The plan depended on a stroke of luck.

And they didn't get it.

70 years ago today (Sun), almost a thousand Canadian troops perished storming the Nazi-occupied beaches of Dieppe.

5 thousand Canadian troops landed on the shore that day, and only 22 hundred made it back. The rest were wounded, killed, or taken prisoner.

It's considered one of the bloodiest battles in Canadian history.

Vern Passet is a World War 2 veteran living in Saskatoon. While he wasn't at Dieppe himself, he says it's often remembered as a test-run for D-Day a few years later, when, in his words, Canadian troops "made it good."

But with the minimum age of Dieppe veterans at 87 or 88 years old, the president of the Spadina Legion says it's just not possible to bring out veterans and host an event to commemorate the anniversary in Saskatoon.

7 Canadian veterans are in Dieppe, France this weekend; and one says the French certainly haven't forgotten the sacrifice made by Canadian troops..

(pb aug 19/12)