Events marking WW2 landings partly axed due to weather

Commemorations marking the 80th anniversary of the Allied landings in the south of France have been partly cancelled due to storm warnings.

French President Emmanuel Macron was due to hold a reception with other heads of state aboard the amphibious helicopter carrier Dixmude, but that has now been called off.

A scheduled re-enactment of the landings in Toulon has also been axed.

The landings in Provence played a key role in the liberation of France during World War Two, allowing Allied forces to reclaim most of southern France.

Sometimes referred to as the forgotten D-Day, they occurred shortly after the much better-known landings in Normandy.

The Elysee Palace said shortly before the commemorations were due to start that the reception on the Dixmude would no longer take place.

Meanwhile, the local authority for the Var region said in a statement that the re-enactments on the Lido beach at Mourillon had been cancelled due to “the unfavourable weather conditions and the significant risk of storms”.

Violent storms and heavy rains have forecast for the region, with winds of up to 140km/h (87mph).

The Provence landings began when some 100,000 American, British and Canadian troops landed on the beaches of the French Riviera on August 15, 1944.

They were followed by 250,000 soldiers recruited largely from the French colonies in north Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.

However, it has taken decades to highlight the role they played during commemorations of the military operation.

Speaking at a ceremony at the Boulouris National Cemetery in the town of Saint-Raphael, Mr Macron paid tribute to the crucial role played by African soldiers, who were often recruited by force.

Troops from what is now Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon, Togo, Morocco and Niger sacrificed their lives when they “made the Germans flee on 22 August [1944]”, he said.

The French president was joined by six African leaders, including Paul Biya of Cameroon and Faustin-Archange Touadera of the Central African Republic.

In an address, Mr Biya said: “There would have been no Allied victory without the contribution of other peoples, without foreigners.”

The soldiers of the Provence landings – dubbed Operation Dragoon – played a key role in capturing the key Mediterranean ports of Marseille and Toulon and increased pressure on Nazi forces by opening up a new front.