Paul de Langlade, cavalry officer - whose disappearance, in February 80, pained all those who loved and esteemed him - was called, in 1943, by General Leclerc, to the formation of the 2nd D.B. and its training in Morocco. Colonel appointed to the command of Groupement Tactique Langlade, one of the other "Combat-Commands" of the division, he left, in his memories, "following Leclerc", an exhilarating image of the entry of his GTL into Paris in the morning of Friday, August 25, 1944.
On August 23, preceding the huge crowd of tanks, half-tracks and self-propelled guns running since midnight on the main road, I was in Rambouillet at 2 p.m. Directed, from the entrance, by the road traffic on the castle where the headquarters of General Leclerc was installed, I made contact with him. Placed in the hands of Gribius, the latter charged with verbally specifying my mission, led me under the arbors of the park where tables were set up in the open air covered with maps of Paris and the surrounding area.
It was there that I received from his hands the famous operations order for the day of the 24th, which will remain famous in more ways than one and whose mission defined from the first line was contained in three "heroic" words. Here is the text:
Mission:
1) seize Paris.
2) hold Paris.
by occupying the bridges between Ivry-sur-Seine and Neuilly-sur-Marne,
by pushing elements into the north-eastern suburbs of Paris,
by maintaining a reserved element in the center of Paris.
Information:
The enemy has a certain number of support points without liaison the ones with the others. These strongpoints are denser in the south-west region of Paris.
Device:
Main mission.
G.T. “V”.
a) push on the Arpajon-Sceaux-Paris axis where the main effort will be made, using small roads and avoiding major roads,
b) enter Paris in the direction of the Panthéon then cross the Seine and exit via the Vincennes-Charenton region; hold the Marne bridges between Ivry-sur-Seine (included) and Neuilly-sur-Marne (included), c) initially light up at a useful distance P.C.:at the end of the mission:Porte de Vincennes.
Secondary diversionary mission:
G.T. "L".
a) push on the Dampierre-Chevreuse axis, Château... Toussus-le-Noble, les Loges, Jouy-en-Josas, Villacoublay, Meudon bridge, bridge de Sèvres,
b) hold Sèvres and push the sub-group towards Versailles and in the direction of Paris,
c) at the end of the operations and after relief by elements reserved at Versailles, push the whole of his group to the center of Paris (Place de la Concorde) in mobile reserve. P.C.:Initially, Pont de Sèvres - later, Hôtel Crillon Paris.
G.T. "D".
a) put the 3rd R.A.C. at the disposal of the "V" GT, progress behind the "V" GT, ready either to support it, or to support the "L" GT by pushing a sub-group in the direction of the Sèvres bridge.
b) clean up the center of Paris,
c) in the event of immediate success of the various operations, regroup the elements in the Pantin region. North of Paris - P.C.:Mairie de Pantin.
Morel-Deville elements
Stay in their current locations and make the maximum volume to simulate a direct attack in the direction of Saint-Cyr. At the end of the day in reserve under the orders of Colonel Rémy.
F. T. A.
The batteries will initially follow the progress of the groups to which they are assigned, ready to organize themselves into D.C.A. in the center of Paris, as soon as Paris falls.
Engines
Reserved Engineers under the command of the battalion commander commanding Engineers Dio will initially remain in Rambouillet. and will be ready to dominate the Rambouillet-Versailles-Paris axis at the end of the day on further orders.
Cdt Remy and reserved elements. Under the orders of Colonel Remy
— Will push on Versailles as soon as it is liberated and demin the axes ready to receive any counter-attack mission.
— Will push later on Paris (Longchamp).
P.C. main advance:
— behind G. T. “V” then Hôtel Crillon Paris
— Rambouillet
— Versailles - Lycée Hoche
— Longchamp. Base:— Rambouillet.
— Traffic:
— a D.C.R. at the disposal of the G.T. “V”
— a D.C.R. at the disposal of the G.T. “L”.
— At the end of operations two road traffic detachments at the disposal of the General, place de la Concorde.
— Air support:
— main detachment with G.T. “V”
— secondary detachment with G.T. “L ". — Time of start of operations:7 a.m.
P.C., August 23, 1944, Rambouillet, 6 p.m. General Leclerc, commanding the 2nd Armored Division
This document will remain as one of the monuments that will serve for military history. A striking shortcut from the leader's thoughts, this order, condensed into two typewritten pages, was the only one I received until the evening of August 25.
Breaking with all the sacrosanct traditions of classical methods of he staff, deliberately taken out of the framework taught with solemnity by generations of professors at the War School, it certainly contained only the essentials in which everything was included. None of us felt the need for superfluous comments. A copy was given to each of the subgroups at my command post in the forest of Rambouillet and the order of march was specified:Massu in the lead, followed by Minjonnet. With my reduced command post, I will march behind the Massu sub-group.
Each of us repeated in his head this intoxicating refrain:“Mission:to seize Paris. P.C. initially:Pont de Sèvres, later:Hôtel Crillon, Place de la Concorde. »
I don't think the military history of France has ever given such a feeling to one of its officers.