Re: Dieppe

>cancelled before the raid) was acute. During the D-Day landings, =
>overwhelming
>naval artillery support was available and probably turned the tide 
>(I'd =
>hate
>to think what Omaha beach would have been like without naval =
>bombardment).
>
Yeah, those destroyers earned their pay on that day. I've heard, too,
that the first destroyers to go in _really_ close did so on their CO's
initiative. The skippers saw that the troops on the beach needed help,
so
they went in until they were almost scraping bottom, and turned their
guns on the defenses. Considering how the navy frowns on their ships
running aground for *any* reason, it's nice to see a CO who realized
that
the troops' lives were more important than any possible threat to his
career. Does anyone know who initiated this close-in support, anyway?

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