The invasion sought to secure the vital ports on the French Mediterranean coast and increase pressure on the German forces by opening another front.

After preliminary commando operations, the US VI Corps landed on the beaches of the Côte d'Azur under the protection of a large naval task force, followed by several divisions of French Army B.

They were opposed by the scattered forces of the German Army Group G, which had been weakened by the relocation of its divisions to other fronts and the replacement of its soldiers with third-rate Ostlegionen outfitted with obsolete equipment.

The ensuing battle led to a stalemate, with neither side able to achieve a decisive breakthrough, until the Germans were finally able to complete their withdrawal and retreat from the town.

In discussions with Franklin D. Roosevelt, Stalin advocated for the operation as an inherent part of the planned invasion of Normandy, preferring to have the Allies in the far west instead of at an alternative landing in the Balkans, which he considered to be in his zone of influence.

[13] Churchill reasoned that by attacking the Balkans, the Allies could deny Germany petroleum, forestall the advance of the Red Army, and achieve a superior negotiating position in postwar Europe, all at a stroke.

[13][14][17] Churchill and his chiefs of staff had opposed Dragoon in favor of reinforcing the campaign in Italy, by capturing Trieste, landing on the Istria peninsula, and moving through the Ljubljana Gap into Austria and Hungary.

Eisenhower, supported by Roosevelt, who (with his 1944 election campaign four months away) opposed diverting large forces to the Balkans, stood firm on the agreed plan despite long harangues from Churchill on 5 and 9 August.

[18] The chief objectives of Operation Dragoon were the important French ports of Marseille and Toulon, considered essential to supply the growing Allied forces in France.

They chose a location with no high ground controlled by the Wehrmacht, conditions that had led to heavy casualties after the initial landings on Omaha Beach at Normandy.

The 6th Army Group was formed in Corsica and activated on 1 August, to consolidate the French and American forces slated to invade southern France.

The equipment of those troops was in poor shape, consisting of old weapons from various nations, with French, Polish, Soviet, Italian and Czech guns, artillery, and mortars.

After their military take-over in November 1942, the Germans improved the coastal defense further by repairing damaged and outdated turrets, as well as moving in additional guns.

[33][34] Meanwhile, at Cap Nègre, to the west of the main invasion, a large group of French commandos destroyed German artillery emplacements as part of Operation Romeo.

The American 550th Glider Infantry Battalion under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Edward Sachs then attempted to seize the town that evening but were repulsed.

[33][34] The preceding bombing missions, together with resistance sabotage acts, hit the Germans heavily, interrupting railroads, damaging bridges, and disrupting the communication network.

Bombing was nearly continuous until 07:30, when battleships and cruisers launched spotting aircraft and began firing on specific targets detected by aerial surveillance.

With almost no mobile reserves to react against the beach landings, he ordered the commander of the 189th Infantry Division, Richard von Schwerin, to establish an ad hoc battle group (Kampfgruppe) from all nearby units to counterattack the Allied beachheads in this area.

While von Schwerin assembled all the men he could find, the 148th Infantry Division near Draguignan encountered heavy resistance from the FFI, which had been reinforced by British paratroopers, upsetting the plan for a swift counterattack toward the beaches.

Given the precarious situation, Adolf Hitler moved away from his "no step backwards" agenda and agreed to an OKW plan for the complete withdrawal of army groups G and B.

The OKW plan was for all German forces (except the stationary fortress troops) in southern France to move north to link up with Army Group B to form a new defensive line from Sens through Dijon to the Swiss frontier.

On 18 August Neuling's surrounded LXII Corps' headquarters, attempted an unsuccessful breakout and was finally captured with the rest of the city after some fighting.

To seize this opportunity, Taskforce Butler was ordered to advance in this direction, paralleling the German evacuation effort and ultimately cutting them off further north.

While doing so, it fought some scattered German resistance, and finally, after turning left, found itself near Montélimar, a small city on the east bank of the Rhône River.

Taskforce Butler was officially dissolved on 23 August, and John E. Dahlquist, commander of the now fully-arrived 36th Infantry Division, assumed direct control of its units.

After some initial skirmishes, the 11th Panzer Division launched a heavy attack into the city, causing 215 American casualties and destroying a number of tanks and vehicles.

To fight the uprising, German units committed numerous atrocities and war crimes against French fighters, as well as civilians, in retaliatory acts.

"[78] Despite these successes, criticism of Dragoon was made by some Allied generals and contemporary commentators such as Bernard Montgomery, Arthur R. Wilson and Chester Wilmot in the aftermath, mostly because of its geostrategic implications.

The resulting loss of momentum gave Stalin on the Eastern Front a free hand to pursue his offensive efforts with more determination, allowing him to win the race towards Berlin and occupy the Balkans.

[79] a A significant number of Canadians also took part, both afloat and in the battles in southern France as members of the binational US-Canadian First Special Service Force.