CrocodileTear's video: Operation Dragoon Autopsy of a Battle the Liberation of the French Riviera

The author is always searching for photos, documents, letters and manuscripts about the liberation of the French Riviera and Operation Dragoon in August 1944. If you are a relative of a veteran who fought in southern France, please contact me at jean-loup@gassend.com Book website: http://autopsyofabattle.blogspot.com/ About missing soldiers: http://battlefieldarchaeology.blogspot.com/ On the night of August 14-15, 1944, the First Airborne Task Force, which included the U.S. 509th, 517th and 551st Parachute Infantry Regiments, jumped into enemy held territory spearheading Operation Dragoon, the Allied invasion of southern France. Based on interviews from all combatant units, battlefield archaeology, period photos, letters and reports, this book provides an outstandingly detailed hour-by-hour account of the advance through southern France, as seen through the eyes of those who lived through it, bringing to light the tragic and gruesome realities of what was later to become known as the "Champagne Campaign." Jean-Loup Gassend is a medical doctor specializing in forensics. Over the past ten years he has extensively explored the battlefields of the French Riviera, recovering many lost artifacts as well as the bodies of missing soldiers. Jean-Loup Gassend has French and Canadian citizenships, is fluent in both English and French, and has working knowledge of German, which enabled him to discover many previously unexplored sources for the writing of this book. Locations covered by this book: Anthéor, Antibes, l'Authion, Bar sur Loup, Biot, le Broc, Callian, Cagnes sur Mer, Cannes, Col de Braus, Courmes, Draguignan, Estérel, Grasse, Hill 1098, Levens, Mandelieu la Napoule, Menton, Montauroux, Moulinet, Nice, Peira Cava, Plan du Var, Pont du Loup, Roquefort les Pins, la Roquette sur Var, Seillans, Sospel, St Cezaire sur Siagne, le Trayas, la Turbie, Vence, Villeneuve-Loubet. Schiffer, 2014. The author is always seeking for veterans, manuscripts, photos, information and documents about the First Airborne Task Force - 1st Airborne Task Force and the following units ( contact: jean-loup@gassend.com ): -First Special Service Force -2nd Independent Parachute Brigade -2nd Chemical Battalion -3rd Ordinance Medium Maintenance Company -4th Battalion Parachute Regiment -5th Battalion (Scottish) Parachute Regiment -6th Battalion (Welsh) Parachute Regiment -40th Engineer Regiment -46th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company -48th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company -51st Evacuation Hospital -65th Infantry Regiment, Puerto Rican (Borinqueneers) -83rd Chemical Battalion -141st Infantry Regiment -334th Quartermaster Airial Resupply -460th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion -463rd Parachute Field Artillery Battalion -509th Parachute Infantry Regiment -512th Signal Company -517th Parachute Infantry Regiment -550th Glider Infantry Battalion -551st Parachute Infantry Battalion -596th Parachute Combat Engineer Company -638th Medical Clearing Company -636th Tank Destroyer Battalion -645th Tank Destroyer Battalion -676th Medical Clearing Company -887th Airborne Engineer Company -LST-51 -LST-282 Reserve Division 148 Otto Fretter-Pico Reserve Grenadier Regiment 8 Reserve Grenadier Bataillon 7 Reserve Jäger Bataillon 28 Reserve Grenadier Bataillon 164 Reserve Grenadier Regiment 239 Reserve Grenadier Bataillon 327 Reserve Grenadier Bataillon 372 Reserve Grenadier Bataillon 444 Ost Bataillon 661 Index: Chapter 1: The Occupation of the Maritime Alps Chapter 2: The French Resistance Chapter 3: The Operation Dragoon Parachute Drops Chapter 4: The Unintentional Parachute Drops in the Fayence and Montauroux Region Reserve Division 148’s Reaction to the Invasion La Roche in Fayence The Recapture of the Fayence-Montauroux Area by the Americans Office of Strategic Services Actions at la Roche Chapter 5: Pathfinders and Forcemen in Tanneron Chapter 6: The Landings in the Estérel Mountains and the Battles for la Napoule and Cannes The Landing in the Anthéor Cove The Sinking of Landing Ship Tank 282 The Attack of Hill 84 by the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion The 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion at Hill 105 Chapter 7: Resistance Activities in Cannes Chapter 8: The Capture of Saint Cézaire sur Siagne Chapter 9: The Liberation of Grasse and its Region Chapter 10: Crossing the Loup River at Villeneuve-Loubet and La Colle sur Loup The Attack on Villeneuve-Loubet During the Night of August 25th to 26th The German Soldiers of Reserve Grenadier Bataillon 372 The Exhumation of the Mass Grave of German Soldiers Grenadier Alois Wühr The Bunker on the Route Nationale 7 at Villeneuve-Loubet Plage Chapter 11: The Advance to the Var River Chapter 12: The Battles for Levens and La Roquette sur Var Chapter 13: The Resistance Rises up in Nice The Ariane Massacre The Capture of Oberstleutnant Hans Niedlich Chapter 14: In Resistance Controlled Territory Chapter 15: Advancing to the Mountains at the Italian Border