Lieutenant-Colonel Doug Catto
Royal Regiment of Canada

Colonel Catto did not overcome the shock of Dieppe. On his first action he lost his whole regiment in two hours. He saw that it was over, that there was nothing more to win. Still, he became the front fighter of his regiment. He was captured at the furthest forward position. I characterize this affair as the last knightly encounter with the enemy on the field of battle.

— Hauptmann Richard Schnosenberg

(Quoted in Whitaker, Dieppe: Tragedy to Triumph, 270)

Born in Toronto on 13 April 1899, Douglas Ellisson Catto was a First World War artillery gunner, University of Toronto graduate, and architect. As second-in-command of the Royal Regiment of Canada, he succeeded Lieutenant-Colonel G. Hedley Basher in July 1942. The next month, Catto led the regiment ashore in the failed Dieppe Raid of 19 August 1942. In initial reports after the battle the colonel was listed as missing and presumed killed in action.

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