Operation Dragoon was the code name for the landing operation of the Allied invasion of Provence on 15 August 1944. Although initially designed to be executed in conjunction with Operation Overlord, the Allied landing in Normandy, a lack of available resources led to a cancellation of the second landing. By July 1944 the landing was reconsidered, as the clogged-up ports in Normandy did not have the capacity to adequately supply the Allied forces. Concurrently, the High Command of the French Liberation Army pushed for a revival of the operation that would include large numbers of French troops. As a result, the operation was finally approved in July to be executed in August.
The Operation Dragoon invasion fleet off the coast of Southern France
German 88-mm gun on the coast in southern France
U.S. paratroopers of the 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team prepare for the landings.
Jean de Lattre de Tassigny (in dark pants and shirt without jacket, behind André Diethelm in suit) reviewing troops in the liberated city of Marseille on 29 August 1944
Provisional Government of the French Republic
The Provisional Government of the French Republic was the provisional government of Free France between 3 June 1944 and 27 October 1946, following the liberation of continental France after Operations Overlord and Dragoon, and lasting until the establishment of the French Fourth Republic. Its establishment marked the official restoration and re-establishment of a provisional French Republic, assuring continuity with the defunct French Third Republic.
General Charles de Gaulle and the ministers of the Provisional Government, 2 November 1945
Image: Charles de Gaulle photo Henri Manuel
Image: Georges Bidault
Image: Vincent Auriol – January 1946 (cropped)