Dieppe's 75th Anniversary

Today is the 75th anniversary the disastrous raid on Dieppe, France. News stories reminds us it was the bloodiest day in Canada's war history.  Of the 5000 soldiers who took part, 916 were killed and as many as 2000 were taken prisoner.

  One of those who gave the supreme sacrifice was a Milne connection, Charles Gilchrist Gunn. He was the 21 year old son of Louisa (Milne) and Donald Gunn of West Kildonan which made him a first cousin to my Grandma Kinnaird.

"Louie" as Louisa was known had immigrated from Scotland in 1911 and Donald came in 1913.  They were married in Winnipeg in 1918.

Charles was born in 1921 although he puts 1918 on his attestation papers. He is an elevator operator and declares his home address as 264 Belmont Avenue in West Kildonan.Charles had an older brother Jack and a younger sister named Muriel.  Their father Donald was the chief fireman in West Kildonan and was Pipe Major in a local Scotish pipe and drum band.

Charles Gunn was a member of the Queens Own Cameron Highlanders regiment out of Winnipeg. He was given service number H/19405.  As well as training as a soldier, he was a piper with the regiment to help keep up morale. Bagpipes and war are a historical combination as written about here. The skirl of the pipes puts fear into the enemy and fortifies the troops for the battle ahead.  It is said on that day - Wednesday, August 19, 1942 - the pipers started to play from one mile out at sea and then onto the beach at Dieppe.  Of the 505 Camerons who set off to capture the rocky French shore that morning, only 159 able-bodied men could be assembled afterward. Charlie was declared as missing that day and an agonizing 4 months later for his family, he was finally declared dead. 

As to their mission that day, the Veterans Affairs website here says :

On that ill-fated day they were to land at Pourville, about four kilometres west of Dieppe. They were to support the South Saskatchewan Regiment. The daunting plan for the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada was that they were to land 30 minutes after the South Saskatchewan Regiment, push beyond the village of Pourville, occupy a German airfield, destroy a German Battery, and finally connect with allied tanks and raid a German Headquarters south of Pourville. These tasks would have been impossible for any troop in the Second World War. In reality, the events did not go as planned and the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada were stopped well short of the town and were faced with enemy fire. When the Dieppe Raid came to an end the Regiment had lost 76 brave soldiers.

The book Winnipeg's Ladies From Hell by Murray Burt tells the stories of the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders including the following about Private Gunn:

I remembered the story of how the pipes Charlie was playing were shot from under his arm on Pourville Beach that day, and  how he was killed when in a fit of anger he attacked the pillbox of the German machine-gunners that did it.  

 Charles Gilchrist Gunn is buried at the Dieppe Canadian War Cemetery. Carved on his tombstone is the following somber verse.  In most cases the sentiment on the stone was chosen by the family.

Sunshine fades

And shadows fall

But sweet remembrance

Outlasts all.

Above is a link to a Youtube version of Flower of the Forest - a bagpipe lament dedicated to the fallen. We remember your sacrifice today Charles, along with all your comrades.  

Louisa "Louie" Milne Gunn (1893 - 1980)

Louisa Milne was the youngest child born to John Milne and Ann Robertson in Botriphine, Scotland in 1893. At the age of 18 in 1911, she set off for Canada with my great grandfather John and her sister Isabella.  Her brother Alexander made the trip seven years earlier and was farming in the Virden, MB area.  Sister Mamie Duguid and her husband Charles accompanied them to begin life in Brandon.  It was here that "Louie"  married Donald Gunn, a Scottish immigrant himself from 1913, on October 9, 1918.  

l-r Charlie, Muriel and Jack Gunn - late 20's ?

The 1921 Canadian Census finds Donald and Louisa along with two young boys Jack and Charlie on Belmont Avenue in West Kildonan, part of present day Winnipeg.  His occupation is listed as "Teamster" but later Voters Lists say he is a fire chief and even later a fire prevention officer. In the book Alarm of Fire written in1982 by Vince Leah it states that in the 1940's, the West Kildonan Fire Department expanded under Chief Donald Gunn and that he had first been named Chief in 1919.  They began with a horse drawn pump wagon but acquired a more modern Reo pump and hose truck in 1926.   It appears there is an extensive Fire Fighters Museum in Winnipeg that I will have to put on my list of places to visit. Donald Gunn played the bagpipes and was Pipe Major of a local band.

Charles Gilchrist Gunn was an Army private and a bagpiper with the Queens Own Cameron Highlanders Regiment in Winnipeg. Apparently as was not uncommon, he lied about his age to sign up for the war.  The picture below of Charlie was printed in the Winnipeg Tribune on August 25, 1942 on page 4. Tragically it was announcing that Charlie has been reported missing after the battle of Dieppe.  This site tells the history of his Regiment and his role as the piper.  I was unaware of the pipers' role in battles until my sister found this information on the Canada At War website.

The article below, clipped from the Monday, August 24, 1942 edition of the Winnipeg Tribute relates the irony of Louie recognizing her 21 year old son as the piper on the front page of the paper and that evening hearing he was missing.  It would not be until December of that year that he was officially declared dead.  Page 78 in the WWII Book of Remembrance in the Peace Tower at Ottawa is displayed each year on February 20th and includes the name of Private Charles Gilchrist Gunn.    He is buried at the Dieppe Canadian War Cemetery, Hautot-Sur-Mer  in France.

Found on Newspapers.com
Charlie's older brother Jack was also in WW2 in the Royal Canadian Artillery. He worked at a car dealership before the war and married Lillian Ann Nichols on June 29, 1946.   Jack worked as a warehouseman after the war and joined the West Kildonan Fire Department where he eventually became the  first Fire Prevention Officer. Jack joined the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders during the 1950 Winnipeg flood and then took up the pipes as well.  He remained with the Cameron Reserves until he was forced to retire at age 55.   (Thanks to Jack and Lillian's daughter Lynn for helping with details for this blog post.)  The only daughter of Donald and Louie, Muriel, married Robert Arthur Nichols (brother to Lillian) on May 18, 1946.  The picture below is of curly headed Muriel sitting on the shoulders of her cousin Alex Milne during a visit to Hargrave, MB.

The 1953 voters list has Donald and Louie at 264 Belmont Avenue and their niece Violet Halls lived with them at that time and worked as a stenographer.  On April 30, 1975 , Donald Gunn passed away in Winnipeg.  At that time, Louie survived him and was living at 260 Templeton Avenue.  Louisa died in 1980 and is buried at Kildonan Presbyterian.
I wonder if any of these unidentified photos below from my Grandma's trunk , who was Louie's niece, are connected to the Gunns. Any information from readers would be most welcome.