Provence in the south of France was part of the Vichy state, first occupied by the Italians, then by the Germans. Deportations, requisitions, forced labour and hunger led a few brave people to resist. Allied agents and special forces tried as best they could to feed this flame of resistance, but where resistance rose too soon against the occupiers, reprisals by the occupiers and their helpers were brutal.
Allied air raids preceding the "other" invasion of southern France destroyed lives and property, yet residents of Provence helped downed Allied air crews escape capture. Operation Dragoon, the often overlooked major Allied landing in the south of France, and its subsequent battles engulfed much of Provence. While the French set about searching for collaborators, Provence eventually came under a more benign type of occupation in the form of American GIs on furlough or in huge camps awaiting their return home to the US.
Group
Books (first-hand)
Author
Bourhill, James
Title
The Killing Fields of Provence. Occupation, Resistance and Liberation in the South of France
Details
English text, 16 plates with bw photos, 17 bw maps. 405 pp.
State
new
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Church Street 47 S70 2AS South Yorkshire Vereinigtes Königreich
