François de Canson: "The memory of the Liberation is a call for vigilance"
On August 17, La Londe commemorated its Liberation, a ceremony linking the lessons of the past to contemporary challenges.
On August 17, the town commemorated the 82nd anniversary of its Liberation. During this emotional ceremony, François de Canson paid tribute to the fighters of 1944 and drew a parallel between the struggles of yesterday and today's imperatives of sovereignty and national cohesion.
He thus recalled that memory is not mere contemplation, but a "demand addressed to the present."
Architects of freedom
The mayor spoke at length about the context of the summer of 1944 in Provence, marked by Operation Dragoon. On August 15, a massive Allied armada landed on the Var coast, opening a second front in France. On August 17, 1944, around 4 p.m., the vanguard of the US 3rd Infantry Division arrived in the municipality.
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Then, the first magistrate recalled the decisive role of the resistance fighters who, through their knowledge of the terrain, guided Allied troops to German positions. Several heroic figures were honored, such as Louis Bussone, a twenty-five-year-old young man executed after neutralizing the ignition devices of the Maravenne and Pansard bridges, saving essential crossings.
The memory of Joseph Spada, who joined the Commandos d’Afrique and fell in battle for Belfort, and of François de Leusse, an officer of the same commandos who later became mayor of the municipality, was also saluted.
François de Canson insisted on the resonance of 1944 with current issues: "In the face of the return of war in Europe and the rise of hybrid threats, I call for a surge to defend French and European sovereignty. A nation that allows its army, its industry, its agriculture, its research, or its school to weaken can retain the appearance of freedom while gradually losing the means to exercise it."
Enlightening the present
The mayor warned against the dangers weighing on democracy, notably disinformation: "In 1944, the enemy occupied lands. In the world to come, we must also ensure that no one occupies minds."
He pleaded "for the restoration of a just authority, capable of protecting citizens and guaranteeing national unity beyond divisions, citing as an example the fraternity of arms that united men of all backgrounds in 1944."
A message was addressed to the young Londais, designated as the "guardians of memory," inviting them "to appropriate this history not as a burden, but as a source of inspiration for their own civic engagement." The speech rejected all fatalism, recalling that the future depends on new generations.
"Hope is not the passive expectation of better days. It is the highest form of action," concluded François de Canson.
Photos Philippe OLIVIER.