The whole coastline seemed to be aflame. For 45 miles along the coast of southern France, great geysers of smoke and earth rose skywards, piercing the morning fog that rolled down to the sea. Massive concussions intermingled to form a continuous, deafening roll of sound reaching out across the Mediterranean to the ships of the invasion fleet. The air attack had opened at 0550, with wave after wave of Allied bombers – glowing like red drops of blood as the rising sun sought them out high above the mist and the shadows – hammering the beaches from Cavalaire to Anthéor. Not one German flank battery responded; the defenders, dazed by the size and fury of the attack, crouched in their bunkers and trembled as giant shock-waves ripped through the earth.
The huge air onslaught ended at 0730, to be succeeded by a thundering barrage of Allied warships offshore. From one end of the invasion front to the other, 400 guns unleashed a torrent of steel on the beaches, the coastal highways, and hills beyond. Then the naval bombardment also ceased, and an eerie silence fell over the shore.
0750, and a wave of small craft raced in towards the smoldering beaches. They were drones, laden with explosives and controlled by radio from special landing craft. Their task was to blow gaps in the ranks of underwater obstacles and clear lanes right up to the beaches before the infantry went in. All but three of the drones detonated properly; one got out of control and headed back towards the fleet, exploding soon afterwards and damaging a naval vessel.
Antiaircraft half-tracks of the 3rd Division, Seventh Army, come ashore.
A mile offshore, positioned just behind the landing craft, the crews of over 40 more vessels waited to go into action. There were rocket ships, each armed with 700 rocket-launching tubes, and at exactly 0755 they sent 30,000 flaming missiles screaming towards the beaches. One observer compared their effect to “a mammoth whip lashing the coastline.” In the wake of the bombardment, at 0758, hundreds of LCIs and LCTs shot out through the mist towards the shore. They carried the troops of the 45th Division in the center, the 3rd on the left, and the 36th on the right.
On the left flank, the 3rd Division was to assault two beaches on the St Tropez Peninsula, and for this purpose was split into two forces. Alpha Red was to hit Beach 259 in the Bay of Cavalaire, while Alpha Yellow was to go in on Beach 261 in the Bay of Pampelonne. After the peninsula had been cleared, the 3rd Division was to go to the assistance of the 45th at Beach 262, and then advance west and southwest along the coast to contact Romeo Force, the French Commandos.
At 0800, seconds after the rocket barrage lifted, the 7th Infantry Combat Team stormed ashore on Beach 259 and the 15th Infantry on Beach 261. With each team went a smoke detail from the 3rd Chemical Battalion, four amphibious tanks from the 75th Tank Battalion, four tank destroyers of the 601st Tank Destroyer Battalion, Naval Shore Fire Control parties, and a section of the 36th Combat Engineers. Among the first to land were 154 specially picked troops under Colonel Wile H. O’Mahundro, all of them sharpshooters and veterans of the Anzio and Sicily landings. Behind them came a rifle company of the 7th Infantry, but this force ran into trouble before it actually reached the shoreline. The assault craft encountered rows of concrete tetrahedrons studded with Teller mines, and several of the boats were destroyed with some 60 casualties. The demolition crews then moved to clear the way for the following craft, and within minutes waves of infantry were swarming like ants up the beaches. There was still no sign of enemy resistance. Meanwhile, amphibious tanks were being launched from LCTs lying 2,000 yards offshore. Three of the four assigned to Alpha Beach got ashore safely, but the fourth received a direct hit from a naval rocket falling short and the tank commander was killed. The tank limped on, only to be sunk by a mine close to the beach.
At 0825, as the engineers of the 36th Division were clearing obstructions along the waterline, the Germans suddenly emerged from their bomb shelters and opened fire with small-arms, mortars, and 88mm guns. But it was too late for them to organize any real defense; by this time the amphibious tanks, tank destroyers, and howitzers were all in position, and they returned fire vigorously. The 7th continued to advance across the peninsula against only light opposition, taking a few dazed prisoners on the way.
As the rest of the regiment moved over the beach, battle patrols fanned out on the flanks to silence small-arms fire while the engineers went on with their task of clearing lanes through the minefields and wire. The work went ahead rapidly, and at 0850 a violet smoke signal informed the invasion force that the beach defenses had been neutralized and that the Division Reserve – the 30th Infantry – could land. The 30th came ashore ten minutes later and began to move forward through the right flank of the 7th.
Eight successive waves of troops went ashore on schedule at Alpha Red, enlarging the beachhead steadily. Supported by tanks and destroyers, the two regimental combat teams moved inland on both flanks. The 7th Infantry veered westward; its 3rd Battalion took the coastal road, clearing Cavalaire-sur-Mer, and by 1330 the Americans had reached a roadblock near Cape Nègre held by the French Commandos of Romeo Force. The 2nd Battalion on the right meanwhile, passed La Croix to ascent high ground along the road running through the center of the peninsula. When relieved by the 30th RCT at 1430, the 2nd Battalion turned southwest towards La Mole, following the 1st Battalion. The 1st had been released from reserve on the beach at noon and passed through La Mole as darkness fell on August 15.
3rd Division troops take cover as a mine explodes near Alpha Red Beach on the St Tropez Peninsula.
Over the right flank of the 3rd Division, the 15th RCT beached on time at H-Hour on Alpha Yellow and overwhelmed all local defenses within 40 minutes. The 2nd Battalion, 36th Engineers, at once began clearing the shore of mines and laying pontoons for LST landings, since the gradient was too shallow for ships to approach close enough to the beach. Three out of four amphibious tanks got in safely, but the fourth was swamped by speeding landing craft as they passed it, and one of the three that did reach the shore was later disabled by a broken track.
The men advanced cautiously through sporadic small-arms fire. The 1st Battalion cleaned out an enemy strong point and then pushed 3 miles inland to take high ground, while the 2nd and 3rd Battalions made a northward arc to seize the uplands overlooking St Tropez. The 2nd actually advanced to the western edge of the town, where they wiped out another German strongpoint. Later, the French Forces of the Interior (FFI) got word through that the town was virtually clear and that the population would welcome the Americans. At 1500, the 3rd Battalion reached the outskirts of St Tropez to find the American paratroops mentioned earlier and FFI assaulting the Citadel. This fell at 1830, and soon afterwards patrols of the 15th Infantry cleared all the peninsula of enemy troops.
While the 7th Infantry advanced from the beach and the 15th were clearing the peninsula, the 30th landed at H-Hour+1 and passed through the 7th to take Cogolin and Grimaud. Both towns were occupied after a forced march across country, and at 2100 the 30th’s patrols made contact with the 15th Infantry of the 45th Division.
Back on the beaches, the engineers continued to clear mines and demolish obstacles. Lack of gasoline soon became critical, as three-quarters of the initial supplies ferried ashore had consisted of ammunition, but in the afternoon the balance was restored as the breakthrough and advance extended to the beachhead. Unloading operations during the first three hours were concealed by a heavy smokescreen.
During the first three hours of the Seventh Army’s landing in Southern France, vital unloading operations were concealed by smokescreens. Here a screen is being laid upwind just after the invasion had begun.
At the end of D-Day, statistics showed a total of 264 casualties on the two Alpha beaches, 203 on Red and 61 on Yellow. The 3rd Division had taken 1,600 prisoners.
Next to the Alpha Force, the 45th Infantry Division, commanded by Major General William W. Eagles, prepared to land in the center of the VI Corps’ assault area at H-Hour. Their mission was to clear the assault beaches and then push inland to link up with the airborne forces at Le Muy. On the west and east flanks, they were to make contact with the 3rd and 36th Infantry Divisions respectively. The three small beaches selected for the 45th’s assault lay about 1 mile east of Ste Maxime, along a curving bay between Cape Sardineau and Point Alexandre. The left beach was designated Delta Red and Delta Green, while the center and right beaches were Delta Yellow and Delta Blue. The Blue Line target for the initial expansion ran inland 15 to 20 miles, near Le Muc and Le Muy.
The 45th Division came ashore under good amphibious conditions, with four battalions abreast. The 3rd Battalion, 157th Infantry, landed on Delta Red; the 1st Battalion, 157th Infantry, on Delta Green; the 2nd Battalion, 180th Infantry, on Delta Yellow; and the 1st Battalion, 180th Infantry, on Delta Blue. The first three waves landed on schedule, hindered only slightly by mines, underwater obstacles, and light enemy resistance. The enemy beach defenses had been virtually obliterated by the pre-invasion bombardment, particularly the barrage laid down by the heavy guns of two battleships: the British Ramillies and the French Lorraine.
In the first group of prisoners captured by the Seventh Army were many Russians who claimed they had been forced to fight for the Germans. Here are some of those taken on Alpha Red Beach.
While the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 157th pushed inland, the 3rd Battalion attacked towards Ste Maxime. French civilians told the troops that some 500 Germans had moved out of the town at 0800, but when the advance elements reached the outskirts the enemy opened fire from a pillbox on the quay and from street barricades. This opposition was quickly dealt with by field artillery and tank destroyers. Moving into Ste Maxime from the north, I Company of the 3rd Battalion ran into heavy fire that heralded two hours of stiff house-to-house combat. Wherever possible, the Americans cleared up small pockets of resistance with hand-grenades. Two strongpoints continued to hold out after the others had surrendered; one was in the Hotel du Nord, the other in the dock zone. K Company joined I in a concerted attack on the hotel, which fell after a fierce battle. The 3rd Battalion then moved along the coast and at 2100 they contacted the 3rd Division, confirming that all enemy resistance along the stretch covered by Alpha and Delta assault areas had been eliminated.
Meanwhile, the Regimental Combat Team of Colonel Robert Dunaley’s 180th Infantry landed on Delta Yellow and Delta Blue. On the latter, the 1st Battalion went ashore without opposition and proceeded to scale the sea wall. The landing of the mechanized support, however, was less successful, and the four amphibious tanks from the 191st Tank Battalion were put out of action by mines as they rolled on to the beach before the lanes had been swept for them. On the adjacent Delta Yellow beach, a single tank landed while the others stayed on the waterline, firing at enemy targets until a path was cleared for them. Only one was knocked out.
The 2nd Battalion, 180th Infantry, also assaulted Delta Yellow, the supporting amphibious tanks quickly knocking out four enemy pillboxes. Here, too, a mine immobilized one tank. The battalion fanned out over the deserted beach, suffering only five casualties, and advanced towards the high ground beyond.
Early casualties in the invasion were carried back to the beaches and shipped to the convoys off shore in LSTs.
At H-Hour+1, the 3rd Battalion, 180th Infantry, followed the 1st Battalion ashore on Delta Blue Beach. A few minutes later the Americans sighted a group of enemy troops, in trucks and on bicycles, heading for a hill that dominated the beach area. The 3rd Battalion immediately opened up with machine guns and mortars, killing a dozen Germans and driving the rest away. The Americans took the hill before nightfall.
General Eagles landed at 1100, and during the afternoon General Truscott, the VI Corps Commander, also came ashore. Both men expressed delight that the American losses in achieving such a dramatic breakthrough had been so light. The 157th Infantry had suffered only three men killed and nine wounded, the 180th nine killed and 49 wounded, and all the 179th Infantry – landing on Delta Green – had seen no action at all.
The third of the assault forces, the 36th Infantry Division under General John E. Dahlquist, had the task of landing on the Camel beaches and protecting the right flank of the invasion. The Camel sector ran from the right flank of the 45th Division along the coastline to Théoule-sur-Mer on the Gulf of Napoule, and extended for 20 miles inland along the right bank of the Argens River, taking in Fréjus, Puget-sur-Argens, and Le Muy. The coastal zone included the heavily defended beach at the mouth of the Argens. This beach, codenamed Camel Red, was to be reduced at H-Hour+6 by land assault from the rear and a frontal attack from the sea. Camel Yellow, on the Rade d’Agay, was also to be attacked from the rear. Camel Green was large enough only for an initial landing, while on the extreme right flank Camel Blue Beach was suitable for only a minor landing.
The 2nd and 3rd Battalions, 141st Infantry, went ashore on Camel Green Beach according to schedule, while the 1st Battalion landed on Camel Blue. As the 1st’s assault boats emerged from their protective smokescreen, two German antitank guns opened fire on them and scored several direct hits on LCIs in the leading wave. A few seconds later German blockhouses also opened up a murderous fire, most of it coming from the direction of the Anthéor Viaduct. This structure, partly destroyed by RAF Lancasters a few months earlier, was the assault wave’s objective and the pivotal point of the attack. Racing through fountains of water hurled up by the enemy shells, the LCIs entered the inlet and grounded in the shallows. The troops lost no time in deploying; although 88mm shells still exploded on the shoreline, the narrow strip of beach was quickly captured. A few minutes later, the enemy gunners shifted their sights to eight amphibious tanks, cruising in towards Camel Green from 4,000 yards offshore. Only one tank was hit, and this beached safely. The others rolled up the beach to pre-determined positions 600 yards from the waterline, where their crews stripped them of their floatation gear.
The 2nd Battalion of the 141st Infantry cleared the right half of Camel Green and then swung north as planned to join the troops of the 1st Battalion, who by this time were swarming on to the Cannes–St-Raphaël highway close to the viaduct. By 1000 the Americans were in possession of the whole cape, whose defenders appeared to consist mainly of Polish “volunteers.”
The 141st’s 3rd Battalion cleared the left half of the Camel Green, paving a way for the landing of the 143rd Regimental Combat Team between 0945 and 1035. This force moved forward to attack St Raphaël, together with elements of the 141st.
Meanwhile, preparations were going ahead for the delayed landing at H-Hour+6 of the 142nd RCT on Camel Beach Red. At 1100, following an intense naval bombardment, minesweepers moved in to clear a lane through the Gulf of Fréjus, but they came under heavy fire from the shore and were forced to retire. The Americans quickly called up air support, and shortly afterwards 93 B-24 Liberators dropped 187 tons of bombs on the enemy defenses. Fifteen minutes later the minesweepers tried again. As they passed the mile mark offshore, more shells rained down around them, but they stuck gallantly to their task and swept to within 500 yards of the beach. Naval fire support ships then resumed the barrage, under cover of which two demolition units in the scout boats, preceded by a dozen explosive drones, headed for the shore.
In more than 100 assault craft, the 142nd Infantry awaited the signal to land. At two minutes before jump-off time, the rocket ships loosed their missiles on the beach, but still no orders came for the assault to begin. Only three of the radio-controlled drones had exploded as planned, jeopardizing the success of the whole operation.
Several minutes after 1400, the troops were still waiting, all the time under heavy fire from camouflaged shore batteries. The Beach Assault Commander radioed a report to Rear Admiral Spencer Lewis, commanding the invasion in this sector, and recommended that the assault should be rescheduled for 1430. Instead, Lewis decided to divert the whole force to Camel Beach Green. This change in plan was relayed by radio and megaphone, and some time later the 142nd Regiment went ashore on Camel Green without loss.
The 142nd’s preliminary goal after securing a beachhead was to take Fréjus, and the change of landing place threw the program behind schedule. On coming ashore at 1532, the 142nd’s 1st Battalion made a cross-country dash for Fréjus, closely followed by the 2nd and 3rd Battalions. After an almost superhuman effort, they occupied high ground northeast of the town just before nightfall.
Some of the first German prisoners captured by the Seventh Army on D-Day. Many carry inflatable life-belts for their evacuation by sea.
At daylight on D-Day+1, the Americans were fighting in the streets of Fréjus itself, while further along the coast 143rd RCT was engaged at St Raphaël. By mid-afternoon all enemy resistance had ceased, and all along the invasion area the troops were moving up to their Blue Line objectives. The 142nd Infantry entered Puget late that afternoon, but were temporarily halted by an antitank block beyond the town. During the night, an American paratrooper taken prisoner by the defenders here managed to escape in the middle of an artillery barrage and reported that the Germans had spiked their guns and retreated.
The assault phase was now complete. Shortly before midnight on D-Day+1, General Truscott issued orders to the 3rd, 36th, and 45th Divisions to draw up combat and service elements to Le Muy by 1600 the next afternoon to form a provisional armored group. The VI Corps Commander intended losing no time in exploiting the advantage already gained by the Seventh Army’s rapid conquest of the invasion area and was bent on launching a drive northwestward into the interior.
Before the big push could be initiated, however, the Allies had to be in firm possession of the vital ports of Toulon and Marseilles. The task of capturing these objectives had been assigned to the French units of the Seventh Army, which began landing on the beaches already cleared by the VI Corps at 2000 on August 16. The French force was composed of two corps divided into seven divisions, two of which were armored; the brunt of the initial fighting was to be borne by the French II Corps, since I Corps was not scheduled to land until D-Day+20. II Corps comprised four divisions: the 1st Infantry and 3rd Algerian Divisions came ashore on D-Day+1, and the 9th Colonial Division disembarked two days later.
The French plan of attack was greatly influenced by the terrain between the beaches and Marseilles. Wooded hills confined movement to two roads running east and west, while the enemy held strongly fortified heights north of Hyères, Toulon, and Marseilles. General Patch and the French Commander, de Lattre de Tassigny, expected that the Germans would do everything in their power to delay the Allied exploitation northwards, and it was anticipated that the German High Command would be prepared to sacrifice its 242nd and 244th Divisions in the prolonged defense of both ports. The French also expected to encounter elements of four other divisions, including the mobile 11th Panzer Division.
The French plan hinged on outflanking and encircling the enemy as rapidly as possible. The first objective in this movement was Hyeres, which lay some 10 miles from Toulon and a little inland. On August 19, the 1st Infantry Division advanced towards the town along the coast road. As the French neared Hyères, antitank guns from within the town and larger caliber weapons in the Maurettes Mountains suddenly opened up on them. An RCT, detached from the main body, circled northward to surround the enemy position in the hills, and by August 20 Hyères had been cut off from the north and east. The 9th Colonial Division, outflanking the town through thick woods of the north, completed the isolation of Hyères.
At the same time, the main body of the 1st Infantry Division had begun their frontal assault. Attacking across the Gapeau River on the morning of August 20, they were soon held up by heavy fire near the Golf Hotel, where the Germans had a battery of 88mm guns. The French infantry withdrew and two battalions of 105mm and one of 155mm artillery moved up to within 1,000 yards of the enemy positions. In the course of the morning, the French gunners hurled over 1,000 rounds into the town, and in the afternoon Allied warships off the coast added their own bombardment. At 1900, the French infantry fixed bayonets and charged the German positions through heavy small-arms fire. After a fierce hand-to-hand fight, 140 German prisoners were taken. As troops of the 1st Division passed through Hyères on the Toulon road, a motorized battalion assisted men of the FFI in mopping up enemy pockets.
While the battle for Hyères was still raging, the 3rd Algerian Division – having left its assembly area on August 18 and followed an inland route to Méounes – began the encirclement of Toulon. There were four major enemy strongpoints around the town – three on the heights above Toulon and a fourth on the St Mandrier Peninsula south of the city; all approaches had been blocked by antitank obstacles, pillboxes, and minefields, and defensive zones had been set up with blockhouses and firing trenches protected by wire and mines. Bridges and viaducts were all prepared for demolition. The city was defended by 60 heavy and 100 light guns; heavy artillery included some 16in from the sunken battleship Provence. There were also four forts at strategic points within the perimeter of Toulon.
Shortly after the assault, the 3rd Division was strengthened by the arrival of the French Commandos, who were soon engaged in fierce fighting on the slopes around Toulon. The assault battalions, the 1st and 3rd Commandos, met strong resistance at the Fort Est du Coudon. The fort’s garrison raised a white flag at 1700 hours on August 21 after a three-hour artillery barrage; but as the commandos were scaling the walls by rope to receive the surrender, the Germans signaled by flare for their own artillery to open fire on the fort. French and Germans alike were killed and wounded by the resulting shell-bursts, but the inevitable surrender of the fort was delayed by no more than an hour.
The 3rd Algerian Division has succeeded in overrunning the three mountain forts north of Toulon. By August 23, the town itself was under siege, and the next day it was surrounded on three sides. The German defenders had, as anticipated, received orders to fight to the last man, and the 242nd German Infantry Division offered almost fanatical resistance. It was clear that the occupation of Toulon was going to demand the combined efforts of the French Army, the XII Tactical Air Force, and the Western Naval Task Force. On land the French set up a solid ring of fire consisting of six battalions of 155mm guns and six of 105mm tight against the perimeter; these were soon in action, their fire directed with deadly accuracy by observation posts on the heights.
The Air Force concentrated on the peninsula, with the aim of knocking out the installations there and severing the enemy from the mainland. On August 18 and 19, over 160 B-26 Marauder medium bombers struck at St Mandrier, and on the 20th 121 P-47 Thunderbolts – each carrying two 500lb bombs – joined the air offensive. The bombing was reasonably accurate, but so was the enemy flak: three aircraft were shot down and 25 badly damaged.
On August 19 the French warship Lorraine, the USS Nevada, and the USS Augusta, operating under cover of a smokescreen, came close inshore to fire 87 rounds on St Mandrier and 124 on Toulon, scoring a direct hit on the old French battleship Strasbourg. The naval barrage was stepped up the next day, in tune with the offensive on land, and this time the St Mandrier batteries replied. The German gunners fired 60 shells over a range of 14 miles at the Western Task Force, hitting the FS Fantasque and Georges Leygues, and straddling the USS Ericsson. After that the naval shelling continued for eight successive days with increasing intensity, and the German opposition diminished.
The hard-pressed French troops ashore were more than grateful for the naval support. At San Salvador, for example, a battalion of the French Foreign Legion broke through the enemy defenses with the help of naval gunfire after a bitter six-hour pitched battle and took 347 prisoners. Naval guns also knocked out pillboxes along the coast which had inflicted severe casualties on the 1st Division. Under cover of a rolling barrage from the warships, troops of both II Corps divisions east of Toulon penetrated the city, and by 1700 on August 23 advance elements reached the center. Two tanks under the command of Major Victor Mirkin rolled up to the Military Arsenal in the Le Mourillon sector of Toulon. Mirkin informed the German commander that unless the latter surrendered immediately the warships would pulverize the place. The threat proved sufficient; the commander capitulated, together with 17 officers and 800 men.
Exploiting their unexpectedly swift penetration inland from the beaches, the Seventh Army thrust forward to threaten the German’s second line of defense on the Durance–Verdon rivers. Here troops of the 45th Division pursue the enemy north of Salernes in southern France riding on tanks.
On the morning of August 24, enemy forts and strongpoints surrendered one after the other. At 0900, the Naval Arsenal capitulated with 200 prisoners; Fort Ste Catherine followed suit at 1000; and at 1300 the German garrison at Fort St Louis was ordered to spike its guns. Three more forts surrendered during the afternoon, and by dark organized resistance in the eastern part of Toulon had come to an end. During this day along, the 1st Infantry Division took over 2,000 prisoners.
In other parts of the city, however, pockets of Germans fought on. The enemy still held the vital port area, against which the French launched a vigorous offensive. A quick result became vital after a radio message was intercepted indicating that the Germans received orders to destroy all remaining port installations. There was murderous street fighting in the La Colette area of the port as the Germans resisted from house to house. While the French made slow progress here, fighting for every foot of the ground, other units pushed on down the Sicie Peninsula, where three forts yielded by noon on August 26. That same afternoon, the naval barrage reached its climax, with warships closing in to within 5 miles of the St Mandrier fortress. The whole area was shrouded in smoke, punctuated with the glare of fires and explosions, and at 1630 all warships were ordered to cease fire.
At dawn on August 27, only St Mandrier remained in enemy hands. Later that morning, General Magnan, commanding the 9th Colonial Division, called a halt to the furious artillery barrage directed against the eight surviving German batteries and began surrender negotiations with the garrison. In the end, an agreement was reached and the capitulation became effective at 0600 on August 28. Among the prisoners taken was Admiral Ruhfus, commander of the Toulon Defenses. At 1000, General de Lattre de Tassigny made his formal entry into a Toulon wild with the ecstasy of liberation.
The assault on Marseilles, meanwhile, had started on August 20, when a group of the 3rd Algerian Division and units of the 1st Armored Division skirted Toulon to the west and moved against this, France’s second largest city. The natural defenses of Marseilles were not as formidable as those around Toulon, but there were strongpoints on the heights and forts on the two islands in the bay. Added to these were minefields, nets, submarine detectors, heavy coastal guns, 107 antiaircraft guns, and several blockships, anchored at strategic points in the harbor ready to be scuttled at short notice.
At first, it seemed as though the French might be able to take the port without a fight. On August 23, as three battalions of the 7th Algerian Regiment closed in on Marseilles from different directions, negotiations for surrendered were already underway with the German commander, General Schaeffer. These soon broke down, however, and Schaeffer made it plain that his 244th Infantry Division would fight hard for the city. He was a good as his word; the following day, as French troops attacked the perimeter, they were met by a storm of artillery and machine-gun fire from the forts and strongpoints as the Germans clung tenaciously to their positions on the coast. On August 25, however, the combined weight of the naval and air bombardment began to have its effect, and 48 hours later the enemy’s plight was becoming desperate – particularly on the two islands off Marseilles, which had received a considerable tonnage of bombs.
The first major strongpoint to fall was on the heights ashore, when it was assaulted from four directions. The garrison hoisted a white flag and surrendered at 1000 on August 26. Scattered engagements continued in the heart of the city, with house-to-house fighting in the districts of Quatre Chemins, St Joseph, and Le Melon. There was a bitter, three-day combat along the waterfront, with Chef-de-Bataillon Roussel leading his Algerians in the hunt for the enemy among the twisting alleyways of La Gavotte and Moulin du Diable.
During the evening of August 27, a letter from General Schaeffer was delivered to the French General de Monsabert, requesting an audience to discuss surrender terms. At 0700 the next morning, Schaeffer was brought to the Hotel du Quinzième Corps and the talks began. They ended with the surrender of Schaeffer, his staff, and 7,000 officers and men.
At 1100 on August 29, the forces which had taken part in the liberation marched in review past the Commanding General, to the cheers of the population. Once more, the strains of the Marseillaise, played by the bank of the 3rd Algerian Division, echoed through the streets of the city which had given the Anthem birth.