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'Glorious G.I.s' 65th Anniversary of Riviera Allied Landings
Operation Dragoon 67th Anniversary
lhistoireenrafale.fr 14 Aug 11
Monday, August 15, 2011 ceremonies will be held to commemorate
the 67th anniversary of the Allied landings in Provence, a joint
operation called 'Dragoon'. The participating French forces were
commanded by General B. Jean de Lattre de Tassigny. The Minister
of Defense and Veterans Affairs, Gerard Longuet will be on the
Var coast in Saint-Raphaël, Fréjus, Saint-Maxime, Grimaud and
will finish his memorial tour at Cogolin where he will make a
speech. On August 15, 1944, 100,000 Allied soldiers landed in
Provence. 10,000 from parachutes and gliders. The operation also
mobilized 2,000 aircraft and 500 ships. "The chef is hungry" was
the coded message that told the French forces from within the
imminence of this second landing after Operation Overlord, June
6, 1944, on the beaches of Normandy. On the night of August 14,
the Allied fleet regrouped off Cape Corse. Three beach areas
were used to land the troops. Two solid foundations were well
established that day either side of Frejus.
'We were the children of monsters' Menton
man creates Hearts Without Borders
Washington Post 10 Dec 09
Jean-Jacques Delorme was 23 before he got the truth. After years
of mystery, during which his mother maintained a stubborn
silence, Delorme's grandmother reached into a big armoire and
pulled out a yellowed envelope filled with photos of a German
soldier. He had been his mother's lover during the occupation of
France in World War II. Delorme is now 65 and retired from the
French postal service in Menton on the French Riviera. To help
people like himself who are coming to terms with their origins,
Delorme founded
Hearts Without Borders.
The three-year-old organization, with 300 members -- all
children of German soldiers -- provides phone numbers that war
babies can call to talk about what it was like growing up behind
the veil. Edward Cody.
Cavalaire-sur-mer,
August 15th 2009, the 65th anniversary of the Allied landings to
liberate the South of France from Nazi occupation. Originally
called Operation Anvil, the 1944 invasion was re-named Operation
Dragoon. Over 500 servicemen, predominantly American, gave their
lives in this lesser known episode of World War II.
RivieraLife.tv's David Rowe reports on this significant
anniversary from the landing area of Cavalaire-sur-Mer, Fayence
and the US military cemetery in Draguignan.
On August
6th 2009, a ceremony took place at Arlington National
Cemetery in Virginia, USA to commemorate the more than 500
U.S. troops who lost their lives to liberate the South of
France in Operation Dragoon. Surviving veterans of the
campaign were also present and honoured at the event.
MSNBC's Brian Williams presents this news report on that
event.
Prior to
the Allied invasion known as Operation Dragoon, PT boats
would make raids on the Nazi occupied French coast, and
following the allied landings in the South of France, they
continued raids on the Italian coast in the Gulf of Genoa to
support the partisans. This video account is by C. Ross
Littig, former officer of the PT-305 torpedo boat, now
undergoing restoration at the World War II museum in New
Orleans. Officer Littig recalls his raids on the French &
Italian Mediterranean coast and the US Navy Officer's luxury
base at the villa of a French actress in Cannes. Bill
Capo / WWLTV Eyewitness News 07 Dec 09
November 11th 2008
was the 90th anniversary of the end of World War 1, Since then
millions more soldiers have scarificed their lives in conflicts
around the world. This video report records the 90th anniversary
ceremony at the
Bordighera British
Cemetery on
the Italian Riviera. The
Rev. Douglas Bean,
Chaplain of St. John's Anglican Church in Menton conducted the
ceremony.
On the 70th
anniversary of the outbreak of World War II, the Forces
Sweetheart
Dame Vera Lynn
topped the UK album charts and re-issued her autobiography
Some
Sunny Day.
On Friday 18th September Dame Vera, a regular visitor to the
Cote d'Azur, was guest of honour at
Heidi's English
Bookshop
in Antibes, where she signed almost 100 copies of her memoir.
Local journalist
Liz Morgan
and
David Rowe
produced this video report for
RivieraLife.tv.
A new monument was
unveiled in Frejus 02 Dec 09, the 50th anniversary of the Malpasset dam disaster. The monument which stands by the Roman
arena in Frejus, commemorates the 423 who died on that tragic
night in 1959. RivieraLife.tv's David Rowe reports on the
commemorations and speculates about some of the reasons for this
tragic disaster.
Astronaut
Buzz Aldrin was guest of honour at a garden party hosted by the Prince
Albert II of Monaco Foundation in July. On the 40th anniversary of his
pioneering mission to the moon, Aldrin whose lunar landing vehicle was
called 'The Eagle', helped to celebrate an exhibition of Eagle
sculptures around Monaco, organised by Eco Art International to benefit
Prince Albert II's environmental projects around the world.
RivieraLife.tv was there, check out our video report.
