Rédigé par Alain dans la rubrique Maquis Parachutage Réseau
On
the 14th of July 1944 a massive parachute drop of arms and supplies was
organised for the south-west of France under the mission title Operation Cadillac.
Extract from Maquisards à 17ans by André Goineaud-Bérard :
We
had a stock of arms of all types coming from the parachute drop made by
200 'Flying Fortresses' and 'Liberators' which dropped their 'cargo' on
the 14th July in the south of la Corrèze and in the area around Nontron
at le Champ-Romain. Jacques Poirier mentions in his book 'La Girafe a
un long cou' -
"After
the war, General Gubbins, Chief of the S.O.E., confirmed with a certain
sense of pride that on the 14th July 1944 they had carried out the most
important parachute drop of the war."
The
parachute drop was part of a huge joint operation organised by the
Allies under the code name 'Operation Cadillac'. It was considered a
total success: of the 349 bombers lead by 524 R.A.F. Spitfires, 320 had
reached their target, 3791 containers, 417 tons of armaments dropped on
the seven targets designated by the High Command of the Allied
Expeditionary Forces in Europe.
The drop at Moustoulat in la Corrèze had been given the code name 'Digger' by the Allies.
In
the morning of the 14th July there was an impressive sight of American
'Liberator' bombers accompanied by R.A.F. Spitfires flying at low
altitude over the entire area of the Secteur Nord (Dordogne). It was
discovered later to be the most important parachute drop of the war: 400
tons of arms were dropped for the Maquis of the Corrèze and the Lot
that morning.
The message awaited by Colonel Berger (Malraux) was 'Les taxis arriveront à 9 heures.'
Sparkling
in the blue sky, 144 'Liberator' bombers and 200 R.A.F. Spitfires with
the deafening sound of their engines fly over the terrain at Moustoulat,
as if they were creating an enourmous 'fly past' at an overhead
meeting. After this parade the planes separated and 36 take the
direction of Carennac where the Groupe 'Veny' had prepared some land, 70
took the direction towards Saint-Privat and the remaining 36 continue
on their voyage still accompanied by the 'Hurricanes' to assure the
security of the operation.
See
the book 'R5 Les SS en Limousin, Périgord et Quercy' by Georges Beau
and Léopold Gambusseau, 4th part of Chapter three : 'Le parachutage du
14 juillet 1944' on page 398. (By coincidence I had an old copy of this
book on its way to me in the post and now that it has arrived there is
an extract further down the page.)
On
their return, once their load had been lightened, this amazing fleet of
planes flew over the Dordogne and the Limousin. Obviously they had been
given a secondary objective to put on a 'show' to the people below and
hopefully boost their moral, much in need at that time.
Those
below had not failed to notice the show above, French flags went up at
the windows, crowds gathered in the squares, some people dug out their
hidden weapons and everywhere people let out shouts of joy and waved
their arms in the air. If these sights were reported back to London then
feelings would rise there too.
On
the radio, on the 14th July, in between some personal messages the
following was announced: 'Les petits pois sont verts.' This message was
for Fred (le Capitaine Fred), code saying that there would be a
parachute drop that evening on land at Gourinchas, 5km from Chalus. A
little before midnight the plane arrived and the parachutes dropped were
blue, white and red, a nice touch from the English for our national
day.
Even
better: as well as containers of arms and ammunition there were
uniforms, shoes and cigarettes. Five more planes would fly over during
the following nights and drop off their 'manna from the heavens' at
Gourinchas.
13 - 14 July 1944, Le groupe Héric
We
had driven over to the maquis HQ at Vergt to pick up any instructions
and some arms. No one from Vergt had visited our camp at Celles (near
Ribérac) so, they appointed two brothers (Gaussen) who were trainee
doctors at the time to accompany us back to Celles to review and report
back to the HQ at Vergt our situation.
The journey was quite long and in the Traction-avant we were travelling in friendly chit-chat ensued.
Héric
knew well what line of conversation he wanted to take and the two
brothers started to talk about how that night there was a massive wave
of parachute drops planned for several maquis groups in the Dordogne.
They
had heard the message "Le moustique danse sur le toit". But still no
arms for the groupe Héric. (The groupe had been requested by the
maquis état-major to join their neighbouring A.S. groupe 'Bugeaud' but
they had refused preferring to remain more autonomous. Downside was they
were no longer provided weapons and ammunition.) Hearing of the planned
parachute drop and still no arms for them the commander Héric was
furious. The two 'visitors' were well informed as to where some of the
drops had been planned for.
One in particular was due in the area around Neuvic and Mussidan, this camp was just on the edge of ours.
We
tried to get the two brothers to tell us the co-ordinates of this drop
in the hope to be there and profit from it. Finally after what seemed
like a never ending discussion they agreed to tell us.
So,
we positioned ourselves near the camp and got ready to light the fires
for the planes to see. We waited, nerves on edge and ears tuned in to
any distant sound of the hum of engines.
At
last, some time in between midnight and one in the morning we heard the
faint 'ronflements' of distant planes. Immediately we lit the fires and
got our torches ready to signal the code to the planes.
We
are ready, but it is necessary for the planes to pass near and see us.
They turn several times above our heads and then dropped the containers,
which contain arms, ammunition, petrol and some essential clothes.
It
is impossible to describe our immense joy. Everyone, as quickly as
possible, gather all the containers together. Enough material to equip
around 200 men.
That night had left us with some unforgettable memories even if it had deprived us of a whole night's sleep.
Now
we have some arms, arms that we obtained ourselves by putting into
practise the proverb 'help yourself, and the sky will help you!'.
(These
arms would be essential to le bataillon Héric in the coming weeks that
followed as they fought alongside le groupe Roland against the Germans
at Saint-Astier on the 19th and 20th of August.)
Albe, le groupe Héric :
Around
a dozen containers fell near us that night. The last one was lost in
the woods but then was found. It contained only shoes, all in sizes too
small to use!
Fontmarty,
who was part of the maquis at Mussidan who should have received the
parachute drop joined our Battalion later that year as the combat pushed
towards the Atlantic front. He was not amused!
Groupe 'Roland' :
That
evening at a quarter past nine Ici Londres broadcasted "Le Moustique
danse... Le Crapaud vole... Le crocodile a la pépie... L'autruche se
tape le ventre à terre..." Some of the messages received announcing the
many parachute drops destined for our area and for the Corrèze, awaited
for so long.
Extract from Scènes de la vie du maquis' by Henri Nanot :
Suddenly,
the parachute drops started. The multi-coloured parachutes filled the
black sky. It was a magical spectacle. The only sound came from the men
on the ground who didn't know whether to rush forward to the parachutes
or safely stand and watch the spectacle.
Every
now and then a heavy container would land just a few metres from them.
The first to land fell quickly as their parachutes had not opened
properly and made a deep hole in the ground, all the containers stayed
intact due to their strong construction. These could have killed someone
outright but fortunately there were no such accidents.
The containers that came down with parachutes posed no danger as they came down slowly.
As the men approached the containers they forgot to watch out for others falling above them.
There were so many parachutes coming down they resembled coloured snow falling from the sky.
Each
section was appointed a stretch of land agreed in advance. The last
bombers went over the horizon and six Spitfires appeared to sparkle as
they followed close behind.
All the parachutes were folded up and the containers put together in a pile.
The sight of this huge deployment of Allied air forces would give everyone hope of the imminent collapse of the Nazis.
Extract from Histoire d'un groupe franc du maquis de Dordogne by Jean Bart :
Aux armes! Aux armes!
It is the 13th of july and 9.15 in the evening. On the radio 'Ici Londres' broadcasts -
"Here are some personal messages" :
"Le Moustique danse..."
"Le crapaud vole..."
"Le crocodile a la pépie..."
"L'autruche se tape le ventre à terre..."
These
few phrases with no apparent signification and incomprehensible to most
of the people listening, announced at long last the imminent arrival of
arms, in great need for so long.
Some
of these messages had already been broadcasted on the radio, but never
before had they given us such hope. On the day that followed, the 14th
July, the planes of our friends and allies flew over the Dordogne and
even more over the Corrèze.
On this day, the arms rained down from the sky and put joy in all our hearts. They were so welcome.
As
said, most of the drops were in the Corrèze where the terrain was
better suited. It was towards this neighbouring département that a
convoy of eight trucks were sent to pick up the arms and various
materials that were needed so badly.
 |
| Parachutage du 14 juillet 1944 à Moustalat en Corrèze |
Extract from R5, les SS en Limousin, Périgord et Quercy by Georges Beau and Léopold Gaubusseau :
 |
| Transporting supplies from a drop |
On
the 14th of July at 5.30 in the morning there was a commotion as an
agent de liason announced that the awaited message had been broadcasted
during the night "Les taxis arriveront à 9 heures".
But,
at 7 o'clock, there was an alert. The faint sound of aeroplanes,
getting louder. It was a false alarm, it was a German reconnaisance
plane doing its routine check. An hour later the muffled rumblings of
aircraft engines began to fill the sky. "They're here!" Cried joyously
the maquisards.
Sparkling
in the perfect blue sky were 144 American Liberators and 200 R.A.F.
Spitfires. With the deafening sound of engines they flew over the land
at Moustoulat.
"It
was sheer madness" recounted a witness "We cried, we waved our hankies,
emotional in every sense, we didn't know what to do."
 |
| Drop as seen from the air - Vercors 14th July 1944 |
Suddenly
12 planes broke away from the formation and after a sharp turn, came
back over the land, and at an altitude of 100 metres released 140
containers weighing 200 kilos with parachutes open above. Attention was
needed not to have one land on your head.
The
first drop had only just landed when the next 12 planes came over,
releasing more containers, this time with blue, white and red
parachutes. As these fell nearer to the ground there were jubilant cries
of admiration.
After
all the parachutes had been released the Liberators regrouped in a
perfect formation and returned to make a tour of honour flying less
than 50 metres above the ground, then regained altitude and had soon
disappeared towards the horizon. The Spitfires remained for a while in
the area to oversee the safety of the maquisards below taking possession
of the containers.
"This
day will remain for me the most moving of my life." Wrote the
lieutenant 'Joseph' (Joseph Lavarec) in his notebook. He had taken
charge of transporting some of the containers over to a barn at
Mascheix, 2 km's to the south.
At the same time the containers were being dropped at Moustoulat, 200 were dropped at Saint-Privat and 450 at Carrenac.
At
Carrenac the O.R.A. (Organisation de Résistance de l'Armée) had lent a
hand to the groupe 'Veny' to collect the arms and transport them, but
also to guard the area and stop any 'unwelcome visitors'.
They
had taken position in a large patch of land next to a high ridge over
looking the Dordogne to Padirac in the south. To make possible the
transportation from the fields they had requisitioned bulls and carts
and their respective owners. On route the containers were taken off the
carts and put onto trucks.
It
was truly heaven sent. Amongst the weapons were machine guns, Stens,
grenades, small mortars, ammunition, bank notes and pharmacutical
products. Also, important supplies of tinned foods, chocolate, sweets
etc, which were well appreciated.
 |
| Drop made in daylight - Correze 14th July 1944 |
Extract from Histoire de la Résistance en Périgord by Guy Penaud :
The 14th of July, the national holiday in France started with the beautiful sunshine of a perfect summer's day.
200
'fortresses volantes' and 'Liberators' escorted by 60 Spitfires
appeared in the sky above the plateau at Causse de Loubressac (Correze).
During
six consecutive hours, these planes took it in turn to fly over and
then return releasing their parachuted cargo, so impatiently awaited for
by all. Taking no notice of German patrols in the area, 1,500
résistants lead by Commander Collignon encircled the terrain dotted with
containers and parachutes, terrain covering around 20 square km's.
Women
had placed bedsheets on the ground to form the letter 'Z' indicating
that this was definitely the zone for the parachute drop.
Farmers and shop owners came out from their villages and farms, driving vehicles of all descriptions to transport away the arms.
Part
of the 'booty' was destined to the maquis of the Dordogne: a convoy of
12 trucks under the command of Ancel arrived and then delivered over the
following days arms between Bretenoux and Gramat. The groupes 'Bugeaud'
and Marcel (A.S.) took part in the operation.
On return, this important fleet of planes flew over the Dordogne to raise moral to the people below.
This
parachute drop would change so much and the same day the A.S. received
more arms dropped from the sky at Douville and Gourinchas (5 km's from
Chalus.)
Only
the F.T.P. were deprived of supplies which then manifested some bad
'feeling'. Aristide (Roger Landes) who was in charge of S.O.E.
operations in the whole region received, in effect, had a visit from
some 'worrying visitors': the chiefs of the F.T.P. (Soleil and
Doublemetre) who demanded arms and ammunition, and who reckoned that
they were "the sole holders of the national honour and therefore the
only ones who must assume the supreme responsibilities in the region."
Extract from Histoires tragiques du Maquis by Pierre Louty :
There
are 8 pages dedicated to l'Opération Cadillac and the parachute drops
that day in the Cantal in this incredible work so this is simply a
'snippet' of the story.
An unforgettable 14th July :
At 5 o'clock in the morning the day started with the meeting of Pilots and Officers concerned with the operation 'Cadillac'.
At
7 o'clock, 349 bombers escorted by 524 Spitfires took off from 9
different aerodromes around London, the weather was far from good.
En route to France they climbed to an altitude of 5000 metres. After
they had crossed the Channel they took the direction towards the
Loire... Around the area of Blois they split into their different groups
and take their different routes to the objectives, flying now at an
altitude of 1000 metres.
At
the land prepared at Serrurier all had been in place since 5 in the
morning. Robert Koenig was at the farm 'Delpeuch' situated at
Dix-Maisons. He made contact with London. It was only at 7 in the
morning that the operation was confirmed as on.
During
this time trucks arrived and beef-carts had been brought over from
local farms. Hundreds of volunteers had arrived and got into groups to
help receive the drops. Some look-out and security posts have been put
in place.
At
8 o'clock Robert Koenig heard from London that the planes had taken off
an hour earlier. There is a shout of joy. At 9 o'clock this 14th of
July the climate was good and the sky was clear.
This is a small extract from the Commandant André Decelle 'Didier'.
The
parachutes fall in waves around us. It is magical. Each wave consisted
of hundreds of coloured parachutes, red, green, orange, white. What a
noise was heard as the containers hit the ground. Then the parachutes
started falling more softly, a new wave, another, and then another, then
six more waves.
The last one, in a beautiful celebration of the 14th of July, the parachutes were blue, white and red.
There were 431 of them lying all over the meadow.
Extract from The army air forces in World War 2 edited by W.F Crayen and J.L Cate :
Operation CADILLAC,
the second mass drop by B-17's of the 3d Air Division, took place on 14
July. At this time with the battle for St.-Lô reaching its climax, the
Maquis could give valuable assistance by continuing to disrupt enemy
troop movements and by engaging the maximum number of German forces.
Fighting was heavy in the Vercors, where the Nazis were making a strong
effort to eliminate the threat to their communications northward in the
Rhone and Saône valleys, southwest of Chalon-sur-Saône, and in the area
of Limoges. Operation CADILLAC was
planned to deliver supplies to seven points in these three principal
regions. Nine wings of thirty-six B-17's each were assigned to the
operation and each wing loaded six spares to insure a maximum drop. The
bombers took off at about 0400 from nine airdromes, picked up a fighter
escort of 524 P-51's and P-47's, and flew to their targets in daylight.
The only opposition was that offered by some fifteen Me-109's which
attacked southwest of Paris. The bombers and fighters together claimed
nine of the Me's shot down, two probables, and three damaged. Two of the
B-17's landed in Normandy, and all told only three planes suffered
major damage. Two wings of seventy two B-17's dropped 860 containers on
the Vercors plateau, and one wing of thirty-six B-17's dropped 429
containers southwest of Chalon-sur-Saône. The remaining 214 B-17's
dropped 2,491 containers on five targets in the Limoges-Brive area.
Practically all of these 3,780 containers, loaded with nearly 500 tons
of supplies, were recovered by reception committees.
 |
| 1946 |
Related post :
- 14 juillet 1944 parachutage en Saône-et-Loire (lien)
- Henri Gambade (lien)
- Parachutage du 14 juillet 1944 à Vassieux-en-Vercors (lien)
- The Day the sky bloomed with Parachutes (lien)
Pour les articles homonymes, voir Vingt-et-Un-Juillet.
