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After
the Allied Forces landed in Normandy, on June 6
1944, the Allied High Command decided to open a
second front, some six weeks later, in order to
liberate Southern France and to trap the German
Army in a pincer movement with units of the
Allied Army in Normandy to hook up with the
Allied Troops who were liberating the South of
France.
 This
led to OPERATION DRAGOON,
in Provence, on August 15 1944. In the first
days, 250,000 men, and thousands of tons of
equipment, were landed on the beaches between
Toulon and Cannes. The overall armada consisted
of 2000 ships, 3 American divisions (36th, 45th
and 3rd Divisions) and the 1st French Army of
Général de Lattre de Tassigny, all under the
command of General Alexander Patch of the 7th
Allied Army. The 6th American Army Corps of
Major General Lucian Truscott landed the same
day.
 The
American troops landed on the 15th and the
French on the 16th. In order to protect the
allied landings on the coast of the South of
France and to capture the key roads leading
north, an impressive airborne drop was made on
the night of the 14th to the 15th August 1944,
25 km behind the German lines, in three zones
around Le Muy.
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  This
mission was entrusted to the first Airborne Army,
«Airborne Task Force» under the command of the
American General Robert T. Frederick. 10,000
Parachutists, mostly Americans, but also the
British Second Parachutist Brigade, and a group
of French pathfinders from the First Storm
Batallion, jumped into enemy-held territory.
 To
reinforce the paratroopers, close to 500 gliders,
both American WACO type and English HORSA, left
from Italy towed by C 47 transport planes and
brought in heavy equipment, jeeps and supplies,
to help the paratroopers hold the strategic and
vital town of Le Muy. The next day, the
Parachutist Division, with help |
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