The purpose of this guide is to provide resources to help the user start research on the topic of Operation Dragoon (Operation Anvil), the Allied invasion of Southern France during World War II.
One way to begin research on a topic is to build background knowledge or understanding of the context. Seek materials that provide an overview of the topic such as books (notice the headings in the table of contents and chapter titles), timelines, lists of major campaigns, etc. Then, narrow your topic and seek sources that are more specific.
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Image source: Navy, VIRIN: 440823-O-ZZ999-001; http://www.defense.gov/Multimedia/Photos/igphoto/2002172087/
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Bibliographies are lists of books and other materials on a topic. In addition to providing titles of sources, reading through a bibliography can be useful for generating search terms and subtopics.
U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center: Bibliographies
First Airborne Task Force by
For the Allied landings in Southern France of August 15, 1944, codenamed Anvil-Dragoon, British and American paratroopers were combined into a First Airborne Task Force. Admirers of Michel de Trez's other airborne books will find equal attention to detail here, as unprecedented coverage is given to the weapons, equipment and uniforms of British and American paratroopers in the next big operation after D-Day.
Hidden Ally by
How did the French Resistance and Allied forces work together to liberate southern France from the Germans during World War II? Arthur Funk gives the first detailed account of the complex British, French, and American operations in 1944, an account that uses a wealth of original source material on both sides of the Atlantic to evaluate the role of the French Resistance and to assess the problems in coordinating Allied military activities. The study should be of great interest to historians, history buffs, and colleges and universities that wish to fill this gap in the historiography of World War II. The first half of the book deals with preparations for the Allied landings in August 1944, telling about agents first in contact with the French Resistance and about the work of Allied missions, French groups, and British officers and teams directed from London and Algiers. The second half of the book covers the collaboration of French Forces of the Interior with the U.S. Seventh Army in the liberation of Marseilles, Lyon, and other cities in southeastern France. Filled with interesting detail about major figures in the war and little-known agents and officers, the book is unique in weaving together recently declassified OSS sources in Washington with British and French archival information that is rarely noted. Maps and photographs are included in the book, and a useful bibliography is also provided.
Jacob L. Devers by
General Jacob L. "Jake" Devers (1897-1979) was one of only two officers--the other was Omar C. Bradley--to command an army group during the decisive campaigns of 1944-1945 that liberated Europe and ended the war with Nazi Germany. After the war, Devers led the Army Ground Forces in the United States and eventually retired in 1949 after forty years of service. Despite incredible successes on the battlefield, General George C. Marshall's "dependable man" remains one of the most underrated and overlooked figures of his generation. In this definitive biography, James Scott Wheeler delivers a groundbreaking reassessment of the American commander whose contributions to victory in Europe are topped only by General Dwight D. Eisenhower's. Wheeler's exhaustively researched chronicle of Devers's life and career reveals a leader who demonstrated an extraordinary ability to cut through red tape and solve complex problems. Nevertheless, Eisenhower disliked Devers--a fact laid bare when he ordered Devers's Sixth Army Group to halt at the Rhine. After the war, Eisenhower's and Bradley's accounts of the generals' disagreements over strategy and tactics became received wisdom, to the detriment of Devers's reputation. An essential contribution to twentieth-century history, Jacob L. Devers provides a fresh and nuanced interpretation of the senior command during World War II and offers a new perspective on a highly accomplished soldier.
The Last Cavalryman by
"Truscott was one of the really tough generals," soldier-cartoonist Bill Mauldin of the 45th Infantry Division once wrote. "He could have eaten a ham like Patton for breakfast any morning and picked his teeth with the man's pearl-handled pistols." Not one merely to act the part of commander, Mauldin remembered, "Truscott spent half his time at the front--the real front--with nobody in attendance but a nervous Jeep driver and a worried aide." In this biography of Lucian K. Truscott, Jr., author Harvey Ferguson tells the story of how Truscott--despite his hardscrabble beginnings, patchy education, and questionable luck--not only made the rank of army lieutenant general, earning a reputation as one of World War II's most effective officers along the way, but was also given an honorary promotion to four-star general seven years after his retirement. For all his accomplishments and celebrated heroic action, Truscott was not one for self-aggrandizement, which may explain in part why historians have neglected him until now. The Last Cavalryman, drawing on personal papers only recently made available, gives the first full picture of this singular man's extraordinary life and career. Ferguson describes Truscott's near-accidental entry into the U.S. Cavalry (propelled by Pancho Villa's 1916 raids) and his somewhat halting rise through the ranks--aided by fellow cavalryman George S. Patton, Jr., who steered him into the nascent armored force at the right time. The author takes us through Truscott's service in the Second World War, from creating the U.S. Army Rangers to engineering the breakout from Anzio and leading the "masterpiece" invasion of southern France. Ferguson finishes his narrative by detailing the general's postwar work with the CIA, where he acted as President Dwight Eisenhower's eyes and ears within the agency. A compelling story in itself, this biography of Lucian K. Truscott, Jr.--a cavalryman to the last--fills out an important chapter in American military history.
Operation Dragoon by
The full dramatic story of the largest operation of its kind in the European War: an Allied seaborne and airborne assault that eventually involved a million troops.