RCE ‘Dieppe Raid’ Battle Dress Jacket – 2nd Canadian Infantry Division

RARE Original WWII Royal Canadian Engineers (RCE) Battle Dress Jacket. Worn by a Corporal and survivor of the Dieppe Raid, August 1942. The Royal Canadian Engineers suffered 27 fatal casualties during the Dieppe Raid. This Canadian battle dress blouse is in good condition. The jacket is maker-marked and dated 1943, size 4. All insignia are original and period-applied, including:

• A pair of English-made embroidered shoulder titles for the Royal Canadian Engineers

• Melton blue wool formation patches for the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division. Notably, these patches originally had RCE embroidery that was period-removed, likely when full shoulder titles were worn.

• The Combined Operations patch, a distinguishing insignia that was worn on lower left arm only by Dieppe Raid survivors.

The jacket shows normal signs of wear consistent with service use but has no damage. A truly exceptional and rare uniform with direct ties to one of the most storied battles involving Canadian forces in WWII.

On 1 July 1939, when the Second World War was declared, RCE units were quickly reorganized and re-equipped and in December of that year the First Canadian Divisional Engineers were dispatched to England. Over the course of the five-year war, RCE units were involved in the majority of operations, including the Dieppe Raid, 19 August 1942.

The Germans, anticipating the Dieppe Raid, had, in the early hours of August 19, fortified the beach with a variety of obstacles, including pill boxes and barbed wire. The plan for the RCE on that ill-fated day was to blast a path through enemy obstacles at Dieppe. Much to their dismay, Canadians had underestimated their German enemies, and all who landed on the shores of Dieppe that day were met with heavy gun fire. The Royal Canadian Engineers suffered 27 fatal casualties.