| Original caption: “Soldiers of the United States Fourth Infantry Division look at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, after the French capital had been liberated on August 25, 1944.” Office of War Information photographer John “Jack” Downey (September 26, 1915 – November 2, 1997) took this view of United States Army 4th Infantry Division soldiers in a Willys MB 4 by 4 jeep gazing at the Eiffel Tower. They wear standard United States Army gaiters and carry M1 .30 caliber (7.62 millimeter) carbines, indicating they are attached to a service or artillery unit, likely Company B, since there is a “B” applied to the jeep. Some of the soldiers have netting on their M1 helmets. Parisian Firefighter Captain Raymond Sarniguet (December 14, 1923 – December 7, 1997) climbed up the 1,750 steps to the summit of the Eiffel Tower at 0730 Hours on the morning of June 13, 1940, to bring the tricolor down for the last time during the Nazi German occupation of Paris. Now, on August 25, 1944, Sarniguet saw the plodding figures of 2 men he was trying to overtake to the top of the Eiffel Tower. They too, Sarniguet knew, carried a tricolor they were determined to plant on the tower’s summit. Almost dizzy with fatigue, Sarniguet chased them up the 1,750 steps to the summit, the same exhausting climb he had made 4 years earlier. His head pounding, his legs moving with the leaden slowness of a dream, Sarniguet pursued the fleeting image of his 2 compatriots. Less than 200 steps from the top of the tower, he caught them. Their eyes popping from the strain, too tired to talk, the 3 men matched each other stride for stride in a final sprint to the summit. At the top, Sarniguet burst forward with a lunge. He had won his race. From his package he took out the flag he had made a week earlier and raised it to the flagpole of the Eiffel Tower, the very symbol of Paris. It was made from 3 worn military bed sheets stitched together. 1 was dyed pink, 1 a pale blue, and the 3rd was tattered gray. But it was the French tricolor, and at 1200 Hours on August 25, 1944, it was back where Sarniguet and the Parisians believed it belonged, at the top of the Eiffel Tower. For decades afterward Parisians recalled with immense pride the French flag that flew over the Eiffel Tower, placed there by the same man whom the Germans had ordered to take it down 4 years earlier. An hour and a half later, other Parisian firefighters hung a massive tricolor flag from the top of the Arc de Triomphe. The flag was there to welcome the men of the Deuxième Division Blindée Française (“French Second Armored Division”) when they appeared at the Place de lÉtoile (today also called the Place Charles de Gaulle) at 1425 Hours. After hard fighting across Normandy since landing on Utah Beach on June 6, 1944, on August 25, the 4th Infantry Division and the Deuxième Division Blindée Française were ordered to take Paris. Advancing against sporadic small arms fire, the Americans reached the city center at 1200 Hours, the same time the Tricolor was raised over the Eiffel Tower. After 4 years of Nazi German tyranny, Paris was free. As wildly applauding Parisians thronged before the Cathedral of Notre Dame and the Hotel de Ville, the 4th Infantry Division received joyous acclaim. Meanwhile, other elements of the Division were still fighting their way across the Seine River, meeting serious resistance in some places while receiving the surrender of pockets of bewildered Nazis in others. Despite leading the liberation of Paris, the 4th Infantry Division left Paris before the American Victory Parade on August 29 to pursue the Nazi German retreat North. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0436.jpg |
| Image Size | 735.96 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2916 x 2896 |
| Photographer | John “Jack” Downey |
| Photographer Title | Office of War Information |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | August 25, 1944 |
| Location | |
| City | Paris |
| State or Province | Île-de-France |
| Country | France |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NWDNS-208-MFI-3B(1) |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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