Timeline of the liberation of France

Timeline of the liberation of the primary cities of France between 1943 and 1945.

City Town Dép. No. RegionRegional government did not exist in 1944-1945 Liberating army/units Notes 1943-09-09 Ajaccio 2A Corsica (Operation Vesuvius) Liberation of Corsica 1943-09-10 Sartène 2A Corsica Liberation of Corsica 1943-09-23 Porto-Vecchio 2A Corsica Liberation of Corsica 1943-10-04 Bastia 2B Corsica French, 73rd Moroccan Goumiers of the 6th Tabor Liberation of Corsica 1944-06-06 D-Day landings (Allied invasion of Europe as part of Operation Overlord) 1944-06-06 Normandy coast 14 Normandy 21st Army Group Normandy Landings (start of Operation Overlord) 1944-06-06 Ranville 14 Normandy 6th Airlanding Brigade Capture of the Caen canal and Orne river bridges 1944-06-07 Bayeux 14 Normandy Guéret 23 Nouvelle-Aquitaine 1944-06-08 Tulle 19 Initial liberation by Francs-tireurs followed by same day by recapture by 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich and reprisals including 99 killed in Tulle massacre 1944-06-12 Carentan 50 Normandy American: 101st Airborne Division Battle of Carentan (1944-06-06 to 13) 1944-06-14 Marèges Dam 1519 Auvergne-Rhône-AlpesLimousin Maquis du Limousin 1944-07-01 Cherbourg 50 Normandy American Battle of Cherbourg 1944-07-18 Saint-Lô 50 Normandy American XIX Corps Battle of Saint-Lô (July 7–19) 1944-06-06 –1944-08-06 Caen 14 Normandy British, Canadian Second Army Battle for Caen 1944-07-28 Coutances 50 Normandy 1944-07-30 Granville 50 Normandy 1944-07-31 Avranches 50 Normandy 1944-08-04 Rennes 35 Brittany François Lebrun, Gilbert Le Guen, L'Ille-et-Vilaine, des origines à nos jours, 1984, p.368Châteaubriant 44 Pays de la Loire American 1944-08-05 Ancenis 44 Pays de la Loire https://www.ouest-france.fr/actu/actuLocale_-Le-5-aout-1944-Ancenis-est-enfin-liberee-_44003-avd-20090728-56499979_actuLocale.Htm 1944-08-04 to 6 Vannes 56 Brittany François Ars, Hubert Poupard, La libération de Vannes: 4, 5 et 6 août 1944 [Liberation of Vannes: August 4, 5, 6 1944], 1994 1944-08-06 Mayenne 53 Pays de la Loire Joël Surcouf, Mayenne, 2000, p.68 1944-08-08 Le Mans 72 Pays de la Loire André Lévy, La Sarthe: des origines à nos jours [Sarthe: From origins to present], 1983, p.328Quimper 29 Brittany German departure Jean Kerhervé Histoire de Quimper [History of Quimper] 1994, p.297Vire 14 Normandy American, 29th Infantry Division (United States) Édition "Section Cartophile" of the Association des Collectionneurs Virois, 1939 - 1956 Vire se souvient [1939-1956 Vire Remembers], 1993, p.150 1944-08-10 Angers 49 Pays de la Loire American François Lebrun, Histoire des pays de la Loire: Orléanais, Touraine, Anjou, Maine [History of the Loire Country: Orleans, Touraine, Anjou, Maine], 1972 p.402 1944-08-12 Alençon 61 Normandy French, 2nd Armored Division (France) Falaise PocketNantes 44 Pays de la Loire American: Patton Privas 07 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Jean-Pierre Imbert, ’’Histoire de Privas et de sa région’’ (History of Privas and its Region), 1981, p.67 1944-08-15 Operation Dragoon landings in southern France 1944-08-15 Brive-la-Gaillarde 19 Nouvelle-Aquitaine Maquis du Limousin Jean Brugidou, ‘’Mémoires: de l'école à la résistance, 1922-1945’’ (Memories: from school to the Resistance, 1922-1945), p.332 1944-08-16 Orléans 45 Centre-Val de Loire American: Patton Tulle 19 Nouvelle-Aquitaine Maquis du Limousin

Tulle massacre 1944-08-17 Ussel 19 Nouvelle-Aquitaine Maquis du Limousin retaken same day by Jesser forces • 1944-08-17 Saint-Malo 35 Brittany Battle of Saint-Malo 1944-08-17 Tarbes 6 Occitanie 1944-08-17 Cahors 46 Nouvelle Aquitaine Jules, Lendemains de libération dans le Midi: actes du colloque de Montpellier, 1986 (The Days After Liberation in the Midi: Proceedings of the Montpelier Colloquium), 1997, p.30 1944-08-18 Chartres 28 Centre-Val de Loire American: 3rd US Army: Patton Rambouillet 78 Île-de-France American 3rd US Army: Patton Blois 41 Centre-Val de Loire Lucien Jardel, ‘’Témoignages et récits sur la Résistance en Loir-et-Cher’’ (Witness statements and tales about the Resistance in Loir-et-Cher), 1994, p.219Perpignan 66 Occitanie 1944-08-19 Carcassonne 11 Occitanie German departure Périgueux 24 Nouvelle-Aquitaine German departure BordeauxAgen 47 German departure BordeauxMontauban 82 Occitanie German departure Lourdes 65 Occitanie ToulouseRoger Mendès ‘’La Résistance en Quercy’’ (The Resistance in Quercy), 1978 p.81 31 Occitanie German departure (Toulouse liberated): documentary on the liberation of Toulouse.Foix 09 Occitanie Spanish maquis, commanded by Marcel Bigeard Auch 32 Occitanie Mantes-la-Jolie 78 le-de-France American: Patton Digne 04 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Annecy 74 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes La Résistance Charles Rickard, ‘’La Savoie dans la Résistance: Haute-Savoie, Savoie’’ (Savoy in the Resistance: Savoie, Haute-Savoie), 1986, p.353Saint-Étienne 42 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes German departure Nathalie Forissier ‘’La déportation dans la Loire, 1940-1944: le mémorial des déportés’’ (Deportation in the Loire, 1940-1944, Memorial of the Deported), 2005, p.14Le Puy-en-Velay 43 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Philippe Bourdin, Mathias Bernard, Jean-Claude Caron, ‘’La voix & le geste: une approche culturelle de la violence socio-politique’’ (Voice and Gesture: A Cultural Approach to Socio-political violence), 2005, p.138 1944-08-20 Pau 64 Nouvelle-Aquitaine Albi 81 Occitanie José Jornet, Martin Malvy,’’Républicains espagnols en Midi-Pyrénées: exil, histoire et mémoire’’ (Spanish Republicans in the Midi-Pyrénées: Exile, History and Memory), 2005, p.290 1944-08-21 Sens 89 Bourgogne-Franche-Comté American: General Patton CastresMazamet 81 Occitanie Résistance du Tarn Château-Landon 77 Île-de-France American: Patton Limoges 87 Nouvelle-Aquitaine Maquis of colonel Georges Guingouin Monique Grandjonc, ‘’Le temps d'apprendre à vivre: 1939-1945: une école normale alsacienne réfugiée en zone libre’’, 2004 p.273Mende 48 Occitanie Henri Cordesse, ‘’Histoire de la Résistance en Lozère: 1940-1944’’ (History of the Resistance in Lozère: 1940-1944), 1994, p.285Roanne 42 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Marcel Goninet, ‘’Histoire de Roanne et de sa région’’ (History of Roxanne and its region), 1976, p.387Ussel 19 Nouvelle-Aquitaine Departure of the Jesser brigade; maquis du Limousin takes over 1944-08-22 Corrèze 19 Nouvelle-Aquitaine maquis du Limousin Millau 12 Occitanie German departure Grenoble 38 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes see Grenoble's Saint-BartholomewGap 05 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Toulon 83 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur American: 7th Army VI Corps (United States) and French Army B Chambéry 73 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Nemours, Fontainebleau, Fontaine-le-Port 77 Île-de-France American 1944-08-23 Gap 05 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Limousin maquisretaken by the Germans on June 9 1944-08-23 to 28 Marseille 13 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur French: Joseph de Goislard de Monsabert Battle of Marseille 1944-08-24 Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire 58 Bourgogne-Franche-Comté German departure http://www.lejdc.fr/editions_locales/cosne/[email protected] Dax 40 Nouvelle-Aquitaine Saint-Flour 15 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Eugène Martres, ‘’Les archives parlent: Auvergne, Bourbonnais, 1940-1945’’, 2004, p.264 77 Île-de-France American René-Charles Plancke, ‘’La Seine-et-Marne: 1939-1945’’, 1985, p.304 1944-08-24 to 25 Paris 75 Île-de-France French: 2nd DB, US 4th Infantry Division ; German departure; see also Liberation of Paris 1944-08-25 78 Centre-Val-de-Loire French: 2nd DB Vernon 27 Normandy Guéret 23 Nouvelle-Aquitaine Final liberation of Guéret by the Maquis du Limousin , Maquis du Limousin 77 Île-de-France American Avignon 84 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur 1944-08-25 to 26 Troyes 10 Grand Est American 1944-08-26 77 Île-de-France American 1944-08-26 Vichy 03 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes German departure 1944-08-27 Clermont-Ferrand 63 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Stéphane Simonnet, ‘’Atlas de la libération de la France: 6 juin 1944-8 mai 1945’’ [Atlas of the Liberation of France: June 6, 1944 to May 8, 1945], 2004 77 Île-de-France American: Patton 1944-08-28 Les Sables-d'Olonne 85 Pays de la Loire German departure 51 Grand Est American Nice 06 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Pierre-Emmanuel Klingbeil, ‘’Le front oublié des Alpes-Maritimes (15 août 1944 - mai 1945)’’ [The forgotten front of the Alpes-Maritimes (August 15, 1944 to May 1945)], 2005, p.32 See also 77 Île-de-France American Bordeaux 33 Nouvelle-Aquitaine German departure 1944-08-29 Niort 79 1944-08-30 Rouen 76 Normandy Canadian Patrick Coiffier, Rouen sous l'occupation, 1940-1944 [Rouen Under the Occupation, 1940-1944], Bertout, 2004, p.149 1944-08-30 Beauvais 60 Hauts-de-France British Jacques Bernet, Jean-Pierre Besse, L'Oise, deux siècles d'histoire [Oise, Two Centuries big History], 1998, p.50 1944-08-30 Laon 02 Hauts-de-France Magdelaine Parisot, Denise Bernard-Folliot, Champagne, Ardenne, vallée de la Meuse, ‘’Les Guides bleus’’, 1971, p.246 1944-08-30 Uzès 30 Occitanie 1944-08-21 to 30 Montélimar 26 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 1944-08-30 Reims 51 Grand Est Georges Clause, Reims autour du 7 mai 1945 [Reims around May 7, 1945], 1997, p.383 1944-08-30 Saint-Dizier 52 Grand Est American: general Patton René Caboz, ‘’La bataille de Thionville, 25 août-25 décembre 1944’’, 1991, p.39 1944-08-31 Amiens 80 Hauts-de-France British 2nd Army: general Dempsey 1944-08-31 Charleville-Mézières 08 Grand Est Robert Aron, Histoire de la libération de la France, juin 1944-mai 1945 [History of the Liberation of France], 1959, p.659 1944-08-31 Verdun 55 Grand Est 1944-09-01 Cézembre 35 Brittany Liberation of Saint-Malo 1944-09-01 Tours 37 Centre-Val-de-Loire Maillé massacre The morning of September 1, the natives of Tours woke up free. "There was no fighting for the Liberation as there was in Paris", said Jean-Luc Porhel, Directeur des Archives et du Patrimoine de la Ville de Tours, before adding: "The fighting took place in the countryside around Tours, where a large network of resistance fighters was active." This activity was punished: before retreating west, the Germans executed 124 inhabitants of the village of Maillé, in Indre-et-Loire 1944-09-01 Angoulême 16 Nouvelle-Aquitaine 1944-09-01 Le Pouzin 07 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 1944-09-01 Dieppe 76 Normandy Canadian, Fusiliers Mont-Royal, Royal Regiment of Canada See also: Dieppe Raid (Operation Jubilee, 19 August 1942) 1944-09-02 Loches 37 Centre-Val de Loire Robert Vivier, "Touraine 39-45: histoire de l'Indre-et-Loire durant la 2e Guerre mondiale", 1990, p.332 1944-09-02 Valenciennes 59 Hauts-de-France American 1944-09-02 Montpellier 34 Occitanie French: général de Lattre 1944-09-03 Arras 62 Hauts-de-France British Second Army 1944-09-03 Lille 59 Hauts-de-France British Second Army 1944-09-03 Lyon 69 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes see also 1st Army (France) 1944-09-04 Montreuil 62 Hauts-de-France Canadian: General Crerar 1944-09-04 Bourg-en-Bresse 01 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes http://daf.archivesdefrance.culture.gouv.fr/sdx23/pl/doc-tdm.xsp?id=FRDAFAPH_AD001_ph4607&fmt=tab&base=fa 1944-09-04 Mâcon 71 Bourgogne-Franche-Comté , ‘’ Histoire de Mâcon’’, 2000, p.343 1944-09-04 Vierzon 18 Centre-Val de Loire Alain Rafesthain, ‘’1944 - et le Cher fut libéré -: les cent glorieuses de la Résistance’’ [1944 - And the Cher was liberated: The hundred Glorious Days of the Resistance], 1990, p.339 1944-09-05 Saint-Omer 62 Hauts-de-France Polish 1944-09-05 Poitiers 86 Nouvelle-Aquitaine