During
World War 2,
Operation Dragoon (
Allies,
1944) was the invasion of southern France between
Toulon and
Cannes executed on
15 August 1944. Originally called
Anvil, the name was changed by
Winston Churchill, who claimed to having been "dragooned" into accepting it. Over ninety-four thousand troops and eleven thousand vehicles were landed on the first day. The quick success of this invasion, with a twenty-mile penetration in twenty-four hours, sparked a major uprising by resistance fighters in
Paris. The rapid retreat of the German Nineteenth Army gave the resulting battle the flavor of a race up the Rhone Valley. Allied forces from
Dragoon moving northward met up with southern thrusts from Normandy (
Operation Overlord) near
Dijon in mid-September.
Operation Dragoon included a glider landing (Operation Dove) and a deception (Operation Span).
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