Who Liberated Provence?

During my missions in the United States, I observed that the American public — apart from historians and people from the South, from where most of the units and GIs in the Mediterranean actually originated — was primarily captivated by Overlord and the operations launched from Normandy. This is understandable given the difference in the forces engaged, the objectives pursued, and the associations and veterans involved.

It was therefore with surprise that I discovered the publication of a book entitled August 1944, le Général de Lattre libère la Provence. For while Provence owes much to Jean de Lattre for the masterly way in which he outmanoeuvred his American superiors of the moment, Lucian Truscott and Alexander Patch, and led his troops to a brilliant victory, it seems to me that the latter played a considerable part in the Liberation of that province.

It is from this observation that the project for this book arose. For the French, this campaign was marked by a fierce rivalry between Generals de Lattre and de Larminat, which culminated in the latter's departure. As a footnote to both minor and perhaps major history, Larminat would be reconciled with de Lattre in August 1951 at Capvern, near Tarbes, where the latter was undergoing a cure — seven years after the events in Marseille and five months before the death of the Commander-in-Chief in Indochina. And as written in the Revue historique de l'Armée, it was the "maison Juin" that secured for him the distinction of Maréchal de France in 1953.

This work pays tribute to the American, British and French soldiers and sailors who, from 15 August to 1 September 1944, risked and sometimes gave their lives so that the people of Provence might at last be free. Above all, it is a tribute to the Americans of the VI Corps who came from the southern United States, and to all the men and women of the French forces re-armed and trained in North Africa, who formed the backbone of the Army of Liberation from 1943 onwards.

Far be it from me, therefore, to draw a definitive conclusion from this work. I prefer to leave that to the reader, once the book is finished and all the reported evidence is in hand — a reading I hope will prove both enriching and enjoyable.

The author does not draw a definitive conclusion, preferring to leave that task to the reader once the book is finished and all the presented evidence has been weighed. The texts draw primarily on research conducted in recent years by Colonel Gaujac who, in the twilight of his life, delivers a serious and enjoyable work — the substantial iconography plays a major role. A work that will satisfy an informed general readership.