Macron leads 80th anniversary tributes for 'southern French D-Day'

RFI

17 August 2024 at 1:56 am·1-min read

French President Emmanuel Macron will on Saturday visit Bormes-les-Mimosas, a town on the French Riviera, to commemorate its liberation 80 years ago. The ceremony is part of a series of events marking the "southern French D-Day", which began on 15 August.

The landings in Provence, often overshadowed by the Normandy landings two months earlier, were crucial to the final stages of World War II in Europe.

On 15 August, 1944, around 100,000 American, British and Canadian troops landed on the beaches of the Var region along the French Riviera. They were soon joined by 250,000 Free French soldiers, predominantly recruited from France's overseas colonies in Africa.

Their mission was to recapture the key port cities of Marseille and Toulon from German occupiers.

The Allied forces met their objectives within two weeks, facing only limited resistance from a German army that was both underequipped and exhausted.

France's Macron launches season of WWII commemorative events

Forced march

One notable incident occurred on 16 August 1944, when Resistance fighters attacked German forces in the coastal town of Lavandou, resulting in one death and four injuries.

According to a vivid account on the Bormes-les-Mimosas town hall website, the Germans had mined the port's piers to prevent the Allies from establishing a docking zone.

However, in the early morning, American paratroopers descended on the village, supported by African commandos on the ground.

Surrender

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Forced march

Surrender

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