Museums and memorials: the Provence landing | Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Tourism

In Provence

The Mont Faron Memorial in Toulon

If there’s a place of memory not to be missed in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, this is it! Perched at the top of Mont Faron, the Mémorial du Débarquement et de la Libération en Provence looks over the whole bay of Toulon. Open onto the sea, this remarkable view invites you to imagine troops during the liberation of the town, on 28th August 1944. In the Beaumont tower, built originally to watch over the coast, a succession of rooms shows the progression and what went on behind the scenes of Operation Anvil-Dragoon, underlying the recapture of the ports of Toulon and Marseille and the liberation of the Rhône corridor. With the family, get an introduction in the atrium to the notions of remembrance, commemoration and Resistance. Then it’s off on a great thematic immersion into WW2: the year 1942, which was decisive in the conflict, the great international conferences, with the restitution of the 1943 Tehran conference with Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill. Next, you will discover the rearming of the French army by the Americans, the day-to-day life of the French people under the occupation or the Resistance in Provence.

The Jeanne d’Arc armoured car in Marseille

At the foot of the Basilica of Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde, the Jeanne d’Arc armoured car is the symbol of the Liberation of Marseille. 20th August 1944 saw the start of the uprising of the Mediterranean city against the German occupation. The first combats took place, but the resistance fighters were not well-armed and there were few of them. On the 23rd, they received massive reinforcements with the arrival of the tirailleurs algériens of the 3ème Division d’Infanterie Algérienne led by General Monsabert and the Moroccan goumiers of the Army of Africa; and from Combat Command 1 (CC1) of the 1ère division blindée (1re DB). From 23rd to 27th August, battle raged. The storming of Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde on the 25th by the 1ère et 2ème Compagnies du 7ème Régiment de Tirailleurs Algériens, assisted by the armoured vehicles of the 2ème Escadron of the 2ème Cuirassiers. Severely hit, the Jeanne d’Arc was immobilised in front of the Évêché. Three of its five occupants were killed instantly. Fighting continued until, on the 28th General Schaeffer, head of the 244th German DI, surrendered. The Jeanne d’Arc armoured vehicle was restored and inaugurated as a commemorative monument on the 25th August 1946.

The Luynes Nécropole Nationale (National Military cemetery) in Aix-en-Provence

The Montagne Sainte-Victoire stands like a symbol, nearby, watching over the 3077 graves of the Nécropole de Luynes, to the south of Aix-en-Provence. To go there and appreciate the silence, is to remember that the French combatants of the Empire, North Africa and Black Africa, paid a heavy tribute during the battles for the Liberation of Provence, particularly Toulon and Marseille. Its construction was decided at the end of the 1950s as a homage to the French fighters of the Empire in the two World Wars. It was built from 1966 to 1968. The bodies buried there are those of soldiers who were dug up from several provisional cemeteries in the south of France and which had not been claimed by the families. Lacking any form of identity, the remains of 3022 soldiers were grouped in three ossuaries.

The Nécropole Nationale (National Military Cemetery) in Signes

You have to visit this place to feel an emotion that time has not erased. In this lush green valley the memory of the 38 resistance fighters who were executed on 18th July and 12th August 1944 lives on. Their bodies have been grouped in an ossuary, and their names etched for eternity on 38 commemorative slabs. They are there to remind us of the importance of transmitting their story to future generations: in the summer of 1940, the Resistance began to develop progressively in Provence, which became an occupied zone in November 1942. From that moment on, armed actions against the enemy were organised and the different movements united to form the French Forces of the Interior (FFI). But after the Normandy Landing, on 6th June, a betrayal led to the arrest of a number of resistance fighters in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. Among them, almost all the members of the Comité Départemental de Libération des Basses-Alpes were subjected to interrogations and torture before being shot in the woods of Signes. The discovery of this mass grave, in September 1944, revealed the horror of the executions: some victims had been buried alive and quicklime poured over the bodies.

The Mémorial du Rhône and the American Cemetery in Draguignan

In August 1944, the American army was the largest contingent in the Landing. Created just 4 months after the beginning of the operations, the vast, lush green American cemetery and the Mémorial du Rhône in Draguignan is home to the graves of 861 American soldiers who died during the operation or the Bataille de Provence in August 1944. The fact that it is in the middle of the town owes nothing to chance: it is on the itinerary taken into the land by the US 7th Army during its progression up the Rhône valley. You can see a memorial with a sculpture of the « Angel of Peace », a wall of the departed and a bronze map showing the operations.

The Mémorial du Mitan in La Motte

Built on a tree-filled plot of land, the stele reminds us that « on 15th August 1944, in the early hours of the morning, the plain of La Motte was at the centre of a great airborne operation named « Dragoon ». Opposite the Mémorial du Mitan de La Motte, look up to the sky and imagine the scene taking place as the day is beginning to dawn. While part of the allied troops were landing on the beaches of the Var, 5000 parachutists of the first American Airborne Division headed by General Frederick were dropped over La Motte, and in the neighbouring village of Le Muy. They aimed to isolate the Landing zone. At 6.15 AM, the command post was set up here in the hamlet of Le Mitan. Throughout the day, 400 gliders flew over the place to drop off heavy equipment, vehicles and arms, making La Motte the « 1st liberated village in Provence ».

The Nécropole Nationale in Le Rayol-Canadel-sur-Mer

Even though it is one of the smallest French national cemeteries – 220 m² – the national cemetery in Le Rayol-Canadel-sur-Mer tells the story of a key episode of the Provence Landing and WW2. Here lie the 9 members of the Commando d’Afrique led by Adjudant-chef Texier, killed alongside their leader as they climbed the cliffs of Cap-Nègre. On 15th August 1944, at half past midnight. This unit was the first to land on French soil, at the foot of this rocky spur. With a climbing rope and a dagger, they began their climb. At a height of 60 metres, Adjudant-chef Texier was killed by shrapnel, becoming the first victim of the Provence Landing. His men continued on their mission and fought the first combats, opening the way for the Allied troops a few hours later.

The Monument du Débarquement in Cavalaire

With its crystal-clear water and the first foothills of the Massif des Maures as its backdrop, the Bay of Cavalaire is a favourite place for summer holidaymakers who come here to sunbathe. Its holiday feel would almost have us forget that it is one of the strategic places of the Provence Landing. At the end of the beach, on the esplanade which marks the entrance to the harbour, you can see the Monument du Débarquement de Cavalaire, dedicated to the Allied armies. Between two high columns, a draped woman, her hair flying in the wind, embodies Freedom. Nearby, 3 blocks of granite perpetuate the memory of the arrival of the 1ère DFL and the US 3rd Army in the town. They represent General de Lattre de Tassigny, the ensigns of the Rhine and the Danube and Cavalaire for the first. The 1ère DFL and the 3ème D.I.U.S. for the second and third.

In the Alps

The 5 commemorative steles in Gap

In and around Gap, 5 steles perpetuate the memory of the resistance fighters killed during the liberation of the capital of the Alps and the Champsaur valley, on 20th August 1944. A little before the Provence Landing, which was no longer a secret in the Allied camp, Colonel Drouot l’Hermine, assisted by Lieutenant Sassi, was in charge of preparing the Alpine resistance for future fighting. These commandos, known as the « Herminecommandos», were mostly made up part of resistance fighters who had been working for a long time in the Champsaur, including some local leaders who, at first, had no qualms about disputing an order. With weapons and trained in their use, the Hermine commandos blew up the Briançon-Gap railway line in July and then destroyed German equipment on several occasions. It is thanks to their unfailing determination – despite their low numbers – that Gap was freed after severe fighting before the arrival of the American troops. A heavy price was paid for this: most of the Hermine commandos were killed.

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The Fort of Roche-la-Croix in Val d’Oronaye

A military structure on the Maginot line of the Alps, built from 1931 on the eastern border of France, the Fort of Roche-la-Croix in Val d’Oronaye, perched at an altitude of 1,900 metres, is a technical feat. A concrete structure was added under the old stone barracks, and from the outside, you can see the combat blocks with embrasures. One of them is equipped with an eclipse gun turret with a range of several kilometres, protecting the access from the Col de Larche. Up to the Liberation, it was also occupied by the enemy: the heavy platoon of the 3rd company of the 3rd Batallion of German Fusiliers, commanded by Feldwebel Hentschel. On 22nd April 1945, at the end of a vast operation supported by the artillery and support aviation, the Fort of Roche-la-Croix in Val d’Oronaye was taken by the 5th régiment de dragons de la 7ème Brigade blindée. It was then recaptured.

The bunker of the Pointe des Trois Communes in La Bollène-Vésubie

A four-storey tower built in 1898-99 to fortify the Massif de l’Authion, this bunker (its full name is Blockhaus de la Pointe des Trois Communes, on the fortified line of the Massif de l’Authion, the fortified sector of the Alpes-Maritimes), bears witness to the complicated Liberation of the Alps. Under German control in 1943, they remained in the hands of the Wehrmacht just after the Provence Landing in August 1944. The main effort for the Allies was at the time directed towards the Belfort Gap and the Rhine. Operations resumed after the snowmelt: L’Authion was stormed by the Allies from 10th April. Following the Camp de Cabanes Vieilles, the Millefourches, La Forca and Plan Caval structures, all close to each other, this bunker was stormed by the 1ere DFL. Two German 75 PAK guns (antitank guns) taken in Alsace, stove in the façade. A light armoured vehicle obtained the surrender of this 38-man garrison, opening the way to the Liberation of La Roya.

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On the Côte d’Azur

Nécropole Nationale de Boulouris in Saint-Raphaël

The National Military Cemetery of Boulouris, at the entrance to the L’Esterel forest, gives off a peaceful atmosphere, ideal for the duty of remembrance. Along the vast alleys, under the protection of the cypress trees, lie 464 French soldiers who died for France during fighting in August 1944. Members of Army B led by General de Lattre de Tassigny, were of all origins and confessions. The story of the place began in 1960 when the town of Saint-Raphaël donated this plot of land to build a military cemetery commemorating the Provence Landing. Work was carried out in 1962 and 1963. The following year, bodies dug up from several communal cemeteries in the Var (Draguignan, Toulon, Hyères, Cogolin, Saint-Tropez…) were grouped in the Nécropole de Boulouris, inaugurated on 15th August 1964, for the 20th anniversary of the Landing. In Saint-Raphaël, the journey through history continues with the Dramont monument and beach, where no less than 20,000 Texan GIs from the « Camel Force » landed on 15th August 1944. A barge exhibited on the esplanade and a commemorative stele are the current guardians of the memory of that day.

The Mausoleum of the 1ère DFL in l’Escarène

In the cemetery in l’Escarène, a colourful village of the Nice backcountry crossed by a viaduct, the Mausolée de la 1ère DFL comes as a surprise: it’s an open crypt. On the bronze plaques affixed to the lower part of the monument were engraved, in alphabetical order, the surnames and first names of the 86 combatants of the 1ère DFL who fell during fighting in the Massif de l’Authion and whose bodies were never claimed by their families. One of them is still unknown to this day. The Mausolée de l’Escarène was built in the very place where 262 members of the 1ère DFL are buried, just after the battles for the Liberation of the Alps. As the main unit of the Free French Forces, made up of Europeans and soldiers from the colonies, it fought on the Rhine front before coming to l’Authion. This place of remembrance was inaugurated in 1960, in the presence of General de Gaulle, the President of France at the time.