France honors African soldiers who helped liberate the French Riviera from Nazis 80 years ago

SAINT-RAPHAEL, France (AP) — France commemorated the 80th anniversary of the Allied invasion of the French Riviera in World War II to push back the Nazis, with events Thursday that especially honored the many soldiers from Africa, sent from then-French colonies, who took part.

Sometimes called “ the forgotten D-Day,” the occasion was marked by ceremonies presided over by French President Emmanuel Macron. Storm warnings Thursday around the Mediterranean coast forced the cancellation of a seaborne segment of the events.

Macron and Cameroonian President Paul Biya were to give speeches at the Boulouris National Cemetery in the town of Saint-Raphael, which holds the bodies of 464 French soldiers killed in the fighting of August 1944. Other African leaders also took part in the commemorations.

Six World War II veterans — five French and one foreign — were slated to receive the Legion of Honor, the nation’s highest award. An aeronautic demonstration and fireworks were also scheduled.

Starting Aug. 15, 1944, hundreds of thousands of primarily American and French troops landed on the Mediterranean coast for Operation Dragoon. It was intended to coincide with the D-Day invasion of Normandy in June 1944 but was delayed due to a lack of resources.

Africans made up as much as half the French contingent, soldiers from what are now some two dozen independent countries.

There is no definitive Allied death toll, but the French Defense Ministry says 1,300 Allied soldiers died in the operation’s first two days.

Operation Dragoon enabled the Allies to liberate most of southern France in only four weeks. Soldiers from the Normandy landings in northwest France met up with troops from Operation Dragoon on Sept. 12, 1944, in the eastern region of Burgundy.