Following in the footsteps of the Provence Landing

The other Allied landing in 1944

On 15th August 1944, the Allies landed in Provence. The main forces present were General Alexander Patch’s US Seventh Army and the 250,000 men of General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny’s Army B, formed from Free French Forces and units of the Army of Africa. The beaches in the operation are divided into three sectors: Alpha Beach (Cavalaire, La Croix-Valmer, the beach of Pampelonne, Ramatuelle), Camel Beach (Fréjus, Saint Raphaël, Dramont, Anthéor, and Agay beaches) and Delta Beach (plage de La Nartelle, in Sainte-Maxime).

The Provence Landing

The reasons for Operation Dragoon

August 1944. A little more than two months after the Normandy Landing (Operation Overlord) on the night of 5th-6th June, on the night of 14th-15th August and with support from the Resistance the Allies launched the Provence Landing. It took place between the beaches of Le Lavandou and Saint-Raphaël. Its code name was Operation Dragoon. Its objectives were to open a second front in France to take the German troops in a pincer movement, take control of the deep water ports (Toulon and Marseille), and then move to join up with troops which had landed in Normandy. The speed of the operation and the larger numbers of the Allies (500,000 men, 2000 ships) took the German army by surprise. Provence was liberated in less than two weeks, well before the initially planned two months. The day before the operation, the allied fleet ships, spread out into 10 convoys, left ports distant from each other, for strategic reasons (Oran, Naples or Tarente) and first set sail for Genoa to mislead the enemy. On the evening of the 14th, they headed for the Var coast.

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The Landing beaches, the theatre of the naval attack

From Le Lavandou to Ramatuelle

Nowadays we go there for the sun or a swim in the sea. The beaches of the Var opposite the Iles du Levant are not only holiday destinations but also places of remembrance. This can be seen in Le Lavandou on the slopes of Cap Nègre, on a lava stone plaque to the Africa Commandos. Visible only from the sea, it is at the exact spot where those men, the first of the allied camp to reach the coast, landed just after midnight before climbing the cliff. In the sun-filled bay of Cavalaire-sur-Mer, the neighbouring town, opposite the sea, the Landing Monument pays homage to the abnegation of the allied troops: it was here that, on 16th August 1944, at around 7 pm, General Jean de Lattre’s Army B started to land its large combat units. Just next to the monument, 3 granite blocks represent the arrival of the 1st FFD and the US Third Army in the town. Operations were carried out simultaneously on the fine sandy beach in La Croix-Valmer, later rechristened the Landing Beach, and on the Pampelonne beach in Ramatuelle. Nowadays, it is occupied by restaurants and private beaches. But you have to imagine that a landing strip was set up there, to link the bases in Corsica and North Africa.

From the bay of Saint-Tropez to Saint-Raphaël

At the entrance to the bay of Saint-Tropez, Sainte-Maxime also commemorates the memory of the Landing. At the time, the entry point of the village was fixed at Nartelle Beach. The men of the 2ème Régiment de Cuirassiers were the first to reach it. A stone tablet now pays homage to them. They were followed, on the evening of the 15th, by Combat Command 1, led by General Sudre of the 1ère division blindée française. Further east, in Saint-Raphaël, the largest part of the operations took place on the Dramont beach. As you walk along it, you will come across a commemorative monument and an American barge, which perpetuate the memory of the landing of the “Camel Force” (US 36th Infantry Division led by General Dahlquist).

La Motte and Le Muy

Places of remembrance to mark the Argens Valley air attack

Very early on 15th August 1944, while part of the Allied troops were landing on the beaches of the Var, more than 5,000 parachutists were dropped over the Argens valley. Their role was to block the access to the landing areas. Two places of remembrance immortalise the memory of this operation. Firstly the Mémorial du Mitan in La Motte, a village of character – you can lose yourself in its labyrinth of little old streets – in a wine-growing area. At the entrance to the golf course of Saint-Endréol in the hamlet of Le Mitan, the Mémorial du Mitan commemorates the airborne troops’ action, which made La Motte the first village to be liberated in Provence. In the quiet and colourful neighbouring village of Le Muy, you can see the Mémorial Air Force Rugby, which is a homage to this airborne force.

Bormes les Mimosas, La Londe-les-Maures and Hyères

Commemorations to the day after

On 16th August, after the Landing of the largest part of the French forces, the Americans progressed to the north, along the Durance and the Rhône Valley while Army B headed for Toulon and Marseille, both ports vital to the Allied strategy. Fighting punctuated their progression. Thus, in Bormes-les-Mimosas, the “Gratteloup” crossroads saw German troops face the 1st and 2nd battalion of the 7th infantry regiment, U.S. 3rd Division, which had landed on the beaches of Cavalaire. The little pillbox on the crossroads, which controlled what is now the D98 bears witness to this. A little further along this road, the Stèle de la Libération of La Londe-les-Maures reminds us that it was here that the first American soldiers arrived, followed by the Commandos d’Afrique. It stands where the first divisionary cemetery was created in the town after the Liberation. Last of all, in Hyères, the Mauvanne battery was recaptured once more on 17th August by the Commandos d’Afrique.