And all from a book in a shop window

Their presence does jog the memory, which brings me to the first part of this article.

This is no place to make judgement on the rights and wrongs of the ill-fated raid on Dieppe in August 1942. Arguments will last forever and no Canadian can be expected not to be bitter about this tragedy, the killed, the injured and the imprisoned.

So much had been gambled on the element of surprise. This was lost with the encounter with a German protected convoy as the advance went in.

The few hours on French soil cost us dearly, but with consolation, the Russians continued their fight with the common enemy at great cost and D-Day was the success it might well not have been but for the tragic lessons learned at Dieppe.

It amazes me how often the term, 'one thing leads to another' actually happens in matters concerning these weekly articles.

Many years ago now, a fellow offered our seafront museum an ancient and very special type of naval gun recovered from the seabed. It fired nails and pebbles, with the purpose of starting splits in the enemy's sails, to slow them down. The pebbles would not be popular aboard an enemy ship or should they try to board the carrier of this deadly weapon, the response would be very hurtful.

Years later, I heard from this gentleman that his wife, who happened to work in a Brighton bookshop was about to display a new book in the window, which was about the Dieppe Raid. She decided to flick through it and much to her surprise saw a dramatic picture of a relative of hers from Canada, being brought back to Newhaven on a destroyer from the horrors on the Dieppe beaches. One of the lucky ones.

In a short while I had acquired a copy of this excellent book which sits in the Dieppe Raid section of our museum library and was most impressed with the expression of horror on this Canadian's face; to me he had been to hell and back.

It was a great pleasure when in August 1984 I was asked to open the museum to receive this hero, his wife, her two English sisters and their husbands. He is Mervyn Buchanan at the right in the picture above with, of course, his wife and the other four relatives.

The photo, left, shows Mervyn, who was with others on the destroyer's bridge, carrying an expression which I felt told the story without words. A Canadian cousin who was also with him on the raid had a very bad time and was injured. They both featured in the excellent TV series, Road to D-Day, as did William Sponder in the rear of the group picture.

He was a young Naval sailor at Newhaven who photographed the setting fire of the harbour at its entrance, to keep an enemy out, as part of a test. He also remarks how ill armed were his mates in the early days in smallcraft '“ cutlasses! '“ among many other interesting accounts. All this and more because of a photo in a book being positioned in a shop window.

PETER BAILEY

Peter Bailey is curator of the Newhaven Local and Maritime Museum based in its own fascinating premises in the grounds of Paradise Park in Avis Road, Newhaven. Winter opening hours are 2-5pm Saturdays and Sundays or by arrangement. Admission 1 (accompanied children free). Contact the curator on 01273 514760. Log on to the website at www.newhavenmuseum.co.uk