Mad Hatter Morley here! I would like to wish all those going to Dieppe a fantastic time. I went last year for the first time in some years and it was fine. What I wanted to comment was that there was a programme on BBC4 Chanel 9 about the original Dieppe Raid. While it was partly successful on the East & West flanks it was a disaster for the Canadian forces attacking the beach opposite the La Plage and Windsor Hotel. Hundreds were slaughtered.
On another scene I also watched "Operation Mince Meat" about the most successful deception by the British in WW2. Hitler was convinced that the first fight back after the retreat from Dunkirk would be for the allies to attack Sicily and that was correct. So the allies decided to concoct the most amazing deception. It involved the fabrication of a love affair with a fictitious soldier and a lover called "Pam" The dead body was delivered by submarine to Huelva off the coast of Spain with false document plans in a brief case to convince the Germans that the Allies would actually invade Greece. The deception was so convincing that Hitler authorised the rapid transfer of Panzer and army divisions away from Sicily. The deception worked and the allies managed to capture Sicily within 4 weeks and create the bridgehead of the fight back to end the second WW.
Ironically this reminds me of the Pam & Ian Appleton organised MWW tour of Sicily the year I broke my hip on the C&M Easter Tour to Bristol. I had already been on the Dieppe Raid that year when we hired a Gyte at Arduval. This was the second or third year I had organised this.
In order to avoid the hot weather in Sicily during August September Pam decided we should go in October and so we did. Unfortunately we chose the worst time in living memory. The first week was horrendous rain with all the roads like rivers. At one stage we followed our route with Robin Johnson generally in disagreement of what we were doing. Ian Appleton and he had different ideas on how to read a map. This was in the days before Garmin. We did follow a road closed sign to a bridge over a big river only to find that the substantial stone bridge had been washed away and that added some 20/30km back to Catania.
The final plan before returning home to LGW by BA was to surmount Mt. Etna! The crew apart from me who had to prove something took a coach to the Ski station before going up to the ski line. I felt the need to prove that my hip was improving so I rode my bike only to be overtaken by the marauding throng on the bus waving at my as I struggled on as they went by. I finally arrive at the Ski Lift, parked my bike and got on the lift. At the top I met Pam and others who had already gone up to the snow line in tracked Merc vehicles and back. It was clear that I could not do that as we had to get back to Catania! Anyway I raced back down half way hoping to meet the gang at an agreed, or so I thought cafe. I stopped had coffee and cake and no one arrived, so down I descended back to the Hostel where we were staying, only to realise over Dinner that night that I had left my bonk bag at the cafe. Next morning after a phone call the cafe had found my bag so it was half way again that morning back up Mt. Etna to prove yet again the madness of " Moaning Mad Hatter Morley"(MMHM!)
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