The daughter of the commanding officer for the South Saskatchewan Regiment in 1942 is in Dieppe, France, to mark the 75th anniversary of the raid on Dieppe.
Elizabeth Merritt is part of a Canadian delegation to France commemorating the attack in which more than 900 Canadians were killed and nearly 2,000 were taken prisoner.
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On Aug. 19, 1942, her father, Lt.-Col. Cecil Merritt, landed with his regiment across a river from the German resistance, with a bridge between them.
Merritt, the commanding officer, is credited with standing on the bridge and urging his forces forward.
“To stand on the bridge with fire coming down on him takes a fair amount of fortitude,” said retired Maj. Charles Keith Inches, who is the curator of the Saskatchewan Military Museum.
Merritt led the troops across the river at least four times while under fire. His heroism continued when it came time to retreat.
Merritt was captured and held prisoner for the remainder of the Second World War.
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On the eve of the anniversary, around a dozen Canadian air cadets were awarded their private pilot’s licenses in a Saskatoon graduation ceremony.
Each cadet has received extensive education on Canadian military history.
“The values that we try to instil in the cadets are often brought from those days,” said Maj. Alan Cann, who is officer in charge for the Central Prairie Region of Cadets.
He recalled seeing cadets at veterans’ memorials with tears streaming down their faces.
“Dieppe is a prime example of that value of self-sacrifice. It was a tremendous loss to Canadians.”
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