Liberation Memorial

This stele was erected in 1970 by the Souvenir Français on the site of the first divisional cemetery created in the aftermath of the liberation of La Londe les Maures.

On August 17, 1944, the first American soldiers arrived via this route, followed by the African commandos. An American tank destroyer was stopped by German artillery in front of the Château de la Tour Saint Honoré.
From the top of the destroyed turret, Sergeant Stanley Bender fixes the enemy fire and goes on the assault of the bridge that bears his name before liberating the village.
The Marquis de Lordat, owner of the land, accedes to the request of General Diégo Brosset who commands the 1st DFL (1st Free French Division) for the bodies of 117 officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers out of the 298 of this unit who perished between La Londe and Le Pradet, to be buried there.
The graves were maintained by the children of the Jean Jaurès school for many years after the end of the war.

General de Lattre de Tassigny, commander of the 1st French Army, Rhine and Danube, comes to pay tribute to those who disappeared after the Liberation of Toulon.
General O'Daniel, commander of the 3rd US Infantry Division (3rd US DI), stopped there before visiting the huge field hospital set up on the Valrose site.
General de Gaulle came to pay his respects there after the end of the war. He was welcomed by the mayor, Mr. François de Leusse.
This Foreign Legion officer, integrated into the African commandos under the name Captain de Montgraham, landed on Canadel beach and liberated Cap Bénat and Fort de Brégançon. In November 1944, during the liberation of Belfort, at the head of the 3rd African Commando, he was one of the few survivors of this unit, decimated at the Bois d'Arsot in Offemont, where a crossroads bears his name.
Most of the bodies of the soldiers of the 1st Free French Division were returned to their families after the opening of the Boulouris national necropolis near Saint Raphaël, inaugurated on August 15, 1964 by General De Gaulle.

On May 8, 1981, it was in this place that the first flag was handed over to the local committee of Souvenir Français of La Londe les Maures, created on May 2, 1980 at the initiative of Mr. Ponel, director of the Jean Jaurès school during the occupation and president of Souvenir Français of Hyères.