Operation Dragoon 1944 by Steven Zaloga

Author:Steven Zaloga
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: Operation Dragoon 1944: France’s other D-Day
ISBN: 9781472800213
Publisher: Osprey Publishing

German prisoners are led away from Saint-Tropez after a combined force of paratroopers and FFI had taken it earlier in the day. (NARA)

LST-1164 was part of Wave 8A heading for Alpha Red but it was stopped by concrete beach obstacles on its first two tries. It finally landed at 1145hrs, with an M8 light armored car of C/117th Cavalry landing first followed by a M15 multiple-gun-motor-carriage of the 441st AAA Battalion. (NARA)

German prisoners gather on Yellow Beach to await transfer to ships off the coast. The wreckage in the background is an L-4 Grasshopper (Piper Cub) observation plane that made a forced landing earlier in the morning on the beach. (NARA)

The landing of the 15th Infantry on Alpha Yellow proceeded in much the same fashion, with DD tanks leading the way. However, the LCVPs proceeded to the beach so fast that they passed the swimming tanks, swamping one of them with their wake. One tank was disabled on the beach by a mine, but there was so little resistance on the beach that the tanks saw little combat. The resistance in this sector was very scattered and consisted mainly of unenthusiastic Ost troops who quickly surrendered. The 1/15th Infantry headed for the high ground around the town of Ramatuelle to link up with 30th Infantry while the other two battalions headed toward Saint-Tropez. Earlier in the morning, Cos. B and C of the 509th PIB had been mistakenly parachuted near Saint-Tropez in one of the pre-dawn drops. The paratroopers joined with the French FFI’s Brigade des Maures and set off to seize Saint-Tropez, advancing through the town and securing most of it except for a determined German unit in the town’s citadel. When the 15th Infantry arrived later in the day, they reinforced the attack on the citadel, which capitulated at 1530hrs. In total, the division captured 1,627 prisoners on D-Day.

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