“Operation Anvil”
(August 15, 1944)
The day before D
day, Allied forces captured Rome,
freeing up troops for a second invasion planned for the south of France.
On August 15, while the tank battle was raging in the north, Allied
troops landed in Operation Anvil (also code-named Dragoon) between Cannes
and Toulon. Anvil had been a cause of tension within the Alliance because
Churchill had preferred to devote the energy and resources to additional
operations in the Mediterranean. Eisenhower insisted, however, that
Anvil was important to the success of Overlord because it would pin down German forces in southern France and provide
an additional port through which supplies could pass.
The invasion went as smoothly as could have been hoped,
with more than 80,000 men landing without meeting serious resistance.
The troops overcame stiffer opposition in Toulon and Marseille. By the
end of the month, the Anvil forces were moving north and linked up with
the Overlord troops in mid-September near Dijon.
Sources: Mitchell G. Bard, The
Complete Idiot's Guide to World War II. NY: MacMillan, 1998 |