The causeway to the mainland (the Isthme des Sablettes) not only led to the creation of an independent town, but the use of the area as a battery station for the heavily fortified port of Toulon.

Naval aviation and the Fleet Mechanics and Pilots School (École des Mécaniciens et Chauffeurs de la flotte, GEM) were located in the town in the 1930s.

Part of the fleet and the first to engage the battery was the Free French battleship Lorraine, sister ship to the Provence and mounting the same type of gun.

The Allies, who termed the battery 'Big Willie', dedicated a battleship or heavy cruiser to shelling it every day; eventually USS Nevada silenced the guns on 23 August 1944, although the fortress would not be taken until 28th.

The cemetery also features the necropolis of Admiral Louis-René Levassor de Latouche Tréville, who served as commander of the naval forces in the Mediterranean under Napoleon.