The roadblock of Gratteloup

The crossroads of '' Gratteloup '' was the scene of a fight between the German troops of the 917th grenadier regiment of Colonel LANGE, and the 1st and 2nd battalion of the 7th infantry regiment, 3rd Division Us. The small blockhouse of the crossroads supported a machine gun who controlled the current D98, coming from Cogolin by La Mole. The American troops, landed on August 15 on Red Beach in Cavalaire, separate to follow one, the coastal road and the other, the forest of Dom. The 1st and 2nd battalions overtake the Mole at the dusk of August 16th. Then on the heights of the pass where the Germans are ambushed in a network of trenches, they are shot. The tanks of the 756th Battalion fought back and the "B" company, assisted by the local Resistance, took the enemy position by the North. The commandos of Africa on the ridges and in the South, the Americans on their heels, the enemy retired at the end of the night. The company "F", sent to Bormes, discovered in the morning of August 17 a desert village and Lavandourains hostages left by their guardians.