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23 November 1944: the Liberation of Strasbourg

On 6 June 1944, the Allies landed on the Normandy coastline and the liberation of France began.

On 1 August, the men and vehicles of the French 2nd Armoured Division (2nd DB), in turn, set foot on the Normandy soil. In the command of General Leclerc, but incorporated in General Patton’s Third US Army, the division played an active part in the fighting to liberate Normandy, before marching on Paris. If the Americans regarded the French capital as a secondary objective and initially wanted to go round it, the symbolic importance of its liberation by French soldiers was not lost on Leclerc and de Gaulle, who managed to convince Eisenhower and took the initiative of directing their tanks towards the city. With the arrival of Leclerc’s tanks, Paris was liberated on 25 August. The following day, de Gaulle and Leclerc rode down the Champs-Élysées to the cheers of a jubilant crowd.

The war was not yet over, however, and large areas of the country remained under enemy control. The Germans may have been beaten in the West, but the East was still under Nazi domination. Bolstered by his success, Leclerc and his tanks headed for Alsace. After crossing the Vosges mountains, the French engaged in fierce fighting to take out the last German defences and retake Strasbourg three months later, on 23 November. The “Oath of Kufra” had been honoured.

Watch a film on the Oath of Kufra and General Leclerc’s epic story

 

Corps 1
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 The liberated Alsatian population fraternise with the soldiers of the 2nd DB who liberated Strasbourg, on Rua Mercière, not far from Strasbourg cathedral. © Jacques Belin/Roland Lennad/ECPAD/Défense 
Corps 2

 

Origin: the “Oath of Kufra”

With French Equatorial Africa rallying to its side, Free France was able to take up the fight alongside the Allies once again in late 1940. From Chad, Leclerc organised raids targeting Italian possessions in Libya. In one such raid, on 2 March 1941, French troops triumphed over the Italians at the oasis of Kufra. The then Colonel Leclerc had his men swear an oath with him, “not to lay down arms until our colours, our beautiful colours, are flying over Strasbourg Cathedral.”

An article from the Chemins de Mémoire website 

Talks

Recorded testimonies

A medal

  • The “medal of Kufra”, awarded for “military service in the colonies resulting from participation in military operations, in a colony or protectorate”.

 

 

The liberation de Strasbourg

An article from the Chemins de Mémoire website

An object

  • The flag of the Liberation of Strasbourg, raised atop the cathedral spire by the spahi Maurice Lebrun

Illustrations

An exhibition

  • Visit an exhibition of the City of Strasbourg archives, until 16 January 2022

 

 

From Kufra to Strasbourg: the 2nd DB, a legendary unit of Free France

A history article

A remembrance trail

  • Remembrance trail - “The Way of the 2nd DB” follows the path taken by General Leclerc and his unit during the Liberation of France. It retraces their steps from their landing in Normandy, to the Liberation of Paris, to the fighting in Alsace and the capture of Strasbourg. All along the route, and in each of the French towns and villages liberated by the 2nd DB, marker posts commemorate the unit’s participation in the campaign. In most cases, information panels and a QR code located near the marker posts offer access to additional historical information.

A biography

  • • The creation of the 2nd DB and its successes on the battlefield were the result of the determination and charisma of General Leclerc de Hauteclocque. A great soldier and servant of Free France, he was made a Companion of Liberation by General de Gaulle and was posthumously promoted to the rank of Marshal of France in 1952. Find an article by Géraud Létang (SHD), plus Leclerc's biography ont the Chemins de mémoire and website and Ordre de la Libération website

 

 

Photographs to illustrate an epic tale

  • Inside the Fort of Kufra. © Ordre de la Libération

  • Captain Combes presents Commander Hous and Colonel Leclerc with the flag of the Compagnia Sahariana di Cufra, captured from the enemy in February 1941. © Fondation de la France Libre

  • General Leclerc, commander of the 2nd Armoured Division (2nd DB), arrives on Utah Beach, 1 August 1944. © Photographer unknown/ECPAD/Défense

  • An M7 Priest Howitzer Motor Carriage of the 2nd DB passes through Clamart on its way to Paris, 24 August 1944.    © Anonymous, ECPAD

  • General Leclerc, commander of the 2nd DB, has General Von Choltitz, the German military commander for Paris, climb into his scout car to be taken to the police headquarters at Montparnasse station to sign the act of surrender, 25 August 1944. © Anonymous, ECPAD

  • A column of tanks of the 501st Combat Tank Regiment (RCC) on the outskirts of Strasbourg. © Gabriel Raphel/ECPAD/Défense

  • General Leclerc, commander of the 2nd DB, followed by his aide-de-camp, Captain Christian Girard, in Baccarat. © Francis Mac Connel/ECPAD/Défense

  • The 2nd DB in Strasbourg, 23 November 1944. © Jacques Belin/Roland Lennad/ECPAD/Défense

  • Place Kleber, Strasbourg: during a ceremony to celebrate the liberation of the capital of Alsace by the 2nd DB, a military band of the 12th Regiment of Cuirassiers parades before the crowds gathered to cheer the liberators. © Jacques Belin/Roland Lennad/ECPAD/Défense

  • In Strasbourg, soldiers of the 2nd DB attach a trophy to the front of their tank – a sign, “Adolf Hitler Strasse”, from the time of the German occupation, taken down when the city was liberated. © Jacques Belin/Roland Lennad/ECPAD/Défense

  • A Strasbourg resident offers a drink to a soldier of the 501st RCC in the liberated city. © Jacques Belin/Roland Lennad/ECPAD/Défense