over his career and pulled through. He never talked about those stories because they were nightmare stories,” she said. “He liked to focus on positive things.” Both Engelbrecht and Curry, who was an electrician in civilian life, attended 75th Dieppe commemoration ceremonies in Hamilton last year.
On the day of the raid, Engelbrecht was assigned to guard tanks that were to be unloaded on the beach.
But the beach turned out to be far more fortified than military planners expected and the landing troops were deluged with fire.
“Never in our wildest dreams did we expect anything like this,” he once said. “Yes, of course, I was scared. It was a lot of murder coming down on us, it was chaos.”
Engelbrecht did his best and after running out of ammunition, he recalled seeing grenades flying “to the left and right of me, like sparrows.”
The next he knew he was captured by the Germans who told him to put his hands up. At that point he recalled the tide coming in with bodies and water that was “blood-red like ketchup.”
As a PoW, Engelbrecht escaped once for more than a week. For many months he was among Dieppe prisoners shackled by guards in retaliation to reports the British had tied up German prisoners.
He went through forced labour and endured a gruelling “death march” from Poland to Germany to try to escape advancing Russian forces. He was freed by American troops on May 12, 1945.
Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger said in a statement that “Corporal Engelbrecht’s selfless service to the military and later the Hamilton Fire Department where he rose to the rank of Lieutenant, is an example of Hamiltonians giving of themselves to help others. The flag at Dieppe Veterans Memorial Park has been lowered to half-staff.
“Along with my council colleagues and the City of Hamilton we thank Mr. Engelbrecht for his service.”
Engelbrecht is also survived by daughter Lynda Hook and son David Engelbrecht. He was predeceased by his wife June, who died in 2007. Funeral arrangements were not available.