Major-General Ham Roberts
1st Infantry Brigade
2nd Canadian Division

I consider Dieppe was well worthwhile, as we learned a lot about what not to do. Out later successful landings in North Africa, Italy, etc. could scarcely have been carried out without it. Had we been allowed to have two old battleships or cruisers, Dieppe might have been a very different story.

(Quoted in Brantford Expositor, 17 Dec 1962, 1)

Born in Pipestone, Manitoba on 21 December 1891, John Hamilton Roberts was an RMC graduate, First World War veteran, and long-serving artillery officer. He was commissioned with the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery in August 1915 and went to France two months later. He earned the Military Cross and was wounded in March 1918. After the outbreak of the Second World War, he was appointed commanding officer of 1st Field Regiment, RCA.

He commanded the regiment during the aborted second British Expeditionary Force before the fall of France in June 1940, when he had notably managed to save all the unit guns. Roberts was appointed to command 1st Infantry Brigade in February 1941 and then promoted to major-general of 2nd Canadian Division in November.

In his role, Roberts commanded the Canadian forces during the Dieppe Raid on 19 August 1942. He supervised the landings aboard British Navy destroyer HMS Calpe, which was frequently targeted by enemy fire. A combination of misplaced assumptions, overly-ambitious planning, inflexible strategy, and poor communication meant the operation notoriously ended in failure. Although Roberts received the Distinguished Service Order for “ability, courage, and determination of a high order,” he was largely held responsible by British high command.

Denis Whitaker, a veteran of Dieppe and later commanding officer of the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry, wrote in his book reassessing raid:

If there had to be an official scapegoat, what better a one than a man of the stature of Major General Hamilton Roberts. He lost his division; he was never again to command troops in the field. He lost the respect of his men. Year after year, on August 19, a small box would arrive in the post for him. Its contents: a small, stale piece of cake—a cruel reminder of his morale-boosting pre-Dieppe comment: “Don’t worry boys. It will be a piece of cake.” Roberts bore his assigned role in silence and in dignity until his death. His only comment was “History will exonerate me.” And so it has.

(Dieppe: Tragedy to Triumph, 290)

Roberts was replaced in command of 2nd Division after another poor performance in Exercise Spartan in March 1943. He was sidelined to reinforcement units and retired to the United Kingdom at the end of the war.

He died at his home in the Channel Islands on 17 December 1962.