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Completed Critique Dieppe- Never Forgotten

Discussion in 'vBench (Works in Progress)' started by ChaosCossack, Oct 23, 2013.

  1. ChaosCossack A Fixture

    Country:
    Canada
    Hey All
    Finally finished this one off today. All the background info was layed out in the WIP thread "South Saskatchewan Rifles" but a short overview...

    During the Dieppe raid of 1942, the South Saskatchewan Rifles landed on Green Beach near the town of Pourville, west of Dieppe. They managed to penetrate well inland, taking many of their objectives. Their CO Col Merritt was awarded the Victoria Cross for leading the assualt on the causeway, however, the attack was stalled without the support from the other sectors. Merritt and his company acted as rearguard to cover the evacuation of the rest of the regiment, as well as elements of the Cameron Highlanders... unfortunately, after running out of ammo they were taken prisoner. What was left of the force made it back to the landing craft under horrific fire and with the loss of many casualties.

    My personal connection to this is that my Grandfather was the L/Sgt of C company, SSR... During the evac, he was wounded twice while helping injured buddies to the LC, making multiple trips from the seawall to the LC... for his actions he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal and received a bullet and a chunk of mortar shrapnel as well. He made it back to England where he finished the war in hospital and recovery where he was further rewarded by meeting my grandmother, a British WAC working the hospital ward.

    In the diorama, the Prairie Boys have left the landing craft and are advancing between defencive layers angling for a gap in the wire.
    IMGP0666.jpg IMGP0667.jpg IMGP0668.jpg IMGP0669.jpg IMGP0670.jpg IMGP0671.jpg IMGP0672.jpg IMGP0673.jpg IMGP0674.jpg IMGP0675.jpg IMGP0676.jpg IMGP0677.jpg IMGP0678.jpg IMGP0679.jpg IMGP0680.jpg IMGP0681.jpg

    I hope you all enjoy this piece and I hope I did justice to the men of the South Sackatchewan... and my Grampa

    Colin
  2. ChaosCossack A Fixture

    Country:
    Canada
    PS Sorry about the pics... everything got really washed out:oops:
    captnenglish and crf like this.
  3. Wings5797 A Fixture

    Country:
    France
    Great piece Colin.
    Brilliant composition of figures and beach defences.
    I really like the ground work with the gradient of the beach.
    Well done Mate.
    Cheers,
    Keith
    captnenglish and ChaosCossack like this.
  4. JackG Active Member

    Country:
    Canada
    Great job, and a fitting tribute to those men.

    I'm still not sure about the uniform's green colour - I'll just blame it on my screen settings.

    Do you plan to add some sort of descriptive plaque? An easy way to make it look like etched brass is to print out your design in black ink over clear decal paper and thin fix it to an appropriate sized sheet of brass.

    regards,
    Jack
    ChaosCossack likes this.
  5. Borek A Fixture

    Country:
    Czech-Republic
    Very nice dio, Colin. I love dioramas, especially superbly created. Well done composition, overall workmanship is very good. Excellent work;) . Cheers Borek
    ChaosCossack likes this.
  6. Mark S Guest

    You did them proud, Colin!...well done.
    ChaosCossack likes this.
  7. ACCOUNT_DELETED A Fixture

    Country:
    Canada
    Nice to see it done Colin. Your grandfather would be proud of you, even if he may not have wanted such a realistic reminder of a tough day. A DCM is nothing to sneeze at....my recollection is that these have often been awarded by the British Army in large actions where a VC may have been awarded in a smaller one with less gongs being handed out - the days of handing out VC's in large numbers to the same unit appear to have passed with Rorke's Drift. The setting works really well and it just says 'Dieppe' to me. Good luck in Ajax with it.

    Colin
  8. housecarl Moderator

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Excellent finish Colin.
    Carl.(y)
    ChaosCossack likes this.
  9. billyturnip A Fixture

    Country:
    England
    Very well done Colin, I like it!

    Roger.
    ChaosCossack likes this.
  10. MCPWilk A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    The problem with films like 'Saving Private Ryan' is that the contribution of the other Allied forces gets overlooked, ignored and forgotten. Although Dieppe was a disaster, the lessons learned resulted in the success of D-Day, where the Canadians made up 1/5 of the attacking force, the British 2/5 and the USA 2/5. The bulk of the naval forces deployed were RN and RCN.

    A nicely done diorama that succeeds in paying tribute to our gallant Canadian friends and allies.

    Mike
    Don, ChaosCossack and crf like this.
  11. swralph A Fixture

    well done scene
    ChaosCossack likes this.
  12. ChaosCossack A Fixture

    Country:
    Canada
    Thank you all so much for the kind and supportive words.
    The uniform colour is not as bright as it appears in the pics... my photography is crap. In the flesh, the colour matches pics of actual Canadian tunics... more or less.
    Looking into the background of the battle was a real eye opener... the old boy never spoke of it very much and now I know why, it was a real shitshow. There was the one VC awarded and a great many lesser awards were handed out throughout the participating regiments... as far as I'm concerned every man that hit the beach should have been decorated for bravery in the face of an absolute slaughter... but that just me.

    Thanx again everyone

    Colin
  13. Tubby-Nuts2 A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Excellent work Colin!... and with something that has meaning to you! ... that has got to be worth any effort! ... A great feel for the drama! (y)(y)(y)

    Regards,

    Mark
    ChaosCossack likes this.
  14. NickM Well-Known Member

    Country:
    Australia
    Its a stunning little dio, Colin - very dynamic and well composed.
    A great tribute to your Grandpa and his Regiment, mate. Good luck at Ajax with it!
    Cheers
    ChaosCossack likes this.
  15. Lasalle A Fixture

    Country:
    Italy
    Great work! Very well done! Congratulations! (y) (y)(y)
    Andrea
    ChaosCossack likes this.
  16. tomifune A Fixture

    Country:
    United-States
    Nice diorama with personal feeling. Great story which illustrates the reverse side of war. Two people meet (your Grandfather and Grandmother) that otherwise would not to share their lives together.

    Bob
    ChaosCossack and captnenglish like this.
  17. Mike Stevens PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-States
    Well done Colin. Too bad the pics got washed out.
    ChaosCossack likes this.
  18. Helm A Fixture

    Country:
    England
    Very nice job Colin your Grand Father would have been proud I'm sure (y)
    Steve
    ChaosCossack likes this.
  19. ChaosCossack A Fixture

    Country:
    Canada
    Thanx All
    The whole process was a learning experience... from researching the raid to painting a subject that is way out of my comfort zone.

    I just finished watching a documentary on the raid, "Dieppe Uncovered". Formerly top secrect files have been opened exposing the raid to have been a snatch and grab, or a pinch raid... to grab a German Enigma machine. The rest of the raid was a decoy operation so the 30 I.A.U. (Intelligence Assualt Unit under the command of Ian Flemming of James Bond fame) could loot the German Naval HQ in Dieppe. Seems like a noble reason for the raid but also a cold sacrifice of thousands of Canadians so a small Commando group might not get noticed... they never did land 30IAU in Dieppe. Their craft turned about after taking some shell damage.

    They say the success of D-Day came from lessons learned at Dieppe... but even those valuable lessons came at a high price.
  20. Richie A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Hi Colin,
    I've been sitting on the sidelines watching you work out of your comfort zone and seeing this one develop mate. You have done a great job and a fitting tribute.(y) Get yourself a copy to read of "Green Beach" mate you will really enjoy it.
    cheers
    Richie
    ChaosCossack likes this.

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