PARIS (AP) — Canadian veterans of a doomed Second World War invasion that prefigured the D-Day landings by almost two years were among a delegation that traveled to France to commemorate their fallen and captured comrades on the battle's 70th anniversary.

The Dieppe Raid of 1942 is remembered as one of the darkest chapters in Canada's military history. A 6,000-man force made up mainly of Canadians made an amphibious assault on Dieppe only to be repelled by the occupying Germans' superior firepower. Of the nearly 5,000 Canadians who took part, 913 were killed and almost 2,000 were taken prisoner, most of whom remained in POW camps for the remainder of the war.

Steven Blaney, Canada's veterans affairs minister, led commemoration ceremonies in Dieppe on Sunday.