 The historic Bay of Naples was transformed into a huge open-air marshaling area. This vast quantity of mechanized war implements was to be used by the 3rd, 36th, and 45th divisions, which later were combined to create the 7th Army. All equipment was loaded aboard and each piece was checked off the loading chart. The men put in charge represented the best allied military brains. Fresh from their recent victories, the new 7th Army, all seasoned veterans with experience from the Sicilian, Salerno, and Anzio campaigns, marched to the embarkation port. Friendly Red Cross workers gave a warm touch to the send-off. With precision, reflecting the efficient planning of this campaign, the men marched on board in a steady stream. Their faces showed every human emotion. A few of them would soon see action for the first time, but most were veterans of the tough fighting in Africa and Italy. Bulging with their cargos of men and machines of war, the ships left the harbor to join the convoy being formed offshore. This fleet, assembled off the west coast of Corsica, was made ready for the fight ahead. On board one of the cruisers, General Patch, Vice-Admiral Hewitt, and Secretary of the Navy Le Monnier of the French Naval Commission, met for a conference. Clustered on the decks of the ships, men attended to last-minute details. Many prayed. A few held aloof, alone with their thoughts. On the night of August 14, the First Special Service Force was put ashore on the beaches of Port Cross and Levant to destroy enemy defenses on both islands. Simultaneously, French commandos landed north of these islands. Heavy bombers attacked vital enemy installations. Dawn was breaking when the huge armada of fighting ships slipped into the assault area without opposition. Each vessel took up her allotted position. Navigators, gunners, and signalmen were alert. Every man had a job to do. The Germans must be routed from their stronghold. Every gun was made ready. The fight was about to begin. Huge Allied bombers winged their way toward Toulon. On route to their objective, no opposition was encountered. For 30 miles from Cannes to Toulon, our air armada patrolled the seas, protecting the Allied convoy. They continued to attack north of the Cavalier area. Throughout the entire operation, anti-aircraft fire was negligible, and the Luftwaffe was absent. The 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion was inspected at Fallonica Airport. These men were chosen for their intelligence, their strength, their ability, and drive. They had been through a tough course of training, taught the art of killing, the art of survival in a strange land, and the quickest way of getting from any given place to another. Hundreds of C-47s and C-54s swept across the southern coast of France. Below could be seen other paratroopers who had spearheaded the invasion the night before. The air was full of parachutes drifting slowly to the ground, carrying hardened American veterans to reinforce the men who had preceded them. Still further inland, the gliders were nosing downward onto the soil of southern France. These landings were made close to Le Mouilly in the Hilly country. Many of the gliders didn't have an easy landing. Paratroopers advanced stealthily, following the course which had been given them. This aerial vanguard was to destroy the enemy defenses and ease the task of their comrades still at sea by keeping the foe from rushing troops to the coast. Swooping down to treetop level are attack planes strapped Nazi gun batteries, troops, and supply trains with telling effect. In the calm of a summer morning, these bombers rained destruction, while the Allied warships were steaming along the French coast within range of enemy batteries. As the dark of the night melted into dawn, the faint outline of other ships could be detected. Tents and alert, the men waited at their battle stations. H-Hour. Guns of the fleet opened up and the invasion of southern France began. Landing craft bearing men, tanks, and ammunition raced toward their objectives. American PT boats vanguarded the invasion. Transports released their cargoes. Some assault boats were lowered empty into the sea. Others were fully loaded. As these landing craft headed for the shore, there could be no turning back. The roar of the fighting planes, the booming of the big guns, and the rocket zooming overhead created a never to be forgotten inferno. A group of landing craft, escorted by destroyers and patrol boats, moved toward another beach sector. Troops began to scramble up the beach. They were prepared for an enemy onslaught, but not a single German soldier appeared. Not even a Luftwaffe soared overhead. Under Lieutenant General Alexander M. Patch were three corps. The sixth corps, commanded by Major General Lucien K. Truscott, included the famed third, 36th, and 45th Infantry Divisions. The French second corps was commanded by General Jean de la Détacigny, and the first French corps was under command of General Bétoire. Still unmolested, men and supplies were landed. However, rear-guard sniping caused small delays at some of the landfills. 100-foot floating causeways were dropped into the waters. Mine detector squads cleared the roads to permit our tanks to continue on their way. German prisoners were herded on to the beaches for removal to ships. By midnight of August 16th, the French commandos had been contacted. Operations had progressed so smoothly that by noon the following day, a beachhead 20 miles long and 9 miles deep had been established. Our seriously wounded men were evacuated to floating ambulances. Meanwhile, the enemy fought desperately to block our advance in order to cover a general withdrawal. On the 19th of August, the French second corps took over the southern zone from the American sixth corps, and bypassing Toulon pushed rapidly on to within two miles of Marseille by noon of the 20th. The wounded were given life-saving blood plasma and first aid. Prisoners taken in the advance were immediately evacuated from the combat zone. General Patch, accompanied by General de Tassigny, who now commanded the French B Army, awarded the Silver Star to Marc Rino, the leader of the French Patriots in this area. The Third Division, en route to Brignol, halted its drive momentarily. In these rare moments of relaxation, the men found relief from the rapid pace of their drive. Brignol was liberated by the 15th Regiment of the Third Division. The Germans had not yet offered any strong opposition to our rapid advance, and moved forward according to plan. A first aid station was established to give immediate medical attention to the more seriously wounded before they were evacuated to hospitals. The Third Division continued its advance toward the west. Throughout the early stages of the campaign, Lemouy remained an important communications and road center. At Calais, a few miles northeast of Dreschinal, partisans rounded up French civilians who had been spying for the Germans, a scene which was repeated in each liberated town. The flushing out of these traitors made the advance into the interior safer. On August 21st, Monoc was liberated. Our advance elements had difficulty in keeping contact with the retreating Nazis. This town did not become a battleground, and the rapid movement of our forces prevented any German destruction. When the first part of the Third Division entered Avignon, they had a close-up of the destruction caused by our bombing. The streets were deserted, for the civilians did not believe the Germans had actually left. Only the FFI, having seized the town center, waited for the arrival of our troops. The French force entered Marseille. Isolated Germans cut off from further retreat or aid had to be liquidated. In other sections of the second largest city of France, parts of the Third Algerian Division guarded against possible counter-attack by Germans left in the city. The streets remained deserted until the patrols routed out the last of the enemy. St. Nicholas was one of the last centers of resistance. Atrocities similar to these were perpetrated on civilians by the Nazis until their final expulsion. Street defenses in the heart of Marseille had been prepared by the enemy in their plan to hold the city. However, they left these emplacements shortly after they were attacked and retreated to the more easily defended forts. For this reason, parts of the city were spared heavy destruction. But in the harbor area, the Nazis had systematically destroyed dry docks, warehouses, and other port facilities. At the Marino Airport, our pre-invasion bombing had destroyed the hangars and damaged many aircraft. These planes, originally French, had been remarked by the Nazis for their own use. The liberated population of Marseille cheered the triumphant Algerian troops. General de Josillard de Marticiberti, commander of the French-Algerian Division, was congratulated by General de Tassigny and by Monsieur de Tille, French minister of war. Here, too, the enemy was forced to leave its street defenses. In the months before the invasion, Allied air bombing had rendered the naval base useless as such. But the Nazis continued to utilize naval rifles and other undamaged weapons which had not been destroyed, with other wrecked warships where those the French had scuttled. This is what remained of the famous French fighting vessel, Dunkirk. This submarine and torpedo plant, although damaged severely, had remained in use until the capture of the port. Fort de Gena, built by the French in 1936 and taken over by the Germans in 1940, had been rendered useless by Allied bombing. Among the weapons the French had installed were 320-millimeter guns, which, with their turrets, had been taken from battleships. At Fort de Cisse 4, the Germans surrendered only after their water supply had been exhausted. Before their surrender, they destroyed many heavy guns. In Toulon, joyous people cheered the French troops. In this amphitheater of hills behind Toulon, the French had constructed a series of strong force, which guarded them against invasion from the sea. It was into these strongholds that the Nazis now retreated for their last defense of southern France. The French forces commanded by General de Tassigny pushed westward to check the Germans moving up their own valley. Meanwhile, segments of the American 6th Corps, composed of the 3rd, 45th, and 36th divisions, advanced westward and northward. Roads were littered with destroyed enemy vehicles, guns, and Nazis. Town after town was left behind by our troops in their rapid advance to catch up with the retreating enemy. Troops entered Grenoble, 140 airline miles from the beaches, and Motel de Mar on the Rhône River about 100 miles from the coast. Both places were reached only eight days after landing. Up to this time, prisoners of war numbered about 17,000. These included Czechs, Poles, and Russians, many of whom had been forced into the German army. When our troops passed through the towns, they found that abandoned vehicles and equipment had already been appropriated by the FFI. Partisans were rounding up Nazi sympathizers, including French women, who had been friendly to the Germans. Our only interest in these proceedings was to examine the suspects for spies and saboteurs. On the afternoon of August 29th, the 2nd Battalion of the 7th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Division caught up with the enemy five miles north of Motel de Mar. With the destruction of this 2nd segment, we had captured nearly 15,000 more troops, which had been concentrated to block our advance. To prevent our rapid thrust up the Rhône Valley, the Germans concentrated heavy forces below Motel de Mar. But Task Force Butler, composed of elements from the 6th Corps, skillfully wheeled through Dai to the Rhône, pocketing the Nazis from the rear. This was in conjunction with our units of the 3rd Division, which were driving up from the south. Our artillery went into action. The Germans fought savagely. Nazis who escaped annihilation fled northward, pursued by our Air Force and units of the 3rd Division. In their haste, the Germans left much of their valuable equipment intact. Task Force Butler really paid off. Nazis who had been cut off from their escaping comrades were rounded up and imprisoned. While the 3rd Division was moving toward Lyon, the 191st Tank Destroyer Battalion, in support of the 45th, raced northward above Lyon to cut off the Germans who were retreating through the Rhône Valley. After four long years of Nazi slavery, the freed population staged a wild celebration to welcome our men. The major delaying tactics of the retreating enemy consisted primarily in destroying all bridges, railroads, and blocking highways. There was no rest for the engineers. Major General John W. O'Daniel, commander of the 3rd, crossed the bypass to direct the pursuit. On September 11, 1944, reconnaissance elements of the 1st French Armored Division entered Dijon. Dijon is an important road junction on the main highway leading from southern France. The few American civilians in town on this date were given very special attention. Meanwhile, at Sombernau, 13 miles west of Dijon, French troops attached to the 7th Army joined with the French units of the 3rd Army. The final line had been forged between our forces, which landed in southern France on August 15, and those which had landed in Normandy on the 6th of June. This junction closed the last escape route for the Germans remaining in the south and west of France. Thus, the fighting qualities of the soldiers, sailors, and airmen of the United Nations defeated the enemy in southern France. Their valor, stamina, and devotion to duty were beyond praise.