France Celebrates Liberation Day, August 15, 1944

TODAY IS A HOLIDAY ALL OVER EUROPE, AND A DOUBLE HOLIDAY IN FRANCE -- THE ASSUMPTION AND LIBERATION DAY. • • • FRANCE CELEBRATES THE SECOND D-DAY. Here is the Wikipedia account of Operation Dragoon? • Operation Dragoon was the code name for the Allied invasion of Southern France on August 15, 1944. The operation was initially to take place in conjunction with Operation Overlord, the Allied landing in Normandy, but a lack of resources led to cancellation of the second landing. By July 1944 the landing was reconsidered, as the ports of Normandy did not have the capacity to adequately supply Allied forces. Concurrently, the French High Command pushed for a revival of the operation that would include large numbers of French troops. As a result, the operation was finally approved in July to be executed in August. • The goal of the operation was to secure vital ports on the French Mediterranean coast and increase pressure on German forces by opening a second front. After some preliminary commando operations, including the British 2nd Para's landing behind enemy lines to secure vital transport links, the US VI Corps landed on the beaches of the Côte d'Azur under the cover of a large naval task force, followed by several divisions of the French Army B. They were opposed by the scattered forces of the German Army Group G, weakened by the relocation of its divisions to other fronts and the replacement of its soldiers with third-rate Ostlegionen outfitted with obsolete equipment. • Hindered by Allied air superiority and a large-scale uprising by the French Resistance, the weak German forces were swiftly defeated. The Germans withdrew to the north through the Rhône valley, to establish a stable defense line at Dijon. Allied mobile units overtook the Germans and partially blocked their route at Montélimar. The ensuing battle led to a stalemate, with neither side able to achieve a decisive breakthrough, until the Germans were finally able to complete their withdrawal and retreat from the town. While the Germans were retreating, the French captured the important ports of Marseille and Toulon, putting them into operation soon after. • The Germans were not able to hold Dijon and ordered a complete withdrawal from southern France. Army Group G retreated further north, pursued by Allied forces. The fighting ultimately came to a stop at the Vosges mountains, where Army Group G was finally able to establish a stable defense line. The Allied forces needed reorganizing and, facing stiffened German resistance, the offensive was halted on September 14. • Operation Dragoon was considered a success by the Allies. It enabled them to liberate most of southern France in only four weeks, while inflicting heavy casualties on the German forces, although many of the best German units were able to escape. The captured French ports were put into operation, allowing the Allies to solve some supply problems. • • • THE PLANNED INVASION. The Western Naval Task Force was formed under the command of Vice Admiral Henry Kent Hewitt to carry the US 6th Army Group, also known as the Southern Group or Dragoon Force, onto the shore. The 6th Army Group was formed in Corsica and activated on August 1, to consolidate the French and American forces slated to invade southern France. Admiral Hewitt's naval support for the operation included the American battleships Nevada, Texas and Arkansas, the British battleship Ramillies and the French battleship Lorraine, with twenty cruisers for gunfire support and naval aircraft from nine escort carriers assembled as Task Force 88. The main ground force for the operation was the US Seventh Army commanded by Alexander Patch. The US Army's VI Corps, commanded by Major General Lucian Truscott, would carry out the initial landing and be followed by the French Army B under command of Général Jean de Lattre de Tassigny. Accompanying the operation was a fully mobilized separate detachment called "Task Force Butler", consisting of the bulk of the Allied tanks, tank destroyers, and mechanized infantry. • The French Resistance played a major role in the fighting. As the Allies advanced into France the Resistance evolved from a guerilla fighting force to a semi-organized army called French Forces of the Interior. The FFI would tie down German troops by sabotaging bridges and communication lines, seizing important traffic hubs and directly attacking isolated German forces. They were aided by Allied special forces from the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) who would supply the Allies with vital intelligence. The Allied ground and naval forces were aided by a large aerial fleet of 3470 planes. The majority of them were stationed on Corsica and Sardinia. The tactical bombers and fighters had to support the landings directly, while the strategic element had to bomb German targets deep into France. The strategic bombing started well before the landing and targeted airports, traffic hubs, railroads, coastal defenses, and communication lines. • • • THE SOUTHERN LANDING. The pre-landing bombing missions, together with resistance sabotage acts, hit the Germans heavily, interrupting railroads, damaging bridges, and disrupting the communication network. The landing started on the morning of August 15. Ships of the Western Naval Task Force approached under cover of darkness and were in position at dawn. The first of 1,300 Allied bombers from Italy, Sardinia, and Corsica began aerial bombardment shortly before 0600. Bombing was nearly continuous until 0730 when battleships and cruisers launched spotting aircraft and began firing on specific targets detected by aerial surveillance. Naval gunfire ceased as the landing craft headed ashore at 0800. The relatively steep beach gradients with small tidal range discouraged Axis placement of underwater obstacles, but landing beaches had been defensively mined. LCIs leading the first wave of landing craft fired rockets to explode land mines on the beaches to be used by following troops. The main landing force consisted of three divisions of the VI Corps. The 3rd Infantry Division landed on the left at Alpha Beach (Cavalaire-sur-Mer), the 45th Infantry Division landed in the centre at Delta Beach (Le Muy, Saint-Tropez), and the 36th Infantry Division landed on the right at Camel Beach (Saint-Raphaël). • The landings were overwhelmingly successful. On Delta and Alpha beaches, German resistance was low. The Osttruppen surrendered quickly, and the biggest threat to the Allies were the mines. A single German gun as well as a mortar position were silenced by destroyer fire. The Allied units in this sector were able to secure a bridgehead and quickly linked up with the paratroopers, capturing Saint-Tropez as well Le Muy. The most serious fighting was on Camel Beach near the town of Saint-Raphaël. This beach was defended by several well-emplaced coastal guns as well as flak batteries. Through heavy German fire the Allies attempted to land at the shore. However, at sector Red of the Camel Beach landing zone the Allies were not able to succeed. A bombing run of 90 Allied B-24 bombers was called in against a German strongpoint here. Even with the assistance of naval fire, the Allies were not able to bring the landing ships close to the shore. They decided to avoid Camel Red and land only at the sectors of Camel Blue and Camel Green, which was successful. • Allied casualties at the landings were very light, with only 95 killed and 385 wounded -- 40 of those casualties were caused by a rocket-boosted Henschel Hs 293 guided gliding bomb launched from a Do 217 bomber aircraft by a rare appearance of the bomber wing KG 100, which sank the tank landing ship USS LST-282. In conjunction with the sea landing, airborne and glider landings (Mission Albatross followed by Mission Dove, Mission Bluebird, and Mission Canary) around the area of Le Muy were carried out. They were as successful as the beach landings, with only 104 dead, 24 of which were caused by glider accidents and 18 by parachute accidents. • • • THE ALLIED ADVANCE. The Germans started the withdrawal, while the motorized Allied forces broke out from their bridgeheads and pursued the German units from behind. The rapid Allied advance posed a major threat for the Germans, who could not retreat fast enough. The Germans tried to establish a defense line at the Rhône to shield the withdrawal of several valuable units there. The US 45th and 3rd Divisions were pressing to the north-west with uncontested speed, undermining Wiese's plan for a new defense line. Barjols and Brignoles were taken by the two American divisions on August 19, which also were about to envelop Toulon as well as Marseille from the north, cutting off the German units there. • In the northeast, the German problems loomed as large. Taskforce Butler -- the Allied mechanized component of the landings -- was pushing north of Draguignan. On August 18, Neuling's surrounded LXII Corps headquarters attempted an unsuccessful breakout and was finally captured with the rest of the city after some fighting. The German troops in this area were exhausted and demoralized from the fighting against the FFI, so Taskforce Butler was also able to advance at high speed. Digne was liberated on August 18. At Grenoble, the 157th Reserve Infantry Division faced the Allied advance, and its commander decided to retreat on August 21 toward the Alps. This decision would prove to be fatal for the Germans, as it left a large gap in the eastern flank of the retreating Army Group G. Blaskowitz now decided to sacrifice the 242nd Infantry Division in Toulon, as well as the 244th Infantry Division in Marseille, to buy time for the rest of Army Group G to retreat through the Rhône Valley, while the 11th Panzer Division and the 198th Infantry Division would shield the retreat in several defense lines. • Meanwhile, the disembarked French units started to head for Marseille and Toulon. The initial plan was to capture the ports in succession, but the unexpected Allied advance allowed the French commander de Lattre de Tassigny to attack both ports almost simultaneously. He split his forces into two units, with Joseph de Goislard de Monsabert tasked to take Toulon from the east while Edgard de Larminat drove north to encircle the city at the flanks. The Germans had a significant force stationed in both cities, but they lacked the time to prepare for a determined defense. After heavy fighting around Hyères, which temporarily stopped the advance, French forces approached Toulon on August 19. At the same time, Monsabert swung around the city, enveloped it, and cut off the highway between Toulon and Marseille. On August 21, the French pressed into Toulon, and heavy fighting ensued. The heavy German resistance led to an argument between Larminat and de Tassigny, after which de Tassigny took over direct command of the operation, dismissing Larminat. By August 26, the remaining German units had surrendered. The battle for Toulon cost the French 2,700 casualties, but they captured all remaining German forces who lost their entire garrison of 18,000 men. At the same time, Monsabert's attempt to liberate Marseille commenced. At first, a German force at Aubagne was defeated before French troops attacked the city directly. Unlike Toulon, the German commander at Marseille did not evacuate the civilian population, which became increasingly hostile. The resulting fighting with FFI troops further weakened the German units, which were exhausted from partisan fighting. The Wehrmacht was not able to defend on a broad front and soon crumbled into numerous isolated strongpoints. On August 27, most of the city was liberated, with only a few small strongpoints remaining, and on August 28, German troops issued the official surrender. The battle caused 1,825 French casualties, but 11,000 German troops were captured. In both harbours, German engineers had demolished port facilities to deny their use to the Allies. • • • THE FINAL GERMAN RETREAT. In the northeast, the VI Corps, together with units from the French II Corps at its flank, pursued and tried to cut off the German forces on their way toward the town of Dijon, while the Germans planned a defensive shield by the 11th Panzer Division. The Allied 45th and 3rd Divisions, as well as the 11th Panzer Division, were racing north to fulfill their objectives. In the meantime, the Germans tried to continue with the evacuation through Lyon. Behind their flight, the Germans destroyed bridges, hoping this would slow down the Allied advance. However, the 45th Division was able to bypass the German forces, taking the town of Meximieux on 1 September. This again posed a threat to the German evacuation. After some initial skirmishes, the 11th Panzer Division launched a heavy attack into the city, causing 215 American casualties and destroying a number of tanks and vehicles. • At the same time, the main German units retreated through Lyon. On September 2, the 36th Infantry Division arrived at Lyon to find the Maquis fighting the Milice with much of the factory areas on fire. The next day, Lyon was liberated and 2,000 Germans were captured, but the rest had already continued their retreat north. Lyon celebrated for two days with the Americans. The Allies made a last-ditch attempt to cut off the Germans with an offensive towards Bourg-en-Bresse by the 45th Division and the 117th Cavalry Squadron from the original Taskforce Butler. However, the 45th Division was not able to overcome the German defenses near the town. The 117th Cavalry Squadron had more success, bypassing Bourg-en-Bresse and taking Montreval and Marboz north of Bourg-en-Bresse instead. By September 3, Montreval was secure, but the squadron soon found itself trapped by units from the 11th Panzer Division, which surrounded the town. As a result, the squadron was almost annihilated, and the German escape route was again open. The American units then retired to Marboz. • Over the next two weeks more skirmishes occurred and the Allies were not able to cut off a major portion of the German forces, but the Germans were also not able to maintain any stable defense line as planned. On September 10, forward units of the VI Corps were able to establish contact with units from Patton's Third Army. Truscott hoped to be able to push through the Belfort Gap, but on September 14, he received orders from the Allied High Command to halt the offensive. Army Group G was finally able to establish a stable defense line at the Vosges mountains, thwarting further Allied advances. This, combined with the Allied need to reorganise their command structure as the forces from northern and southern France have now linked up, forced the Allies to stop their pursuit of the Germans, ending the offensive here. • • • DEAR READERS, it is a significant national holiday in France today. The French, always tremendously supportive of their military, remind their children every year of the great Allied feat that liberated France in August- September, 1944.