Fete de la Liberation

 

It was 1944 again, for one night only, in the small town of Apt yesterday to mark the 70th anniversary of its liberation. Klaxons sounded as US Army Jeeps and trucks raced through the main roads, and the Stars and Stripes fluttered alongside the Tricolore. It wasn't one of the great set pieces such as those at Normandy and Toulon; the participants dressed as American soldiers were all French - but it was utterly charming. 

 

 

 

 

 

As ever, the joy is in the historical detail. Here is a truck used by the French resistance, with its hunting bag hanging from the driver's door, the member riding shotgun, and around the back, the jerry cans of black market petrol, shovels, ropes and the bicycles that were a vital means of transport and conveying messages between underground cells.



 

 

 Among all the uniforms, the ladies those riding in the vehicles had also dressed the part...

A plaque was unveiled at the top of the steps to the Salle des Fetes, while inside a US Army film ran continually, showing the progress of Operation Dragoon seventy years ago up through Peyrolles and across the Durance river by makeshift bridge, until the troops of the 45th Infantry Division, known as the Thunderbirds, were cheered through Manosque and took Apt on August 22.

Meanwhile, outside in the square a gigantic picnic was under way and a swing band played, followed by dancing.