Hey historians,
Hope this is ok to ask here, but i recently came across a letter my Grandfather had written to his mother. The letter was dated 11/13/1944. It was your typical mom letter, saying things like "dont worry about me" and what packages they were sending back and forth to one another. He mentioned that he was in Marseille and he couldnt tell her what he was doing there but described it as "not being in a fox hole, but not exactly staying in a hotel either"
Im not sure what exactly he did in the war, but he was in fox holes so im guess just regular old army infantry grunt? i wish i had more info to share but i didnt know him well and thats all i got. So yeah, what might have he been doing in France in 1944? hope this isnt a dumb question and i appreciate all your responses!
Not a dumb question at all.
France was an ally of Britain, the US and the USSR in World War II, but under German invasion in 1940, the French military was outmaneuvered and soundly defeated in only about six weeks. The German and Italian governments militarily occupied much of France, with the French government (a puppet of the German state) holding on to territory in the southeast, with its capital at Vichy. After the invasion of French North Africa by Allied forces in 1942, Germany extended its military control over the entirety of continental France. So by 1944, France was completely occupied by the German army, and the US and Commonwealth allied armies had to land there to directly fight Germany (they had already fought Germans in North Africa and in Italy, but a direct blow at France was always a part of war planning).
While you've probably heard of the D-Day invasion (Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy), Allied troops also invaded southern France in August 1944, landing on the Côte d'Azur and pushing north through the Rhone valley. Aided by French resistance fighters, Free French forces liberated Toulon and Marseille by August 26 and 27. The two ports were used to ease Allied supply problems in the northwest of France.
Allied forces continued thrusting north for the balance of the year, entering the Vosges Mountains in September and capturing Belfort on Nov. 22, 1944.
So if your grandfather was in Marseille in early November of 1944, he could have been either a plain old grunt getting some R&R in a back area, or quite possibly a supply or logistics soldier or officer. Hopefully the other link I dropped in will help you find out more!
Hello there! As your question is related to looking for identification/information regarding military personnel, our Guide on Military Identification may be of use to you. It provides a number of different resources, including how to request service records from a number of national agencies around the world, as well as graphical aids to assist in deciphering rank, unit, and other forms of badges or insignia. While the users here may still be able to lend you more assistance, hopefully this will provide a good place to start!