August 1944

Western Front

In the US 7th Army area, engineers are preparing a way for entry of the 1st ABTF into Cannes, which patrols report clear of Germans. The 1st SSF prepares to attack Grasse, an important road junction on the Route Napoléon (Highway 85). The VI Corps concentrates on intercepting the German withdrawal up the Rhône Valley to Lyon, with the 141st Infantry, 36th Division, closing in on the valley and occupying the main line of resistance from the Drôme River to the Montélimar area. TF Butler is disposed to support the 141st Infantry and provide flank protection. The 2nd Battalion of the 141st, assisted by French Maquis and the arillery fire of TF Butler from Condillac Pass, attacks southward toward Montélimar on Highway 7 but fails in the first of many efforts to take the town. To free additional elements of the 36th Division for action in the Rhône Valley, the 180th Infantry of the 45th Division relieves the 142nd of its defensive positions in the northern part of the eastern flank of the corps. The 179th Infantry is attached to the 36th Division in the Grenoble area. The 3rd Division works northwestward toward the Rhône and finds Martiques clear.

In the French Army B's II Corps area, the 9th Colonial and the 1st Infantry Divisions break into the eastern part of Toulon and press forward to the center of the city. After a battery on Cap de l'Esterel, at the eastern tip of the Giens Peninsula, surrenders, French troops land on the peninsula and clear it without opposition. The Chapuis Group of the Algerian 3rd Division, assisted by Goums and CCI of the 1st Armored Division, breaks into the suburbs of Marseille from the east and north. Efforts to induce the garrison to surrender fail.