The Resistance in Provence, Alpes et Côte d’Azur from 1940 to 1945

Remembering the Resistance movement

“the chef is hungry”. That was the message received from London by the French Forces of the Interior, which grouped the main military groups of French interior resistance, and warned of the launching of the Provence Landing, also known under the name “Operation Dragoon”. It was the evening of 14th August 14 août 1944 and the next morning, the Allied troops were to disembark on the beaches of the Var. The success of the campaign for the liberation of the south of France was partly due to an important collaboration and coordination between the Allied forces and the Resistance organisations. Following the Normandy Landing on 6th June 1944, the Resistance called for a generalisation of the maquis. But the Landing planned on the Mediterranean coast did not take place immediately. The German army then intervened massively against the Provencal maquis and multiplied the massacres. Today, many commemorative monuments and steles bear witness to the heroic commitment and tragic fate of those resistance fighters of the South.

In the heart of the Var back-country

The maquis de Siou-Blanc and the Nécropole Nationale de Signes

On the announcement of the Normandy Landing on 66th June 1944, the Toulon leaders of the Resistance gathered the maquisards in the forest around the Siou-Blanc plateau, between the villages of Signes, Méounes-lès-Montrieux, Evenos and Le Castellet. 400 men were then spread into 4 groups, each group attached to a water point. Unfortunately, the place was betrayed to the Germans, who executed ten maquisards. In Méounes-lès-Montrieux, the stele installed at the government cistern, one of the four water points, is a reminder of this terrible episode. On the village’s church and the fountain opposite the Chartreuse de Montrieux, you can see two plaques which commemorate the joining of the forces of the Resistance with those of the 3ᵉ Régiment des Tirailleurs Algériens, known as Turcos, and those of one of the sections of the 83ᵉ Régiment du Génie, both part of the 3ᵉ Division d’Infanterie Algérienne, which had landed on the Var coast on 15th August 1944. Thanks to the support and sacrifice of the resistance fighters, the Turcos were able to cross the Siou-Blanc massif and free Toulon. Just next to Méounes-lès-Montrieux is another major remembrance site: the Nécropole Nationale de Signes. Here, during July and August 1944, f38 members of the Resistance were executed, 21 of them in a valley in the forest of Signes, which was renamed Vallon des Martyrs (Valley of the Martyrs).

From the Estérel to the Haut-Var, and La Garde

Not far from the Siou-Blanc plateau, in Vins-sur-Caramy, other resistance fighters also gave their lives. Arrested on 27th July 1944, four members of the Section des Atterrissages et des Parachutages (SAP) were subjected to a long and painful interrogation, refusing to say where the arms had been taken. They finally revealed that they were to be found in the cave of La Baume de Savoye, renamed Grotte des Résistants, where they were shot on 29th July. In their memory, a stele was installed above the cave in 1945. Subsequently, four tombs were dug in 1948, just after the bridge across the Carami River, and the ANCVR stone on which you can see the Cross of Lorraine, placed at the beginning of the trail which leads to the cave in 1989. Just after the Provence Landing, in neighbouring villages, the resistance fighters were to show courage and sacrifice to cut off the retreat of German troops. In Callas, there is a stele in memory of the resistance fighters who fought for 3 days, and in which many soldiers and a resistance fighter from Callas died. In Claviers, the stele on the Estoc bridge commemorates the action of 9 maquisards who blew up the bridge, and where 3 of them lost their lives. In La Croix-Valmer, a stele pays homage to the liberating armies and the Brigade des Maures, a Resistance movement covering the sector from Le Lavandou to Sainte-Maxime. In La Garde, the Le Thouars stele commemorates the 1ʳᵉ Division Française Libre (1ʳᵉ DFL), formed by General de Gaulle’s Free French Forces (FFL) composed of Europeans and soldiers from the colonies. From the moment they landed in Provence to their progress towards the east of France, they played a crucial role in the liberation of Toulon, and also in the final victory of the Allies in Europe.

From Ventoux to the Pays d’Aix

In the Vaucluse, the Resistance was also courageous and decisive. The Maquis Ventoux was one of the most important resistance movements in Provence. In Sault, a monument commemorates the sacrifice made by the resistance fighters of this maquis. The Vaucluse Resistance also made its mark during the liberation of the town of Apt along with the Allied forces, during conflicts which lasted for 3 days and caused the death of 7 resistance fighters. In their memory and that of the combatants, a stele was installed on Place des Martyrs de la Résistance. A few kilometres east of Apt, there are two other monuments: the first is on the commune of Lagnes and pays homage to the local heroes of the Resistance, while the second, in Oppède, commemorates the resistance fighters of the FTPF France Lorraine group, who came as reinforcements during the fighting on 19th August 1944 for the protection of Le Castellet. A few months earlier, on 10th June 1944, in Jouques, near Aix-en-Provence, fifteen maquisards were surprised and massacred by the Germans on the Bèdes plateau. A stele in their memory was erected near the spot where the event took place, at La Sicarde, in 1945. Two days after this sad event, on 12th June, the Werhmart once again shot resistance fighters in Valréas, and their tragic fate is commemorated on the Mur des Fusillés.

In the Alps

A focal point of the Resistance, the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence is also home to several steles and monuments in memory of the heroic acts of the resistance fighters. In Forcalquier, a stele pays homage to the eleven resistance fighters who barred the way to the Germans in Sigonce and Forcalquier, only to be arrested on 7th June 1944. Four days later, on 11th June 1944, Saint-Julien-du-Verdon was also to experience a terrible day, during which the Gestapo, after having pretended to free eleven resistance fighters, including four pupils from Lycée Massena in Nice, had them shot. In their memory, a Monument du Souvenir Français was erected at the northern end of the village. A little more than a month after these two massacres, the members of the Comité Départemental de Libération, with their leader Louis Martin Bret, in Oraison, were arrested and imprisoned in Marseille on 16th July 1944, having been caught in a trap set by the Germans. On 18th July 1944, they were shot in Signes, in the Var. In Oraison, the Stele des Fusillés de Signes pays homage to them. Last of all, near Gap, a group of steles commemorates the resistance fighters who, through their bravery and determination, took part in the liberation of the Champsaur Valley and Gap on 20th August 1944. Every year, an official ceremony takes place on 20th August to lay flowers to commemorate the memory of these combatants.

An immersion in the history of the Resistance

In the streets of Nice

The Resistance played a crucial role in the liberation of the Southern towns, along with the armed troops and the population. Among them, Marseille, Toulon, Avignon, Aix-en-Provence and Saint-Tropez. But one town owed its liberation solely to the Resistance: Nice. On 28th August 1944, 350 resistance fighters led an urban guerilla in the town’s streets. The Germans, unable to contain the Nicois rebels, had their explosive experts blow up the port of Nice and the lighthouse, and then sank several moored ships. The next day, Nice was free! The people of Nice alone managed to oust the invaders from the town. To commemorate this heroic Liberation and the lives sacrificed, a remembrance circuit is organised every year on 28th August in the streets of Nice, and in particular those in the quarter which has been rechristened Quartier de la Libération and where you can see several commemorative plaques and a statue of General Gaulle.

In the museum

Museums are places of remembrance which are important in tracing the history of the resistance and remembering the courage and sacrifice needed for such a commitment. In Nice, the 200m², Musée de la Résistance Azuréenne has over 13 panels, 14 display cases, 5 mannequins, and around ten paintings and sculptures reproducing the actions, influence and martyrology of the Resistance in the Alpes-Maritimes from 1940 to 1945. In Castellane, the Musée de la Résistance exhibits many objects, documents and photos, which bear witness to this period. It also has several life-size reconstitutions of the clandestine life in the maquis. Its library and archives centre also have precious educational media for all ages.

Following in the footsteps of Jean Moulin in Provence

Let’s go back a few years to before the Landing and the Liberation, and talk about the heroic commitment in Provence of one of the greatest figures of the Resistance: Jean Moulin. Parachuted over the Alpilles with his two comrades Raymond Fassin et Hervé Montjaret on the night of 2nd to 3rd January 1942, he reached a spot between Fontvieille and Mouriès. The three men had received instructions from General de Gaulle to unite the different Resistance movements in the south. As soon as he landed, Raymond Fassin followed Jean Moulin to a mazet he had in Eygalières. They stayed there all day and all night, and Jean Mouolin then left for Saint-Andiol, to spend a few days at his cousins’ house. He then began his mission across the south and south-east of France to finally create the Mouvements Unis de la Résistance (MUR) in January 1943. To justify his many trips, he even masqueraded as an art dealer by creating his own gallery in Nice, 22 rue de France, where a plaque perpetuates the memory of this episode. But, in June 1943, he was captured by the Gestapo who subjected him to terrible interrogations and torture, to which he finally succumbed. Today, the traces of the passage and commitment of Jean Moulin in Provence are commemorated in several ways, starting with the road from Eygalières to Saint-Andiol which has since been named “Chemin de la Liberté” (the Freedom path). Every year, a race is organised to pay homage to him. When you arrive in Saint-Andiol, you can see a magnificent fresco in his honour and the Musée Jean Moulin. In Salon-de-Provence, a Jean Moulin memorial was also built, with a work by the sculptor Marcel Courbier.