In the South of France, the most memorable event of the Second World War was the sea and airborne invasion of 15 August 1944. Perhaps because it went relatively smoothly, this “Second D-Day” was soon relegated to the back pages of history. Operation Dragoon and the liberation is however only a small part of the story. The arrival of the Allies was preceded by years of suffering and sacrifice under Hitléro-Vichyssois oppression.
Provençale people still struggle to come to terms with the painful past of split-allegiances and empty stomachs which epitomize les années noirs (the dark years). Deportations, requisitions, forced labour, and hunger provoked some level of resistance by a courageous minority. Many actively colluded with the enemy, but most just waited for better days. By sea and air, Allied agents and Special Forces were infiltrated to fan the flames, but wherever the Resistance rose up prematurely, the reprisals from the Nazis and their auxiliaries were ferocious.
In every corner of Provence, the mindful traveller will come across words, chipped into stone, which exhort: Passant, souviens-toi (passer-by, remember). It is hard to imagine that such cruelty could have existed here less than one generation ago. These places of memory tell a story of duplicity, defiance, and ultimately, deliverance. Whether the stuff of legends, or the everyday experiences of lesser mortals, humanity is used to explain the Franco-American experience of wartime Provence, as seen through an Anglo-Saxon prism.
