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Edmonton Sun
Part of ill-fated raid on Dieppe
SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. -- A Second World War veteran who spent almost three years as a prisoner of war following the ill-fated raid on Dieppe has died.
Tom McQuaid died Friday at Sault Area Hospital in this northern Ontario city. He was 83.
The native of Gowganda, Ont., south of Timmins, was taken prisoner by the Germans following the raid on the French coastline at Dieppe that claimed the lives of more than 900 Canadians.
McQuaid was hit in the leg by enemy fire shortly after he landed on Blue Beach, located to the east of Dieppe, with the Royal Regiment of Canada on Aug. 19, A farmer alongside his father before he enlisted in April 1940, McQuaid crawled as close as he could to a three-metre high seawall to gain cover from intense German fire.
"People were getting killed and wounded all around me," he told The Sault Star last November. "You were trying to protect yourself as best you could."
The raid, code-named Operation Jubilee, was designed to briefly invade German-occupied France, destroy pre-determined targets and have its troops return to England as quickly as possible.
Last August, McQuaid returned to Dieppe for a third and final time to mark the 60th anniversary of the raid as part of a week-long pilgrimage organized by the federal government.
McQuaid, along with other veterans including Ernest (Smokey) Smith, Canada‘s only living Victoria Cross recipient, and Cliff Chadderton, chairman of the National Council of Veteran Associations in Canada, were warmly welcomed by French citizens.
"You can‘t imagine it," McQuaid said. "The streets were blocked with people. They were so thankful for the Canadians releasing them from bondage. You couldn‘t believe the amount of enthusiasm that was showed."
In an interview last August, McQuaid said Dieppe was a slaughter, "but it was beneficial. If it hadn‘t been for that, the second front would never have taken place when it did or, if it did, there would have been a vastly greatly slaughter than there was."
Marilyn Patterson, president of Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25, praised McQuaid for his long-standing service with the organization.
"He‘s been such a great supporter of all the legion work," she said. "He was a very, very quiet man, but he had a lot of knowledge."
McQuaid is survived by his wife Millicent, son Michael and two grandchildren
Part of ill-fated raid on Dieppe
SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. -- A Second World War veteran who spent almost three years as a prisoner of war following the ill-fated raid on Dieppe has died.
Tom McQuaid died Friday at Sault Area Hospital in this northern Ontario city. He was 83.
The native of Gowganda, Ont., south of Timmins, was taken prisoner by the Germans following the raid on the French coastline at Dieppe that claimed the lives of more than 900 Canadians.
McQuaid was hit in the leg by enemy fire shortly after he landed on Blue Beach, located to the east of Dieppe, with the Royal Regiment of Canada on Aug. 19, A farmer alongside his father before he enlisted in April 1940, McQuaid crawled as close as he could to a three-metre high seawall to gain cover from intense German fire.
"People were getting killed and wounded all around me," he told The Sault Star last November. "You were trying to protect yourself as best you could."
The raid, code-named Operation Jubilee, was designed to briefly invade German-occupied France, destroy pre-determined targets and have its troops return to England as quickly as possible.
Last August, McQuaid returned to Dieppe for a third and final time to mark the 60th anniversary of the raid as part of a week-long pilgrimage organized by the federal government.
McQuaid, along with other veterans including Ernest (Smokey) Smith, Canada‘s only living Victoria Cross recipient, and Cliff Chadderton, chairman of the National Council of Veteran Associations in Canada, were warmly welcomed by French citizens.
"You can‘t imagine it," McQuaid said. "The streets were blocked with people. They were so thankful for the Canadians releasing them from bondage. You couldn‘t believe the amount of enthusiasm that was showed."
In an interview last August, McQuaid said Dieppe was a slaughter, "but it was beneficial. If it hadn‘t been for that, the second front would never have taken place when it did or, if it did, there would have been a vastly greatly slaughter than there was."
Marilyn Patterson, president of Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25, praised McQuaid for his long-standing service with the organization.
"He‘s been such a great supporter of all the legion work," she said. "He was a very, very quiet man, but he had a lot of knowledge."
McQuaid is survived by his wife Millicent, son Michael and two grandchildren
