Bertrand Carletti: "The breath of August 15, 1944 still animates us"

Representatives of constituted bodies, patriotic associations, flag-bearers and veterans joined their presence with that of a large crowd to never forget the sacrifice of the liberators.

The liberation armada

The mayor revived the memory of that dawn of August 15, 1944, when the largest war fleet in the Mediterranean presented itself before the Var coast: "2,250 ships, 500 warships, 2,000 aircraft, 10,000 parachute drops, 500 tanks, 50,000 men to open the way for 280,000 others by the end of September. Finally, 1,161 large-caliber guns. This armada had only one objective: to destroy everything in front of it. And that is what it did."

He added: "The campaign of France which begins on this August 15 […] will be like a dagger to the 3rd Reich. It will not survive. In a few hours, in a few days, the 80,000 German soldiers are overthrown. Victory flies from port to port. Saint Raphael, Sainte Maxime, Saint Tropez, Cavalaire, le Lavandou, Hyères, Toulon, La Ciotat, Marseille soon, are liberated," continued the mayor.

The testimony of a hero

The ceremony also highlighted the stories of the actors of this feat, such as that of Pierre Velsch, a veteran of the Commandos d’Afrique and an emblematic figure of Le Lavandou, who passed away on the eve of his 100th birthday.

For decades, he was the commentator of that historic night when his section scaled the 80 meters of the Cap Nègre cliff: "On August 13, Colonel Bouvet gathered us, announcing that we were going to land on the coasts of Provence in the night of August 14 to 15. The first, at the head of the Allied device to establish a beachhead. The 'Romeo Force' mission was launched to destroy three 152mm guns and the important defenses located there. All is calm until the moment we are caught under the fire of a machine gun and automatic weapons. The enemy having been surprised then fired at random which allowed us to cross the railway and the coastal road where a part of the commandos was in ambush already registering a hundred prisoners. The 80 meters of the Cap Nègre cliff were reached with Captain Ducournau at 12:30 a.m. on August 15 in the morning. From there, the landing enters Le Lavandou and is welcomed by Father Hélin (a resistant himself) and on the other side already reaching Cavalaire..."

This reconstruction of the facts, carried by the voice of witnesses and historians, anchors the memory of these elite soldiers, including commander Bonin, Georges Bonnet, Jean Plancke or Robert Chiazzo, all driven by "a sense of duty, by the spirit of sacrifice, by the love of the homeland."

"And in the trembling of the pines, we must have a few simple thoughts: Yes, the breath of August 15, 1944 still animates us. Yes, we love our country. We forget nothing," concluded Bertrand Carletti.