AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULTS
Despite reservations from Winston Churchill, the 1944 landings on the southern French coast proved to be a dominant combination of naval, air and land assaults
From 28 November to 1 December 1943, the ‘Big Three’ – Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin – sat around a grand table at the USSR’s Embassy in Tehran, Iran. For several days, they discussed plans to turn the tide of the war against the Axis. The British and Americans agreed to launch an invasion of northern France through what would later be known as Operation Overlord, while the Soviets committed to launching their own major offensive on the Eastern Front to draw German forces away from the west. Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France, was also agreed upon in support of both these of fensives.
While the Western Allies were busy planning their two invasions, Overlord and Dragoon (or Anvil as it was then known), German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel was given the task of fortifying Germany’s Atlantic Wall. While Rommel found a sizable army during his inspection of the south of France and the surrounding coast, there were few coastal defences and nothing to discourage an Allied landing. He ordered for the area to be fortified and mined, with casemates constructed, and stakes buried around the coast and in surrounding fields to prevent boats and paratroopers from landing safely. German forces in the area also supported the Gestapo’s efforts to destroy French Resistance groups, the Maquis, to prevent any support for the Allies.
In the run-up to Dragoon, Allied air forces bombed key infrastructure, communication, and logistical sites to prepare the battlefield. On 15 August, 300,000 troops, nearly 2,000 aircraft, 900 ships and 21,000 vehicles were launched at the Cavalaire-Agay area along the Cote d’Azur. Allied planners had chosen the landing site due to its comparatively poor defences. Before and during the landings, the Allies’ naval forces bombarded the area to reduce the defensive forces and demoralise the Germans, who were mostly inexperienced and poorly led.
The naval and air assaults saw the Allied forces’ amphibious landing, led by Lieutenant General Alexander M Patch and supported by the Maquis, being largely unopposed by the Germans. The only area that offered significant resistance was Camel Beach, where the 36th Division was hampered by differing commands and the resilience of the German units. Here, a targeted strike from a B-24 Liberator forced the German units to surrender. All amphibious landing objectives were completed by nightfall, and all beaches were fully secured the next day.
