PROVENCE 1944

From July to September 1944, the Allies prepared a landing on the beaches of Provence. This operation, code-named Anvil-Dragoon, took place from 15 August to 4 September 1944. A major event of the Second World War and of French history, the memory of this large-scale operation remains vivid in Provence, yet is overshadowed by the D-Day landings in Normandy. The event and its significance remain poorly understood by most of our compatriots. The Provence Landing as Told by Those Who Lived It aims to bring it to wider attention through an approach that gives a prominent place to witnesses and participants. For it was from the beaches of Provence, with the significant involvement of a reconstituted and operational French army, that the entire Rhône valley, the Alps, Languedoc and the Massif Central were liberated. The most decorated units of the American army played a leading role, as did the most highly decorated French regiments and divisions. The few existing works focus heavily on tactical operations on the beaches and their immediate surroundings, and often limit themselves to the liberations of Marseille and Toulon. This greatly restricts the geographical and human scope of a campaign that did not end until after the liberation of Lyon and the junction with units coming from Normandy, north of the Ain. The book's documentation draws on archives held in local authority repositories, as well as American federal archives and, above all, on written and oral testimonies from participants and witnesses — Americans, French and Germans — gathered by the author over the years. Likewise, priority has been given to photographs from witnesses and images of objects collected by collectors.