SMALL GROUP TOURS IN FRANCE AND GERMANY
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The Liberation of Alsace France
80 Years Ago
8-May-2025
Today, 8-May-2025, is the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII on the European continent. Throughout Alsace France there are memorials and remembrances to the thousands of soldiers who fought bravely and fiercely to liberate Alsace from tyranny and have democracy prevail.
Earlier this year in February 2025, France marked the 80th anniversary of Allied soldiers pushing German troops out of Alsace and back across the border into Germany near the end of World War II. The major battle that ended German occupation of Alsace was called the Colmar Pocket, referring to the area in and around Colmar, France where the German forces were entrenched. Although the Allied forces had landed on the beaches of Normandy several months earlier in June 1944 and southern France in August, it took months for Allied soldiers to reach the interior and eastern part of France that is Alsace and that shares a border with Germany.
From November 1944 to early February 1945, thousands of French, American, and North African soldiers fought fiercely alongside each other under the leadership of the French First Army General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny in the battle of the Colmar Pocket. When the Allies prevailed and pushed the German troops out of the area in early February 1945, more than 13,000 French soldiers, including more than 1,000 North Africans, and more than 8,000 American soldiers were injured or died. One of the American soldiers who fought in this battle was U.S. Army Major Audie Murphy, the most decorated American soldier in American history.
Pathway to the French National Nécropole Overlooking Sigolsheim, France
Memorial to the American Soldiers who Fought in the Battle of the Colmar Pocket to Free Alsace, France from German Occupation
On our bicycle route, we cycle through some of the fields that saw intense fighting. We stop by "Blood Mountain" which is now a WWII French military cemetery where many of the French and North African soldiers who lost their lives in the Battle of the Colmar pocket are buried. Across from the cemetery is a memorial honoring the Americans soldiers who gave their lives to free this area of France from the Germans.
Graves of Christian Soldiers - National Nécropole
Graves of Muslim Soldiers - National Nécropole
As we continue on our bicycle route through the Alsatian countryside we reach the small, picturesque village of Turckheim from the 1300s. Inside the village center there is a museum with an unassuming exterior, except for the World War II artillery gun in the courtyard. Inside the museum there is an absolutely riveting re-telling of how the Battle of the Colmar Pocket unfolded. The museum surrounds visitors with the sights and sounds of the fighting, all alongside a fascinating display of the artifacts of the time.
The Courtyard of the Museum of the Battle of the Colmar Pocket in Turckheim, France.
Entry to the Museum of the Battle of the Colmar Pocket in Turckheim, France
Turckheim, France from the 1300s. City Hall and the Church of Saint Anne.
France is the United States' oldest ally. It was only with French military and economic support that the United States was able to become a free and independent country in 1783. The United States returned the favor to its oldest ally in both WWI and WWII.
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Earlier this year President Emmanuel Macron of France attended the 80th anniversary ceremony in Colmar, France. Americans who were not alive during WWII may find it amazing how prevalent expressions of gratitude remain 80 years later for American contributions to Europe's freedom. In this video of the 80th anniversary ceremony in Colmar, this expression of gratitude is especially poignant at minute 6.30 when the French children sing the American national anthem. As the camera pans back you can see how beautiful Colmar is.
Inside the Grand Cathedral of Strasbourg, France
Memorial to American Soldiers on a Wall Inside the Grand Cathedral of Strasbourg, France