Operation Dragoon: History of the Military Campaigns That Liberated Southern France during WW2

Operation Dragoon, the Allied invasion of southern France launched on August 15, 1944, stands as one of World War II's most successful yet least remembered amphibious operations. Often overshadowed by the more famous D-Day landings at Normandy two months earlier, this massive assault on the French Riviera represented a crucial component of the Allied strategy to liberate Western Europe and defeat Nazi Germany. The operation's success would open a vital second front in France, provide the Allies with critically needed ports, and accelerate the collapse of German resistance throughout the country.

The strategic origins of Operation Dragoon can be traced to the Allied conferences of 1943, where American and British leaders debated how best to apply their growing military strength against Nazi-occupied Europe. The Americans, led by General George Marshall and strongly supported by President Franklin Roosevelt, advocated for a direct assault on the strongest German defenses in northern France. The British, reflecting Winston Churchill's preference for peripheral strategies that might achieve victory with fewer casualties, favored operations in the Mediterranean that would strike at what Churchill famously called the "soft underbelly" of Europe.

The compromise that emerged from these strategic debates called for simultaneous operations that would stretch German defenses beyond their breaking point while maximizing Allied advantages in naval and air power. The primary invasion would indeed strike at the heavily fortified coast of Normandy, but it would be supported by a secondary landing in southern France that would force the Germans to divide their reserves and provide the Allies with access to the major ports of Marseille and Toulon. This two-pronged strategy reflected both American insistence on decisive action and British concern for minimizing casualties through careful strategic planning.