Lawnmowerman

What if instead of the Dieppe raid the British instead chose to retake the Channel Islands. This would alow them to restore some lost pride in taking back the only part of Britain to have been occupied by the Nazi's as well as allowing them to test their amphibous equipment for a full scale landing in France.

Infact the more i think about it the more sence a Channel Island raid makes than the Dieppe debacle.

Where their any plans to conquer the Channel Islands prior to D-Day??
Do the Channel Islands offer any geological resemblance to the Normandy coast????

Mohammed the Persian

Perhaps it wasn't of strategic importance?

I suppose it didn't have a port or an airfield , which would've increased their strategic value.

Lawnmowerman

The Channel Islands would've had a port and an airfield.

The British could've taken them and at least had something to show, even if Dieppe had been a success the British would still have had to retreat.

Baldtastic

This was my first thought as well. Those islands are closer to (occuiped) France than to the UK, would have been easy for the Germans to bomb the islands, or re-inforce them.

Also once you have your troops on the Channel Islands you still need to move them again to Europe.

It would have been better to encircle the Islands by invading France (plus we got to invade France ) and then once cut off from their support, await the surrender.

Baldtastic

Dieppe was a raid, the plan was to retreat once all the explosives had been used .

I still think, strategically, its better to leave the channel islands alone and 'set Europe ablaze' while building up for D-day.

Although that is all easy for me to say with hindsight

The Alani Dragon Rising

I think you have a very good point there. The retaking of the islands would have not improved the overall situation.

Lawnmowerman

By 1943 the British would've had the edge over any Air or Sea attacks the Nazi's could launch. Taking the Channel Islands intead would've restored some national pride.

Just thought of a really good reason not to take them, by leaving them alone, you could make the Nazi's believe the invasion was going to come at Calais. If you took them the Nazi's would probally reinforce the Normandy penisular more heavily. I think I just answered my own question.



Would've provied an excellent base for air craft in the invasion, but would've led to a heavier Nazi presance in Normandy, better to leave them alone and let the enemy beoeve the attack is coming at Calais

larkin

I don't think so. An invasion of the Channel Islands is like a land sea invasion that got stuck in the middle of the channel. Two departures and two landings and a sitting duck in the middle. Very impractical.

viking

Dieppe was a dress rehearsal for D Day. It gave the allies an indication of the problems so they could refine their planning.
Any thought of retaking the Channel Islands would be stupid in the extreme. There would be no strategic value in occupying them and the lines of supply would be long and dangerously open to attack. Even presuming the attack was successful, the allies would still have to make another amphibious assault on the French coast against an alerted enemy.

The Alani Dragon Rising