Figure 1.--The Allied landings in southern France were lrgely unopposed and encontered miniml German resistance. Most German units in the south had been moved to Normandy to bolster the effort to contain the Allied buildup. The Allies swept north up the Rhône River Valley to link up with the Normandy breakout. This woulf lead to the French-German border and the Rgine.The press caption here read, "French Troops Welcomed by Countrymen: Residents of La Lavandau in southern France acclaim a group of French troops who swept forward with the Allied seventh Army to librate the town. so contgious was the spirit of the people that thise Germasn prisoners in the rear od the vehicle also gave the victory dsalute. Wights days after the Allies had landed in southern France, Marseille and Grenoble, two of southern France's most important cities, had been liberated and Toulon, great French naval base was partly in Allied hands." The photograph was dated August 25, 1944. This was a War Pool Photo. These press photos had destribution restrictions. This one could not be destributed to the British Isles and Western Hemisphere. We are not sure why.

Two weeks after the breakout from Normandy began and before the battle at Falaise was over, the Allies struck in southern France. The Americans and British disagreed over the invsion of southern France, oiginally called Operation Anvil. It was renamed Dragoon--reportedly because the Americans dragooned Churchill into it. The final decession was made after the fall of Rome (June 4) and then the success of Opperation Cobra (July 25-26), the successful Allied breakout from the Normandy bridgehead. The U.S. 6th Army Group (variously known as the Southern Group of Armies and Dragoon Force) was established in Corsica and activated (August 1, 1944). It was commanded by Lieutenant General Jacob L. Devers and included both American and Free French units. The Allies landed on the French Mediterranean coast between Marseilles and Nice (August 15). By this time the Allies were closing in on Paris and destroying the principal German formations in France, the 7th Army and 5th Panzer Army. The Germans had moved their limited forces in southern France north in an effort to maintain their Normandy defense perimiter. As a result, unlike Normandy there were no pitched battles. The German troops in the south had one orimarry goal, to get back to the Reich. The German hold on France after 4 long years was broken. The southern campaign is sometimes referred to as the Champaign Campaign because they did not meet the tenanous resistance encountered at Normandy. Rather they rolled through villges with no Germans a jubilent French population. The Germans by August were broken and withdrawing back to the Reich and the defenses of the West Wall to fight the final battles. Their primary concern was not to get cuff off by the Allied forces moving out of the Normandy Bridgehead. All thoughts of making a stand at the Seine were abandoned. The advancing Dragoon Force encountered German covering forces, but no heavy unit. Hitler finally gave up on France, but began planning the final German offensive.

Strategic Thinking

Operation Dragoon was one of the most contoiversial Alied operations of the War. It was originally planned as Operation Anvil. The idea was to invade southern France at the same time as Normandy. It was proposed by General George Marshall, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army. The Americans and British disagreed over the invsion of southern France, oiginally called Operation Anvil. It was renamed Dragoon--reportedly because the Americans dragooned Churchill into it. Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower, at SHAEF strongly supported Dragoon recognizing how big a gamble Overlord was. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill opposed it believing it to be a waste of resources. Churchill wanted the forces to be used in Italy or a landing in the Balkans.

Planning

Dragoon had to be postponed as a result of the disappointing progress in Italy. There was also a shortage of landing craft that forced Gen. Eisenhowe to pstponr the Overllord landings a month. The difficulties encountered by the amphibious landings at Anzio (January 1944) was a serious obstacle to begin preparing for Dragoon. The final dicession was made after the fall of Rome (June 4). The final plan for Operation Dragoon was approved (July 14). At the time the allies had been bttering the German forces in Normnandy for over a month, taking heavy losses. Lieutenant General Jacob Devers' 6th Army Group, oversaw the planning. The actual landings were to be spearheaded by Major General Alexander Patch's US Seventh Army. General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny's French Army B would follow.

The Coast

The Atlantic Wall south of the Britany Peninsula was virtually non existent. Even the ports in the south were not heavily defended. Planners had the advantage of many lightly defended beaches. The coast was a lengthy expanse of many of the finesrt beaches in Europe. There was little enemy-controlled high ground. Planners Choosing the Var coast east of Toulon, they designated three primary landing beaches: Alpha (Cavalaire-sur-Mer), Delta (Saint-Tropez), and Camel (Saint-Raphaël) (Map). To further aid the troops coming ashore, plans called for a large airborne force to land inland to secure the high ground behind the beaches.

Normandy Breakout (May 25-26)

The British were suposed to take Caen, but as this was the most direct route to Paris, the Germans concentrated their forces nd held Caen. This led to weeks of costly fighting in the Bokage county. The Germans held, but the building Allied forces severly streached the German forces. Finally the Allies prepared breakout. British and Canadian troops under Montgomery struck first with Operation Goodwin. It proved to be a costly battle. They finally captured Caen after a major air attack (July 9). They were unable to break the German lines, however, in part because the rubble created by the air attack in Caen slowed the advance and the Germans were able to regroup west of the city. The German forces were concentrated around Caen which weakened their perimeter to the south. And it was here that the American offensive finlly broke the badly streached Germans--Operation Cobra (July 25). The major break through came further south. Patton's Third Army after a concentrated carpet bombing shattered the vaunted Panzer Lehr Division. The Americans pierced the German lines with armoured thrusts near St. Lô and rapidly fanned out behind German lines. By the time of the Dragoon landings, the Allies were closing in on Paris and destroying the principal German formations in France, the 7th Army and 5th Panzer Army.

Dragoon Force (August 1)

The U.S. 6th Army Group (also known as the Southern Group of Armies and Dragoon Force) was established in Corsica and activated (August 1). It was commanded by Lieutenant General Jacob L. Devers and included both American and Free French units. The main landings were to be conducted by the American 3rd, 45th, and 36th Infantry Divisions organized into Major General Lucian Truscott's VI Corps. They were supported by the 1st French Armoured Division. Truscott was aeasoned commander from both the Sicily and Italian campaign. As with D-Day, there was an airborn segment to protect the beach landings. ajor General Robert T. Frederick's 1st Airborne Task Force was to drop around Le Muy, between Draguignan and Saint-Raphaël. This would enable the paratroopers to prevent the Germans from launching counterattacks ob the vulnerable landing beaches. French commandos were to land in the wast and destroy the German batteries on Cap Nègre. Naval Task Force 88, commanded by Rear Admiral T.H. Troubridge would provide air and naval gunfire support for the beach landings.

German Forces

The French Mediterranean cost was a German rear area. Given the German combat areas in the Eastern Front, duty on the French Riverra was like heaven come true. Colonel General Johannes Blaskowitz's Army Group G was assigned to defend the coast. As a result of German losses in the east and fighting in Italy, and now the Normandy landings, Blaskowitz's Arny Group G was stripped of its most effective combat and heavily armed formtions. At the time of the Dragoon landings, Army Group G consisted of 11 divisions, four of which were classified as 'static' dovisions without any means of moytorized tranport. Only Lieutenant General Wend von Wietersheim's 11th Panzer Division was an efective mobile force, but even here all but one of its tank battalions had moved nort to butress the Normandy front. It was not just alack of heavy weaoons, Blaskowitz lacked the men needed to defend 56 miles of beaches. OKW did not have the reserves to reinforce Army Group G. They were coinsidering ordering Army Hroup G to pull back to a defensive line near Dijon. The orders, however, were not issued. Everything was put on hold when the bomb exploded in the Wolf's Lair (July 20). As a result, Blaskowitz staid put. And as the Allies prepared Dragoon, Blaskowitz had to watch the Allies breakout of Normandy and begin to threaten his supply lines and ability to retreat back to the West Wall.

Coastal Islands (August 14)

The first step in Dragoon was commando operations which seized several islands along the coast. The 1st Special Service Force (Devil's Brigade) captured the offshore islands--the Îles d'Hyères. They quickly overwhelmed the Grman garrisons on Port-Cros and Levant, securing both islands.

Landings (August 15-17)

Two weeks after the breakout from Normandy began and before the battle at Falaise was over, the Allies struck in the south. The Allies landed on the French Mediterranean coast between Marseilles and Nice (August 15). The landing force was aided by both paratroopers landing inland and the Resistance. The French Resistance damaged the German controlled communications and transportation networks. French commandos succeeded in eliminating the German artillery batteries on Cap Nègre. Asaesult the landing force encountetred little opposition on either Alpha or Delta Beaches. Many of the German formations were Osttruppen, non-German units recruited in the occupied eastern territories, primarily from POW camps where they were being starved. They had little interest in fighting for the Germans and quickly surrendered. Thus much of army Group G essntially evaporated. The landings on Camel Beach proved more difficult as the Allied units encoyntered actual German formations. There was serious fighting on Camel Red near Saint-Raphaël. Air support was called in, but it was decided to shiftlnding forces to tbe beaches where the landings were largely unopposed. There were no real pitched battles. Unable to effectuvely oppose the Dragoon lansings, Blaskowitz had no choice but to withdrawal north. This required a delaying force. He organized a mobile battle group consisting of four regiments. This force was ordered to attacked from Les Arcs towards Le Muy (morning August 16). Badly outnumbered by the Allied troops that had alread landed , this force suffered heavy casualties and was nearly cut off before falling back (night August 16). The German 148th Infantry Division also attacked near Saint-Raphaël, but to little effect. The DRagoon landing forced rapidly move inland, relieved the airborne at Le Muy (August 17). The German troops in the south once the Allies were ashore and the Nirmandy break out spreading, had one primary goal, to get back to the Reich and the safety of the West Wall. With Army Group B in Normandy being rolled over, Hitler had no choice but to approve the full withdrawal of Army Group G (night of August 16-17). The German hold on France after 4 long years was broken.

The Ports (August 18-27)

While the Americans drove north, the Frerch forces focused on the all important ports. Holding the ports to restrict the ability of the Allies to land supplies was a major part of the Atlantic Wall defense strategy. The same was true of the German defense in the south. The southern ports, however, were not as heavily defended as in the north and the Germans not prepoared to fight to the death. French units moved along the coast from the invasion beaches to liberate the important ports of Toulon and Marseille. The Germans put up a fight, but rather than months it was only a little more than a week. Both ports were liberated (August 27). Toulon of course was the important French naval port where the French scuttled their fleet to keep it out og German hands.

Champaign Campaign (August 18-September 10)

The southern campaign is sometimes referred to as the Champaign Campaign because they did not meet the tenanous resistance encountered at Normandy. Rather they rolled north through villges with no Germans and a jubilent French population. The Germans by August were broken and withdrawing back to the Reich and the defenses of the West Wall to fight the final battles. Their primary concern was not to get cuf off by the Allied forces moving out of the Normandy Bridgehead. All thoughts of making a stand at the Seine were abandoned. The advancing Dragoon Force encountered German covering forces, but few heavy units. Blaskowitz staged a skillful retreat with the forces he commanded. He managed to get substantial forces back to the protection of the Vosges Mountains near the Rhine, but in the process the advancing Allies gutted Army Group G. Devers was informed of German intentions to withdraw north rather than fighting it out oin the south thanks to Ultra intercepts. He ordered mobile units to attack to cut off Arnt Group G's retreat. The allies reached reached Digne (August 18). The German 157th Infantry Division abandoned Grenoble (August 21). This opening a gap on the German left flank. Blaskowitz skillfully used the Rhone River to shield his retreat north. He ordered the depleted 11th Panzer Division to attack toward Aix-en-Provence. This teporarily the Allied drive. Devers and Patch reacted to the gap on the German left. They put together a mobile force -- Task Force Butler. This Force and the 36th Infantry Division drive through the gap trying to cut off Army Groupo G at Montélimar. Blaskowitz noved 11th Panzer Division to plug the gap (August 24). The Germans organizing their largest assault of the campaign (August 25). This created a mometary statemate. The Germans were unable to dislodge the Americans, but the American forces lacked the manpower and supplies to immeduately continue the advance. This enabled a substantial part of Army Group G to escape the American attempt to cut them offbefore the Americans could continue the advance (August 28). The Americans took Montélimar (August 29). Devers ordered VI Corps and the French II Corps to purse Blaskowitz and armny Group G. The result was a series of running battles as the Army Group G retired north. Lyon was liberated (September 3).

Allied Link Up (September 10)

The lead elements of the Dragoon Force contacted General Patton's Third Army, creating the Broad Front that liberated France (September 10). This essentially ended the pursuit of a much depleted Army Group G which took up positions in the Vosges Mountains in the extreme northeastern corner of France. The Americans would soon be joined by a reformed French Army which would take up a psition on the Allied right flank as they fought throufg the Vosges Mountains and approached the Rhine River

Impact

Tthe Allies sustained around 17,000 killed and wounded. This was a small fraction of the Normandy losses. The Germans suffered about the same casualties, about 7,000 killed, 10,000 wounded. But the Allies captured some 130,000 German troops. These were losses the Allies could replace and the Germans coiuld not. Work began immediately to repair Toulon and Marseille so supplies can begin to be landed. Ships began landing supplies (September 20). The railroads running north took longer to reopen, but the two ports became important elements in tha all imprtant supply system for the Allied forces in France. The value of Operation Dragoon is one of the mst hotly debated element of the liberation of France. There is no doubt that Devers and Patch cleared southern and western France quicker than expected and gutting Army Group G. The issue with Dragoon is if the resources involved could have been mote effectively utilized. [Roberts] Our assessment is that the Dragoon was an important fail safe method if the the Allies had noit broken out from Normandy, but even after the Cobra breakout it was an effective operation. The major constraint to more effectively engaging the Germans was supplies. The Dragoon force could have been landded in Normandy, but there was no way of supplying it without taking supplies away from the forces already landed there, thus it would not have increased the combat power which could have been exerted on the Germans. By landing in the south and securing two important ports, the Dragoon Force applied additional combat power on the Germans without draining off the supplies available to the forces landed in Normandy. It also significantly degraded Army Group G which witout the Dragoon landings could have slipped un molested back to the Reich in full force.

Hitler's Response

Hitler after the disaster of his Mortain ofensive leading to the Falaise pocket finally gave up on France. But he began planning the final German offensive which would he bgan to ension in the nisty hills of the Ardennes where he gained his greatest victory.

Sources

Roberts, Andrew. Mastersnbd Commanders: How Roosevelt, Churchill, Mrshall, and Alanbrooke Won the War in the West 1941-45

Created: 9:02 PM 10/31/2016
Last updated: 8:27 AM 1/3/2017