African soldiers in the spotlight for the 75th anniversary of the landing of Provence

Alassane Amadou, Boudjema Ben Hamou, Bruneta Maurice, Cisse Samba, Diegane Douf, Morana Francois, Niakara Ballo, Rabah Ben Ali, Sedio Traore, Yahyaoui Mouhoub ... Senegalese, Algerian, Tunisian, and Blackfoot skirmishers. It is in front of the graves of these soldiers coming from Africa that the French head of state, Emmanuel Macron, will gather Thursday August 15, seventy-five years to the day after the landing of Provence. It is in the national necropolis of Boulouris, near Saint-Raphaël, in the Var, that rest 464 combatants of the French army B, then become the 1st army of the Hexagon, fallen during these combats.

Nearly 250,000 soldiers of the French forces participated in August 1944 in the landing of Provence, 90% of whom came from North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, European and non-European gathered. Traditionally, this annual commemoration is an opportunity to salute the contribution of the fighters of the former French colonies to the Liberation. At the 50th anniversary in 1994, 18 African countries had been represented and for the 60th, in 2004, fifteen or so heads of state from black Africa and the Maghreb were present.

President Jacques Chirac then welcomed their commitment: "Hunters of Africa, goumiers, tabors, spahis, tirailleurs, Zouaves ... Their names resonate forever with brilliance in our memories." Exemplary fighters, often heirs of warlike traditions immemorial, admirable courage, daring and loyalty, they were the tireless artisans of victory. "

"A story that is common to us"

But, recently, a collective of 22 personalities, including Lilian Thuram, Rachid Bouchareb or Alain Mabanckou, worried about the lack of interest shown by the French authorities towards this 75th anniversary. In a forum published in Le Monde, these intellectuals and artists have demanded an event to the height. "Aïssata Seck, who is in charge of memory issues at the town hall of Bondy, told me that nothing was planned either on the side of the army or the side of the Elysee, while there was had very strong commemorations in June for the 75 years of the landing in Normandy during which very few French had participated and especially no Africans ", explains the historian Pascal Blanchard, one of the signatories of this text. "We were very surprised and we decided to mobilize friends."

This call has been heard. Emmanuel Macron will be present at the ceremonies and will be accompanied by his African counterparts, Ivorian Presidents Alassane Ouattara and Guinea's Alpha Condé. For Pascal Blanchard, it was unthinkable not to mark with a strong gesture these 75 years. "We are on the eve of the year of Africa in 2020. It is a story that is common to us and resonates in us," said this specialist in French colonial history. "Without these 90% of fighters who came from Africa and made the sacrifice to land on these beaches, we may not be here today defending common values."

"A money laundering policy"

On August 15, 1944, shortly after midnight, the first French soldiers commandos of Africa climb the cliff of Cape Negro, located east of Lavandou. At the same time, the US and Canadian commandos of the Sitka Special Force penetrate the islands of Levant and Port-Cros. Finally, the French naval assault group, in charge of sabotage operations, landed at the end of Esquillon, west of Cannes. The next day, Army B sets foot in Cavalaire.

In less than fifteen days, Provence is liberated. "At the time, we knew it, we glorified it, but we did not show it, it is very difficult to find images, there were practically no black troops parading," describes historian Catherine. Coquery-Vidrovitch, also a signatory of this rostrum. "There was a policy of money laundering De Gaulle had absolutely to show that France had been resistant, so it was necessary that this resistance be white and metropolitan," says this specialist history of Africa. "It was also accentuated by American pressure, the United States did not want to see men of color fighting, which was contrary to their principle of segregation, so they asked the French to see what they saw. as little as possible the black soldiers. "

As a result, in the autumn of 1944, this laundering of colonial troops resulted in the withdrawal of thousands of Senegalese riflemen from the front and their replacement by French Resistance fighters (FFI) within the first French army. The official reasons given are then the cold and the incapacity of the African soldiers to bear the winter. The troops of the colonial empire are nevertheless present in June 1945 during the parade of the victory in Paris, but little by little their history is hidden.

In 1959 at the time of decolonization, a decree freezes the amount of pensions of nationals of former colonies who served in the administration or the French army. In 2002, the French government partially unblocks the revaluation of the pension of these "forgotten" soldiers. But this, calculated according to the standard of living of the country of residence, remains lower than that of the French fighters. Four years later, the film "Indigenes", directed by Rachid Bouchareb, puts a spotlight on this situation by addressing the sacrifice of North African soldiers in the liberation of France. In 2010, under the presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy, the pensions of all veterans, regardless of their nationality and place of residence, are finally aligned.

"An issue for the youth of France"

Yet this episode in the history of France remains largely unknown. For the French historian Laurent Moënard, this oversight is also explained by the competition of D-Day, June 6, 1944. "There is all the media strength of the American communication.If we had a Steven Spielberg who had done the same thing on the landing of Provence than on that of Normandy, we would talk a little more ", says the author of" Landing of Provence "(editions Ouest-France). For him, this date is essential: "This is the first time since the defeat of 40 that a real reconstituted French army finds its land and fights on its own soil.Without Provence, we could not have the operation in Normandy, it took both events to push the German army back. "

Beyond this historical reminder, Pascal Blanchard also sees in these commemorations a way to bring together the French of all origins. "How do you want our young people to have a mastery of history, their citizenship and their place in society if we remove these major elements?", Insists the historian. "This is an important issue for the youth of France from returnee families or post-colonial immigration, we must remind them that this is their story."

The colonial troops of the French Empire paid a heavy price. From 1940 to 1945, 55,000 Tunisian, Moroccan, Algerian and African soldiers from French West Africa (AOF) and French Equatorial Africa (AEF) lost their lives.

# 2GM I was sad to learn of the death of Joachim Capirossi. I had to interview him for the 75 years of the landing of Provence. He was born on 19 January 1922 in Corsica and died on 28 June. Here is a tribute in his memory thanks to the story of his daughter @ ZsaZ007. pic.twitter.com/yAA0gl9XsS