Comment les Français ont Récupéré les Dernières Forteresses Allemandes en 1945

“We will hold this port when Paris has already fallen back into Allied hands. The Führer demands it. We will obey to the last shell.” On August 20, 1944, Rear Admiral Ernst Schirlitz thus summed up the fate of the German Atlantic fortresses. While General Patton’s tanks raced eastward, Lorient, Saint-Nazaire, La Rochelle–La Pallice, the Île d’Oléron, and Royan remained in Wehrmacht hands. Declared Festungen by Hitler on August 19, 1944, these pockets were to hold out to the last man. Eisenhower refused to sacrifice his divisions there: their encirclement fell to a reconstituted French army, a mix of FFI (French Forces of the Interior), officers from 1940, and riflemen returning from the campaigns in Italy and Provence. From the winter siege to the negotiations conducted around La Rochelle, this documentary retraces a forgotten war, marked by hunger, cold, and waiting. In Royan, the British bombing raid of January 5, 1945, devastated the town and killed several hundred civilians. Then, on April 14, nine hundred tons of bombs and napalm preceded the French assault. In the ruins, the infantry faced bunkers, MG 42 machine guns, and a German garrison disorganized after the death of Colonel Michahelles. Royan fell on April 18. On April 30, the French crossed to the Île d'Oléron with Duplex Drive amphibious tanks. Why did these final battles continue in France when Berlin was already collapsing? And how did poorly equipped French troops recapture positions that the Allies considered too costly to attack? If this story helps you better understand the final days of the war in France, please like the video and subscribe to discover other little-known historical episodes. 📚 To learn more / historical context: – German directives concerning the Atlantic fortresses – French, German, and Allied military archives on the Atlantic pockets – Historical studies dedicated to the sieges of Royan, La Rochelle, and Oléron #WorldWarII #HistoryOfFrance #AtlanticPockets