The Liberation of Paris, 1944

On 25 August, French general Philippe Leclerc triumphantly entered the liberated French capital. Pockets of German dogma remained, but Paris was free from German control. Two days earlier, a French armored division had begun advancing on the capital.

Members of the Resistance, now called the Interior French Legion, proceeded to free all French civilian prisoners in Paris. The Germans were still counterattacking, setting fire to the Grand Palace, which the Resistance had taken over, and killing small groups of Resistance fighters as they encountered them in the city.

On 24 August, another French armored division entered Paris from the south, receiving an influx of gratitude from French citizens, who took to the streets to greet their heroes—but still, the Germans pushed through from behind the barricades. The French continued to fire at fighters, often capturing civilians. in firing.

More than 500 resistance fighters as well as 127 civilians were killed in the conflict for Paris. Once the city was liberated from German rule, French allies were often executed without trial when captured.

Although Paris was liberated, there was heavy fighting going on in the rest of France. Large parts of the country were still captured after the successful Operation Dragoon in southern France, which stretched from 15 August to 14 September 1944 in the south-west region of the Vosges Mountains. Fighting continued through the final months in Alsace and Lorraine in eastern France. From 1944 to early 1945.

The M8 Light Armored Car (seen in the picture) was a 6×6 armored car manufactured by Ford Motor Company. By the end of the war the U.S. in Europe and the Far East. And it was used by British soldiers.

In British service, the M8 was known as the Greyhound. The British Army found it to be very lightly armoured, especially the hull floor where anti-tank mines could easily penetrate (the crew's solution was lining the floor of the crew compartment with sandbags).

Nevertheless, it had good off-road capabilities and was produced in large numbers. The excellent maneuverability of the M8 Greyhound made it a great supporting element in advancing American and British armored columns.