The Toronto Star has a great article today on a recently deceased hero of Dieppe, Romuald Nalecz-Tyminski, a Rear Admiral of the Polish navy, who brought his destroyer so close to shore to save 80 Canadians that the sea bottom was churned up:

"Nobody did more than he did to get the Canadians out," said Joe Ryan, a veteran of the Royal Regiment of Canada who fought at Dieppe.

Ryan, 84, said he can still remember watching Nalecz-Tyminski as he manoeuvred his destroyer, the Slazak, precariously close to shore to rescue the trapped Canadian soldiers at Dieppe.

He later learned Nalecz-Tyminski disobeyed Royal Navy orders to stay back from shore.

Today, 62 years after the famous 1942 raid, Ryan can still vividly describe the destroyer heading straight towards the beach, firing all of its guns at the enemy, before turning abruptly, churning up mud and rocks from beneath the water.

"He was a very humble person," Ryan said. The Slazak was the only destroyer to come so close to shore, he said.