This book, first published in 1952, gives a detailed first-hand account by its commanding officer of the French First Army, from its successful landings in the South of France through its liberation of Marseilles and breakout across the Rhine and victory beyond the Danube. It is a remarkable campaign, overshadowed by the armies of the British and Americans in Northern Europe, and detailed here with precision and passion by one of France’s leading military minds.
Part 1. The Armed Vigil 1. The Weapon is Forged 2. ‘Brassard’ 3. ‘Anvil-Dragoon’ Part 2. From the Mediterranean to the Vosges 4. Rendezvous with France 5. Victory in Provence 6. Pursuit to the Vosges Part 3. The Harsh Autumn Sowing 7. The Amalgamation 8. The Battle of the Vosges Part 4. The Liberation of Alsace 9. First to the Rhine 10. The Colmar Pocket and the Operations of December 1944 11. Strasbourg Saved 12. The Victory of Colmar Part 5. Rhine and Danube 13. The Entry into Germany 14. The French First Army Crosses the Rhine 15. The Dislocation of the German Defence and the Freudenstadt Manoeuvre 16. Annihilation in Four Instalments 17. Victory in Berlin
Biography
Marshal de Lattre de Tassigny
