Battle of Authion L'Ultime Et Décisif Assaut Pour Libérer Le Territoire Français

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 L'Ultime Et Décisif Assaut Pour Libérer Le Territoire Français

La First Special Service Force Dans Les Alpes-Maritimes Septembre 1944
Operation Canard: Les Combats De La 1Ere DFL Dans Le Massif De L'Aution Avril 1945

by

Commission Departementale de l'Information Historique Pour la Paix des Alpes-Maritimes

Trade PB. 4to. Published by Direction Departementale de l'O.N.A.C, Nice, France. 1995. Various paginations. Reprinting original documents and after actions reports of  the Battle of L'Authion. Illustrated. Text in French and English.

Wrappers lightly worn with some light shelf-wear to the extremities present. Book is free of ownership marks. Text is clean and free of marks. Binding tight and solid.

The battles of L'Authion were particularly violent between April 10th and 12th, 1945, the capture of the forts of Millefourches, La Forca, Plan Caval and the redoubt of the Three Communes having made more than 200 killed and 700 seriously wounded to the 1st DFL. The Germans had conscientiously undermined the area since the autumn of 1944 and the grenadiers of the 34th ID ( Infantry Division ) fought hard, as if they were defending the Reich territory, snipers settling in the larches to target tank commanders or commanders of assault sections.

FROM WIKIPEDIA:

The Battle of Authion was a military engagement that took place towards the end of World War II, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945. Units of the Free French Army were sent to the French Alps to clear an important route from central France to Italy. A critical choke point was the 2,080 metre (6,820 feet) high Authion massif, held by determined but weakened German and Italian forces.

On 9:15am on the 10 April 1945, the French artillery stationed in Peira Cava, systematically shelled Fort de la Forca. The destruction brought on this objective, was relatively small. The projectiles were of inadequate size, not allowing the shelling to obtain significant results on those concrete structures that were particularly well protected.

At 9:30am, two companies of the BIMP (Bataillon d'Infanterie de Marine du Pacifique) departed from Tueis. One of the companies went to the crest of the spur located between Fort de la Forca and the Three Commons, the 2068-meter peak at the North of this spur. No progress beyond here was possible because of the barbed wire. They were also under heavy fire by automatic weapons installed on the slope. The Piton northern spur quickly came under fire from with the German armored company's turrets so they couldn't move. However, they clung to the ground, making best use of the craters left by artillery shells, but many were killed while under fire from enemy mortars. The losses were suddenly increasing while the next arrival of reinforcements were 15 hours away, with only seven men operational on the ground.

At 5:30pm, with the support of an assault section, the armored turret was destroyed and all the spur could then be occupied. The other company took advantage of BIMP during the fierce fighting to infiltrate the mountain road towards Cabanes Vieilles, surpassing without getting caught in Forts of Forca and Milles Fourches. The imaginative company Commander Barberot bustled to plug the loopholes with a bulldozer to make the route passable for light tanks.

Further to the right, a company of BMIX whose objective was the head of Vaiercaout, met with strong resistance from the enemy, forcing them to remain clinging on a slope and not reaching the top of this spur. Another company BMXI, climbing the rocky ridges of Mount Giagiabella was counterattacked on the way to its goal and had to retreat to its starting point, because of the number of losses.

In the north a company of scouts' skiers RIA 3, attached to the battalion reached the summit of Rauss. Around 17 hours after the start of the battle the 4th Brigade from the Lower Camp Silver, allowed a company of the BM21 (reinforced with assault section) to remove the concrete structure of the Col de Rauss.

To the south, the work of the 2nd Brigade to cover the right slope of the main operation was almost complete, and a group of 2nd Battalion North Africans (Commander Bertrand) seized Mangiapo and held it himself. At 7:00pm, a company of the 4th battalion (BM4) (Commander Buttin) occupied the top of Bosc. At noon a violent attack against the Germans starting from the Cross Cougoule, forced them to abandon the summit. Another company BM4, reinforced elements of an assault section, attacked le col de Brouis, but suffered heavy losses.

The results of this first day were quite minor, the Allies could not bite significantly into the enemy's defensive system, and the casualties were quite severe: 66 killed and wounded.

In the evening of the 10 April, Harold Alexander decided to continue the offensive according to plan with a joint action on the Fort Miles Forts, by an assault group led by Lieutenant Colonel Lichtwitz. The assault group was a relatively recent creation at the time, specialised in the attacks of fortifications (forts, bunkers, etc. ...) was armed with special weapons, especially bazookas and flamethrowers to complete the operation. The group had several assault sections, each section comprised six bazooka shooters, six submachine guns, grenade throwers, six flamethrowers and six machine guns. The section also had several light mortars with smoke shells.

The battle on the 11 April 1945 began with a series German counterattacks. At 3:00am, the enemy vainly tried to regain one of the mountain tops. At 6:30am, the BIMP section which occupied the northern peak of the spur of the Forca, suffered another attack and had to retreat. At 8:00am, before the combined attack of BIMP and light tanks, the Germans abandoned the Cabanes Vieilles Camps.

In the early afternoon, the BMXI held Parpella Vaiercaout. Four sections of the assault group, reinforced with two sections of BMXI, seized Fort Milles. At 3:00pm, the BMIP tried in vain to retake the north peak of the spur of Forca.

In the evening of the second day, a very serious breach was finally made in the defence system of Authion and the Allies could now walk on the massif. The enemy however, was seemingly unwilling to yield their positions to the French. Their reactions early in the day, were always very violent. At 9:00am, a company within the BIMP was stopped before reaching the spur of Forca. At 6:00pm, The forts were abandoned by the enemy, who retired on Beole quickly. At 20:30pm the garrison of the Three Commons, violently subjected to the firing of artillery, surrendered. The enemy, at end of the day, began to falter. Mountain hunters, captured, confessed their astonishment at the presence of tanks in these places deemed impractical for such vehicles.