Last remaining Hamilton soldiers from Dieppe Raid commemorate 75th anniversary

Seventy-five years ago today 916 Canadian soldiers died fighting Nazis on the coast near Dieppe, France. And nearly 200 of the slain troops were members of the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry.

The last two remaining R.H.L.I. veterans who survived the raid on Dieppe Beach were reunited at a ceremony honouring those who fought and died that day.

Ninety-seven year old Fred Engelbrecht and 95-year-old Ken Curry wanted to spend the 75th anniversary of the raid on Dieppe together. Curry flew in from British Columbia where he now lives so they could attend the memorial service in Hamilton.

Engelbrecht and Curry were both in their early twenties when they, along with some 5,000 other Canadians, 1,000 British and 50 American troops descended on the beach in Dieppe.

It was meant to be a stealth mission in the cover of darkness but the allies were late and as the soldiers approaching Dieppe they ran into a German navel convoy, who were more than ready to attack and with time on their side.

Both Curry and Engelbrecht would spend the remainder of the war as prisoners.

The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry lost 197 men on the beaches of Dieppe where their names are forever remembered at Dieppe Veterans Memorial Park.