| Original caption: “A first wave beach battalion lays low under the fire of Nazi guns on the beach of southern France on D-Day. One invader operates a walkie talkie radio directing other landing craft to the safest spots for unloading their parties of fighting men.” While this photo is usually attributed to the Normandy invasion, it is actually Alpha Beach, Cavalaire-sur-Mer, on August 15, 1944. They are probably dealing with mines and not Nazi German artillery, but there was some opposing fire. The Alpha Force landing consisted of the United States Army 3rd Infantry Division and attached units. The beach was directed by the 36th Engineer Shore Group, including the United States Navy 1st Naval Beach Battalion – a member of that unit can be seen at right with “USN” and a white stripe on his M1 helmet – and the 36th Engineer Combat Regiment – a member of that unit is at center, wearing a life belt with a white arm band. Another soldier has a .30 caliber (7.62 millimeter) M1 Carbine. Another soldier, in a M1941 knit forage “jeep” cap, uses an SCR-536 “handie talkie” radio. He is armed with a M1911 .45 caliber (11.5 millimeter) By Operation Dragoon, the 36th Engineer Combat Regiment was an extremely experienced amphibious unit. This was their 5th operation, after Operation Torch in North Africa, Sicily, Naples, and Anzio. Elements of the 1st Battalion, 36 Engineer Combat Regiment, came in with the 1st wave on Red, and immediately squads began probing for mines with bayonets and detectors. The 3rd Battalion, 36 Engineer Combat Regiment, hit Yellow and, clearing paths through the mines, pushed vehicle tracks of reinforced matting through the serviceable beach exits. By 0920 the 36 Engineer Beach Group’s command post was set up in the Hotel Pardigon in Cavalaire, off the left flank of Alpha Red. As the day progressed the 1st Battalion, leaving beach operations to the 3rd Battalion, advanced inland with the infantry to clear roadblocks and minefields. The unit laid out dumps behind the troops moving to the beachhead line, leveled an airstrip for reconnaissance aircraft, and erected barbed-wire barricades for a prisoner enclosure. United States Army General Lucian King Truscott Jr.’s (January 9, 1895 – September 12, 1965) favorite unit, the 3rd Infantry Division, was assigned to land on the southernmost of the Operation Dragoon beaches since it was expected to face the strongest German counterattacks while at the same time being closest to the prime objectives of Toulon and Marseille. There were 2 Alpha beaches located on the peninsula south of Saint-Tropez; Alpha Red in Cavalaire Bay was assigned to the 7th Infantry Regiment and Alpha Yellow, to the east near Pampellone, to the 15th Infantry Regiment. This entire sector from the town of Cavalaire-sur-Mer to Saint-Tropez was defended by the 4th Battalion of Grenadier-Regiment 765. This regiment was destroyed in August 1944 near Toulon and Nice. The preliminary air and naval bombardment was followed by a minesweeping operation off the coast in the pre-dawn hours. 1 of the innovations since Normandy was the use of Apex craft to deal with the threat of coastal obstructions. These were radio-controlled LCVPs loaded with high explosive that were designed to blast a hole in the coastal obstacle belts. They were launched against the Alpha beaches around 0715 Hours and managed to destroy a number of concrete obstacles off shore. They were followed by rocket-firing craft that were primarily intended to detonate mines on the shore. The landing force was preceded by 4 amphibious Duplex Drive (DD) M4A1 tanks of the 756th Tank Battalion. A mine sank 1 while the 3 surviving tanks parked in shallow water and proceeded to engage targets of opportunity. They were soon followed by 38 LCVPs carrying the 2nd and 3rd Battalions, 7th Infantry Regiment, and 2 of these struck mines resulting in 60 casualties. German resistance consisted of sporadic small-arms fire, but the main threat was the large numbers of mines. The Wehrmacht prisoners were mostly Russians, Poles and Turkomen intermingled with a small number of German officers and NCOs. The 7th Infantry’s 3 battalions fanned out in the late morning, spearheaded by special “battle patrols” assigned to specific objectives. The 30th Infantry Regiment followed the 7th on Alpha Red at H+80 minutes. The landing of the 15th Infantry Regiment on Alpha Yellow proceeded in much the same fashion, with DD tanks leading the way. However, the LCVPs proceeded to the beach so fast that they passed the swimming tanks, swamping 1 of them with their wake. 1 tank was disabled on the beach by a mine, but there was so little resistance on the beach that the tanks saw little combat. The resistance in this sector was very scattered and consisted mainly of unenthusiastic Ost troops who quickly surrendered. The 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, headed for the high ground around the town of Ramatuelle to link up with the 30th Infantry Regiment while the other 2 battalions headed toward Saint-Tropez. Earlier in the morning, Companies B and C of the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion had been mistakenly parachuted near Saint-Tropez in 1 of the pre-dawn drops. The paratroopers joined with the Forces Françaises de l’Intérieur (FFI – “French Forces of the Interior”) Brigade des Maures and set off to seize Saint-Tropez, advancing through the town and securing most of it except for a determined German unit in the town’s citadel. When the 15th Infantry arrived later in the day, they reinforced the attack on the citadel, which capitulated at 1530 Hours. In total, the 3rd Infantry Division captured 1,627 prisoners on D-Day. Alpha Yellow Beach closed down on August 16, 1944; poor exits and a sandbar just off shore limited its supply flow. The 3rd Battalion moved southwest across the Saint-Tropez peninsula on August 18 to relieve the crush of operations on Alpha Red by opening Alpha Green opposite Red on Cavalaire Bay. Engineers quickly discovered that the exits off Green were heavily mined, and clearing them occupied much of the labor force until the end of the month. With these hindrances, service troops on the Alpha beaches had continual difficulty responding to the supply demands of the combat troops. Though the Alpha complex was the least efficient of the Dragoon beach operations, it continued to receive cargo until Marseille harbor came into full use. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0454.jpg |
| Image Size | 617.56 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2844 x 2181 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | United States Coast Guard |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | August 15, 1944 |
| Location | |
| City | Cavalaire-sur-Mer |
| State or Province | Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur |
| Country | France |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | 26-G-2760 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
Author of the World War II Multimedia Database