SIMPSON, DOUGLAS Reg. # B 66770
Douglas Haig Simpson
Douglas Haig Simpson was born October 1, 1916 in Hagerman Twp., son of George Herbert and Caroline Frances (Craig) Simpson.
Douglas enlisted in the Royal Regiment of Canada on September 9, 1939, one week before Canada declared war.
He served in Iceland and England before his unit was assigned the task of overpowering German defenses in France on August 19, 1942 during the Dieppe raid. He was one of more than 200 Royals to die that day.
He was in ‘C’ Company
Douglas Haig Simpson
The Royals, as they became known, were a part of the Dieppe Raid on 19 August 1942. They were to land at Puys, just east of Dieppe, armed with machine guns and mortars, and begin the battle in the darkness of the night. To their dismay, however, they arrived on shore as the sun was rising, leaving them as no surprise to their German enemies, who were waiting, strategically placed and heavily armed, ready to fire. By the end of the Dieppe Raid, the Royal Regiment of Canada had suffered almost 500 casualties and prisoners of war, 227 of which were fatal. The Royals proved to have the highest casualty rate of all the participating units. (from Veterans Affairs Canada)
As further described in Wikipedia: “The naval engagement between the small German convoy and the craft carrying No. 3 Commando had alerted the German defenders at Blue Beach. The Royal Regiment of Canada landed near Puys along with three platoons from the Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada and an artillery detachment who were tasked to neutralize machine gun and artillery batteries protecting the Dieppe beach. They were delayed by 20 minutes and the smoke screens that should have hidden their assault had lifted, eliminating the advantage of surprise and darkness lost. The Germans manned their defensive positions in preparation for the landings. The well emplaced German forces stopped the Canadian forces that did land on the beach. As soon as they reached the shore, the Canadians found themselves pinned against the seawall, unable to advance and having murderous rifle and machine-gun fire rain down from the cliffs above. The Royals suffered severe casualties: of the 556 men in the regiment 200 were killed and 264 captured.”
Above, Royals dead on Blue Beach at Puys. The height of the seawall can be clearly seen. The machine gun position above the sentry’s head is well placed to fire along the wall. (From Wikipedia)
