Allied siege of La Rochelle
Encyclopedia
The Allied siege of La Rochelle occurred during the Second World War in 1944–45, when Allied troops invaded France. La Rochelle
was an important German base on the Atlantic, especially a major submarine
base from where U-Boat
campaigns were launched. Until the end of the war, La Rochelle was, with other harbours such as Royan
or Saint-Nazaire
, one of the remaining "Atlantic pockets" occupied by the Germans, which had been bypassed by the main thrust of the Allied invasion. On the North Sea, Dunkirk was similarly bypassed. The city was only liberated at the very end of the war, nine months after the Liberation of Paris
, after the general German capitulation
on 8 May 1945.
The allied siege of the pocket of La Rochelle lasted from September 1944 to May 1945, without heavy bombardment. La Rochelle remained in German hands until the end of the war, much as other Atlantic harbours such as Brest
, Saint-Nazaire
, Lorient
, Gironde-Nord, Gironde-Sud because the main thrust of the war was more concerned with focusing on Germany itself. Just surrounding the city was considered wiser than leading a frontal attack, as the city would ultimately fall anyway with the end of the war. The German command also wished to keep control of the coastal garrisons and rejected evacuation, in order to maintain a threat on Allied shipping in the Atlantic.
In total 39,500 French civilians were under the rule of Vice-Admiral Schirlitz, head of Navy Command West, in La Rochelle during the war. The German garrison numbered 22,000 men. During the siege the Allies still allowed for electricity, wood and some supplies to be delivered in order to alleviate the ordeal of the civilian population inside the walls of the city. The Free French Forces
were opposed to such a passive attitude, and desired to take these coastal cities by force, mostly out of considerations of national pride. FFI
troops, however, remained unable to capture the city.
Agreements were made between the French and the German occupation force in La Rochelle, to the effect that the French would not attack and that in exchange the Germans would not destroy the port installations of La Rochelle-La Pallice.
In effect, La Rochelle was surrounded efficiently enough, and suffered enough from the siege, with harbour facilities being damaged by Allied air attacks, that the Germans were unable to launch major U-Boat attacks on Allied shipping for the duration of the siege. A Luftwaffe
plane, however, was supplying the garrison every week. In order to raise the morale of German troops in La Rochelle, the propaganda movie Kolberg
, celebrating resistance against the French in 1806, was sent in by Göring
and premiered simultaneously in Berlin
and La Rochelle on 30 January 1945.
The first city to be attacked was the nearby city of Royan
, held by 5,500 German troops and inhabited by 3,000 French civilians. The city suffered a first strategic bombing on 5 January 1945 by RAF, and then a massive attack by Allied troops under the French General de Larminat in Operation Vénérable on 14 April 1945, involving USAAF bombings on the 14th and 15th, bombardment by the fleet of Vice-Admiral Joseph Rue
, and land attack by the 10th French Division and the 66th US Division. The French command apparently had advocated that the French harbours should be retaken by military force, rather than awaiting their eventual surrender by the Germans. The city suffered heavy bombardment by 1,000 planes, including those of the USAF 447th Bomb Group, with the result that the city was razed, and 1,500 civilians killed, in what has been described by the historian Howard Zinn
as a "crime".
Altogether, 27,000 artillery shells were fired over Royan, and the city saw one of the first military uses of napalm
on 15 April 1945, dropped by Allied bombers, which made the city "a blazing furnace".
River. After Royan was taken, Ile d'Oléron was also captured in Operation Jupiter, and de Larminat was planning to capture La Rochelle next in Opération Mousquetaire, but the plan was cancelled with the capitulation of Germany.
The French regiments which participated to the operations were under-strength units incorporating FFI elements: the 50th and 158th Regiments of the French 23rd Infantry Division (known as Division de marche Oléron), in conjunction with the French 2nd Armored Division and other elements. The 4e régiment de Zouaves especially participated in the liberation of La Rochelle.
La Rochelle was the last French city to be liberated in 1945. It was only surrendered to the Allies on 7 May 1945, with the surrender ceremony occurring on 8 May 1945, at 23:45.
, Croix-Chapeau
, Bussac-Forêt
, and Saint-Jean-d'Angély
(Fontenet) until 1966, when Charles de Gaulle
obtained their removal.
On 7 September 1996, a monument was established near the boundary of the La Rochelle pocket, near Saint-Sauveur-d'Aunis
, the "Mémorial de la poche de la Rochelle", in memory of the soldiers who died in the operation.
La Rochelle
La Rochelle is a city in western France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department.The city is connected to the Île de Ré by a bridge completed on 19 May 1988...
was an important German base on the Atlantic, especially a major submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
base from where U-Boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
campaigns were launched. Until the end of the war, La Rochelle was, with other harbours such as Royan
Royan
Royan is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department, along the Atlantic Ocean, in southwestern France.A seaside resort, Royan is in the heart of an urban area estimated at 38,638 inhabitants, which makes it the fourth-largest conurbation in the department, after La Rochelle, Rochefort and Saintes...
or Saint-Nazaire
Saint-Nazaire
Saint-Nazaire , is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France.The town has a major harbour, on the right bank of the Loire River estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean. The town is at the south of the second-largest swamp in France, called "la Brière"...
, one of the remaining "Atlantic pockets" occupied by the Germans, which had been bypassed by the main thrust of the Allied invasion. On the North Sea, Dunkirk was similarly bypassed. The city was only liberated at the very end of the war, nine months after the Liberation of Paris
Liberation of Paris
The Liberation of Paris took place during World War II from 19 August 1944 until the surrender of the occupying German garrison on August 25th. It could be regarded by some as the last battle in the Battle for Normandy, though that really ended with the crushing of the Wehrmacht forces between the...
, after the general German capitulation
Victory in Europe Day
Victory in Europe Day commemorates 8 May 1945 , the date when the World War II Allies formally accepted the unconditional surrender of the armed forces of Nazi Germany and the end of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. The formal surrender of the occupying German forces in the Channel Islands was not...
on 8 May 1945.
The siege (September 1944 – May 1945)
The "pocket" of La Rochelle ("Poche de La Rochelle") was a zone extending to a distance of about 10 kilometers around La Rochelle, reinforced by an anti-tank trench. After the allied landing in Normandy in June 1944, a large number of German troops had regrouped in the area.The allied siege of the pocket of La Rochelle lasted from September 1944 to May 1945, without heavy bombardment. La Rochelle remained in German hands until the end of the war, much as other Atlantic harbours such as Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
, Saint-Nazaire
Saint-Nazaire
Saint-Nazaire , is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France.The town has a major harbour, on the right bank of the Loire River estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean. The town is at the south of the second-largest swamp in France, called "la Brière"...
, Lorient
Lorient
Lorient, or L'Orient, is a commune and a seaport in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France.-History:At the beginning of the 17th century, merchants who were trading with India had established warehouses in Port-Louis...
, Gironde-Nord, Gironde-Sud because the main thrust of the war was more concerned with focusing on Germany itself. Just surrounding the city was considered wiser than leading a frontal attack, as the city would ultimately fall anyway with the end of the war. The German command also wished to keep control of the coastal garrisons and rejected evacuation, in order to maintain a threat on Allied shipping in the Atlantic.
Free French Forces
The Free French Forces were French partisans in World War II who decided to continue fighting against the forces of the Axis powers after the surrender of France and subsequent German occupation and, in the case of Vichy France, collaboration with the Germans.-Definition:In many sources, Free...
were opposed to such a passive attitude, and desired to take these coastal cities by force, mostly out of considerations of national pride. FFI
French Forces of the Interior
The French Forces of the Interior refers to French resistance fighters in the later stages of World War II. Charles de Gaulle used it as a formal name for the resistance fighters. The change in designation of these groups to FFI occurred as France's status changed from that of an occupied nation...
troops, however, remained unable to capture the city.
Agreements were made between the French and the German occupation force in La Rochelle, to the effect that the French would not attack and that in exchange the Germans would not destroy the port installations of La Rochelle-La Pallice.
In effect, La Rochelle was surrounded efficiently enough, and suffered enough from the siege, with harbour facilities being damaged by Allied air attacks, that the Germans were unable to launch major U-Boat attacks on Allied shipping for the duration of the siege. A Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
plane, however, was supplying the garrison every week. In order to raise the morale of German troops in La Rochelle, the propaganda movie Kolberg
Kolberg (film)
Kolberg is a 1945 German propaganda film directed by Veit Harlan and Wolfgang Liebeneiner. It opened on January 30, 1945 simultaneously in Berlin and to the crew of the naval base at La Rochelle. It was also screened in the Reich chancellery after the broadcast of Hitler's last radio address on...
, celebrating resistance against the French in 1806, was sent in by Göring
Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring, was a German politician, military leader, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. He was a veteran of World War I as an ace fighter pilot, and a recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite, also known as "The Blue Max"...
and premiered simultaneously in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and La Rochelle on 30 January 1945.
Allied offensive against German "Atlantic pockets"
From spring 1945, General De Larminat was put in charge of French forces in the region, with the objective of capturing La Rochelle. The United States was to give logistical support as well as strategic air support.Operation Vénérable
Royan
Royan is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department, along the Atlantic Ocean, in southwestern France.A seaside resort, Royan is in the heart of an urban area estimated at 38,638 inhabitants, which makes it the fourth-largest conurbation in the department, after La Rochelle, Rochefort and Saintes...
, held by 5,500 German troops and inhabited by 3,000 French civilians. The city suffered a first strategic bombing on 5 January 1945 by RAF, and then a massive attack by Allied troops under the French General de Larminat in Operation Vénérable on 14 April 1945, involving USAAF bombings on the 14th and 15th, bombardment by the fleet of Vice-Admiral Joseph Rue
Joseph Rue
Joseph Rue was a French Vice-Admiral during World War II. He led a fleet of 10 warships in the shelling of Royan in April 1945.-Notes:...
, and land attack by the 10th French Division and the 66th US Division. The French command apparently had advocated that the French harbours should be retaken by military force, rather than awaiting their eventual surrender by the Germans. The city suffered heavy bombardment by 1,000 planes, including those of the USAF 447th Bomb Group, with the result that the city was razed, and 1,500 civilians killed, in what has been described by the historian Howard Zinn
Howard Zinn
Howard Zinn was an American historian, academic, author, playwright, and social activist. Before and during his tenure as a political science professor at Boston University from 1964-88 he wrote more than 20 books, which included his best-selling and influential A People's History of the United...
as a "crime".
Altogether, 27,000 artillery shells were fired over Royan, and the city saw one of the first military uses of napalm
Napalm
Napalm is a thickening/gelling agent generally mixed with gasoline or a similar fuel for use in an incendiary device, primarily as an anti-personnel weapon...
on 15 April 1945, dropped by Allied bombers, which made the city "a blazing furnace".
Operation Mousquetaire
La Rochelle only escaped this fate as Royan was at the time considered as a higher priority, due to its commanding position on the GirondeGironde
For the Revolutionary party, see Girondists.Gironde is a common name for the Gironde estuary, where the mouths of the Garonne and Dordogne rivers merge, and for a department in the Aquitaine region situated in southwest France.-History:...
River. After Royan was taken, Ile d'Oléron was also captured in Operation Jupiter, and de Larminat was planning to capture La Rochelle next in Opération Mousquetaire, but the plan was cancelled with the capitulation of Germany.
The French regiments which participated to the operations were under-strength units incorporating FFI elements: the 50th and 158th Regiments of the French 23rd Infantry Division (known as Division de marche Oléron), in conjunction with the French 2nd Armored Division and other elements. The 4e régiment de Zouaves especially participated in the liberation of La Rochelle.
La Rochelle was the last French city to be liberated in 1945. It was only surrendered to the Allies on 7 May 1945, with the surrender ceremony occurring on 8 May 1945, at 23:45.
Legacy
US troops would remain in the area around La Rochelle, within the dispositions of the Atlantic Alliance, at the bases of La RochelleLa Rochelle
La Rochelle is a city in western France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department.The city is connected to the Île de Ré by a bridge completed on 19 May 1988...
, Croix-Chapeau
Croix-Chapeau
Croix-Chapeau is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department in southwestern France.-History:From 1953 to 1966 there was a 500-bed U.S. Army hospital in Croix-Chapeau, run by the 28th General Hospital unit. For a while after 1966 it was used as a French Military Hospital...
, Bussac-Forêt
Bussac-Forêt
Bussac-Forêt is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department in the Poitou-Charentes region in southwestern France.-Population:-External links:* * *Map and aerial photos:**Street map: , or or **Satellite images: or - image now available...
, and Saint-Jean-d'Angély
Saint-Jean-d'Angély
Saint-Jean-d'Angély is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department in southwestern France.The commune has its historical origins in the Abbey of Saint-Jean-d'Angély.-Royal abbey:...
(Fontenet) until 1966, when Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
obtained their removal.
On 7 September 1996, a monument was established near the boundary of the La Rochelle pocket, near Saint-Sauveur-d'Aunis
Saint-Sauveur-d'Aunis
Saint-Sauveur-d'Aunis is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department in the Poitou-Charentes region in southwestern France.-Population:-Points of interest:...
, the "Mémorial de la poche de la Rochelle", in memory of the soldiers who died in the operation.