Operation Dragoon 1944: France's other D-Day (Campaign)

• Publisher:   Osprey Publishing
• Number Of Pages:   96
• Publication Date:   2009-06-23
• ISBN-10 / ASIN:   1846033675
• ISBN-13 / EAN:   9781846033674

Operation Dragoon, the Allied landings in southern France on August 15, 1944, was one of the most controversial operations of 1944, leading to deep divides between United States and British planners. The US objective was to threaten the rear of the German armies occupying France by a landing on the eastern French coast and to push rapidly northward towards Lorraine to meet up with Allied forces bursting out of Normandy. Dragoon was a complex operation very similar to the Normandy landings, complete with a US and British airborne assault followed by a naval assault landing. The landings led to a precipitous German retreat from France, authorized by Hitler himself. In September 1944, the US Seventh Army and French First Army reached Lorraine, sealing off any remaining German troops and completing the liberation of the majority of French territory. Popular Osprey author Steve Zaloga tells the story of this operation, from the derisive debates between the Allied commanders to the men who hit the beaches and charged ashore to help liberate occupied France.

Most modern historiography about the campaigns in France in the summer of 1944 focuses almost exclusively upon the fighting in Normandy and barely mentions the American and French landings in the south of France in August 1944, which was known as Operation Dragoon. The recent book The Day of the Panzer by Jeff Danby was an exception, but otherwise the official Green Book campaign history has been one of the few reliable sources easily at hand. In Osprey's Campaign No. 210 on Operation Dragoon, veteran author Steven J Zaloga provides his usual thorough coverage and analysis to produce an excellent history of this important but neglected campaign of the Second World War. In addition to German and American primary source material, the author also used considerable French-language material that provides considerable value-added benefit for this volume. Overall, Operation Dragoon is an excellent campaign history. In the introductory sections, the author sketches out the origins of the campaign, which was opposed by the British but pushed through by the Americans. The author is more than fair to Churchill here, who was keen to waste forces in the Balkans and Burma, but could not see the logic that a second landing in France would totally unhinge the German ability to maintain a viable defense in central France. The section on opposing commanders (5 pages) and opposing plans (4 pages) are a bit short, but the author makes it clear that the primary Allied operational objective was the seizure of the ports of Toulon and Marseille and the main German goal was to deny this. The author also does a fine job enumerating the advantages that allowed the Allies to conduct Operation Dragoon and the weakness that the German commanders faced. The 16-page section on opposing forces is quite good and highlights the hodgepodge nature of the German forces defending the Mediterranean Coast and how the lack of mobile reserves or Luftwaffe support made retreat their only viable option once the Allies landed. A number of Allied innovations, such as the Apex craft, and modifications of airborne tactics learned from Normandy are also discussed. The campaign narrative proper is 55 pages long and begins with the landing of the U.S. VI Corps and airborne forces on 15 August 1944. A key point made here is that Allied planners expected a harder fight initially, as in Normandy and planned for a slow steady breakout. Despite very good intelligence support, they also planned for a German counterattack, which never came. Instead, the weak German beach defenses were overrun very quickly and at low cost and even Hitler realized that Army Group G could not hold the south of France, so except for last-ditch defenses of Toulon and Marseille he authorized the remaining forces to withdraw northward. The rest of the campaign thus consists of the French 1st Army landing to reduce the defenses of the two ports while the American VI Corps conducted a bold flanking maneuver to try and cut off the German escape. This volume provides particularly useful lessons for military professionals, about being able to exploit fleeting battlefield opportunities (should VI Corps take a chance and send Task Force Butler to cut the German escape route or play it safe?). Ultimately, most of Army Group G was able to escape because the Americans lacked sufficient armor and fuel to conduct a full-scale pursuit, but their personnel and equipment losses were crippling. Operation Dragoon has five 2-D maps (German dispositions on the Mediterranean Coast, August 1944; the landing zones on 15 August 1944; the Rhone Triangle, 20-25 August 1944; the Liberation of Marseille, 20-27 August 1944; the Race to Lyon, 29 August - 3 September 1944) and three 3-D BEV maps (the Amphibious assault on Camel Beach, 15 August 1944; the Liberation of Toulon, 19-28 August 1944 and the Montelimar Battle Square, 23-26 August 1944). Overall, the maps are quite good and make it easy to follow the narrative, except for some of TF Butler's early movements. The three battle scenes by John White (Do-217 bombers from KG 100 launching Hs-293 guided bombs at the Allied fleet; the 11. Panzer-Division in the Montelimar corridor and the destroyer USS Ludlow under attack by German Marder mini-submarines on 5 September 1944) are decent, but not quite as good as those drawn by Peter Dennis. The volume has a short bibliography listing primary and secondary sources and an index. The photographs are also a strong point in the volume, with a large number of color images and many that are not produced in other sources.

Mr Zaloga has taken this assignment seriously and has done his homework and developed a 5 star book on a campaign that has been overshadowed by Normandy since the war ended.
In the introduction, the author explains the German history of southern France and the Vichy government since 1940. The Allies receive a little more coverage with the describing of the friction and controversy over Dragoon at the expense of the Italian camaign. He also describes the advantages the Allies will have over the Germans with the southern landings.
The Chronology comes next and it covers pertinent events that will impact Operation Dragaon as far back as Nov 1942. One minor complaint: This listing would have been better if the author had described the hourly events of Aug 15th instead of just saying the operation begins.
The Opposing Commanders is also covered well for both sides. Descriptions of General Blaskowitz of AG G, Wiese and Bieringer are given. On the Allied side, General Patch, Truscott, O'Daniel and Dalhquist. The French generals Juin, Tassigny and LeClerc are also included. Photos of each person are also supplied.
The Opposing Forces chapter is one of the most detailed I've seen in an Osprey book, taking up 16 pages. The author covers Orders of Battle for German, American and French as well as giving pertinent information on the individual armies and battlefield, including the number of fortifications and the number and type of obstacles planted at the landing site. The training to and assistance given by the French Resistance is also expressed.
In the Opposing Plans, the author describes the four potential landing sites the Germans thought possible and had to plan the best they could with the resources available to cover them. The sites were Southern Brittany, the lower Bay of Biscay, near Marseilles in the Riviera and the the Bay of Genoa in Italy. Genoa was their first choice with the Riviera their second choice. The author describes steps taken to defend those areas. The Allied section was surprisingly brief but adequate. The author mentions the experiences learned from the previous landings including Normandy to prepare a sophisicated assault by the Allies.
For the Campaign chapter, the author spends 56 pages explaining in good detail the process of the landing and followup. It includes the inland bombing of rail and roads to hamper reinforcements from reaching the coast. It includes the airbourne landings and assault to further hamper German movements. The commando raids to capture the islands off the Provence coast as well as at Negre were mentioned, describing the troubles the commandos had to overcome. The author describes in good detail the prior naval shelling and meticulous steps taken for the main landings. He gives special attention to the area at Camel Beach where the Allies met stiff resistance and troubles. The German resistance the airbourne forces met up with are also described. The capture of the important ports of Marseille and Toulon and the good job the French forces did are also highlighted. The chapter ends with the Allies moving up the Rhone Valley to meet up with the Overlord forces near the German border.
In the Aftermath section, the author was impressed with the operation and describes the importance of its success.
I was hoping the author would speculate on a pet theory of mine but it wasn't meant to be. I submit that if General Marshall had insisted on the landing boats required plus downplaying the assault on Rome so that Operation Dragoon could have jumped off on June 6th that the history of Normandy would have been much different, much better than it was. The Italian Campaign as well as the first 6 weeks of Normandy were costly and if VI's Corps could have landed with Overlord, lives could have been saved with a quicker breakout of Normandy. The author includes five 2-D maps and three 3-D maps and all of them are very good and helpful in understanding the story. There are also three 2 page wide illustrations that are good. There are many good photos, some are in color
If this book has peaked your interest in this campaign, Mr Zaloga has listed two pages of alternatives to read.
This is an excellent book on the "Other French Landing" and is highly recommended.

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