(AFP) - French President Emmanuel Macron will on Saturday visit Bormes-les-Mimosas, a town on the French Riviera, to commemorate its liberation 80 years ago. The ceremony is part of a series of events marking the "southern French D-Day", which began on 15 August.
The landings in Provence, often overshadowed by the Normandy landings two months earlier, were crucial to the final stages of World War II in Europe.
On 15 August 1944, around 100,000 American, British, and Canadian troops landed on the beaches of the Var region along the French Riviera.
They were soon joined by 250,000 Free French soldiers, predominantly recruited from France's overseas colonies in Africa.
Their mission was to recapture the key port cities of Marseille and Toulon from German occupiers.
The Allied forces met their objectives within two weeks, facing only limited resistance from a German army that was both underequipped and exhausted.
Forced march
One notable incident occurred on 16 August 1944, when Resistance fighters attacked German forces in the coastal town of Lavandou, resulting in one death and four injuries.
According to a vivid account on the Bormes-les-Mimosas town hall website, the Germans had mined the port's piers to prevent the Allies from establishing a docking zone.
In response, the Nazis arrested 180 people – men, women, and children – accusing them of harbouring Resistance fighters and threatening them with immediate execution.
The hostages were forced to march over the hills to the inland village of Bormes-les-Mimosas, where their fate would be decided by the Kommandantur, the highest local German authority, which had set up its headquarters in the Grand Hotel.
The hostages spent the night in the homes of local families, and were to be executed on 17 August, with the Nazis warning that any escape attempt would result in the execution of the "host" family.
However, in the early morning, American paratroopers descended on the village, supported by African commandos on the ground.
Surrender
The Nazis surrendered and the hostages from Lavandou, along with their "hosts" from Bormes, were freed unharmed.
A special three-day programme has been organised to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Provence and the role of Bormes-les-Mimosas.
On 16 August, visitors can participate in a reenactment of the 40-minute walk that the 180 hostages were forced to take from Lavandou to the center of Bormes.
On Saturday, there will be a military parade and an air show featuring American Dakota DC3 and T6 planes, along with a jazz concert inspired by WWII icon Glenn Miller.
President Macron is expected to arrive in Bormes-les-Mimosas for his annual speech, travelling from his holiday residence at Fort de Brégançon, just 10 kilometres away.
He will be accompanied by Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu, Nice mayor Christian Estrosi, and military veterans.