De Gaulle’s Misleading Claims on Paris Liberation Ignored Allied Sacrifices

By Mark Schulte
Wednesday, 24 September 2025 04:33 PM EDT

Ambassador Charles Kushner’s recent open letter to French President Emmanuel Macron criticized the French president for failing to address the surge in antisemitism in France following the Islamic genocidal attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The appeal, published in The Wall Street Journal on Aug. 25, noted that the date marked the “81st anniversary of the Allied Liberation of Paris.” However, the liberation of the French capital on August 25, 1944, was achieved solely by the French Second Armored Division and U.S. 4th Infantry Division.

While Allied forces from the United Kingdom and Canada fought in the Normandy Campaign between June 6 and Aug. 25, 1944, they were still stalled by the German Army 50 miles west of Paris on Liberation Day, as evidenced by a U.S. Army Situation Map. Ambassador Kushner’s critique pales in comparison to the misinformation spread by Gen. Charles De Gaulle during a speech in Paris on that historic day.

The Free French leader falsely claimed Paris was liberated “by itself, liberated by its people with the help of the French armies.” This assertion is inaccurate: there were no “French armies” fighting in France in 1944, as Germany had imprisoned up to two million French POWs between 1940 and 1945. Most were captured during the Nazi blitzkrieg across northern France and the Atlantic coast in 1940.

Between D-Day on June 6, 1944, and Paris’ liberation eleven weeks later, only Gen. Philippe Leclerc’s Second Armored Division fought in France. The other 38 Allied divisions involved were American (22), British (12), Canadian (3), and Polish (1). Of the approximately 230,000 Allied casualties in the Normandy Campaign, 135,000 were Americans, including 29,000 killed. The UK suffered 65,000 casualties, Canada 18,000, and France about 1,000.

Gen. Leclerc’s Second Armored Division did not land in Normandy until Aug. 1, nearly two months after D-Day. On that day, Gen. George Patton’s Fourth and Sixth Armored divisions spearheaded the breakout from Normandy through Avranches. Other U.S. divisions joined the August 1944 advance, liberating Normandy, Brittany, the Loire Valley, and the Isle of France.

In contrast, the French Second Armored Division entered combat during the Battle of the Falaise Gap between Aug. 11 and 20, 1944, where Allied forces inflicted heavy casualties on German troops. On Aug. 22, 1944, six American divisions were near Paris, prompting Gen. Dwight Eisenhower to abandon plans to bypass the city after meeting De Gaulle. The decision was justified as leaving a German-occupied Paris in Allied rear areas risked further destruction, as seen in Warsaw that month.

De Gaulle’s second falsehood involved his claim that “the great French army from Italy” had landed in southern France during Operation Dragoon on Aug. 15, 1944. In reality, three French divisions were near Toulon and Marseille, while U.S. 3rd, 36th, and 45th infantry divisions advanced 70 miles up the Rhone Valley to Grenoble. By mid-September 1944, these American divisions had pushed 450 miles from the French Riviera to Germany’s southwest border near Mulhouse.

The article concludes by urging recognition of the role of U.S. forces in liberating France, citing the sacrifices of soldiers, pilots, and sailors. Mark Schulte is a retired New York City schoolteacher and mathematician who has written extensively about science and history.