Colonel in August 44, after the astonishing journey that led him from 'U.S.S.R. in London, General Billotte, who recounts his experience, commands tactical group V.
Leclerc put me in charge of the main action in Paris, with Arpajon, Sceaux, the Pantheon... then the Prefecture of Police. Which program ! and which passed through the temple of glory.
I had articulated the G.T.V.'s deployment as follows:Putz was in the north with two tank companies (Gavarni and Witasse), two companies from the Chad regiment (Dronne and Wagner), a section of engineers (Cancel) and an artillery battery of the sixty-fourth (Touyeras). Warabiot is in the south with a section of light tanks (Nanterre), a company of medium tanks (Brant), an infantry company (Dupont), a section of Engineers (Desjardins), an artillery battery (Besançon). In reserve under the command of Cantarel, the rest of the artillery and engineers, a tank company (Buis), an infantry company (Sarrazac).
Contrary to what we could imagine, the Germans were rather better organized to the southwest than to the east of Paris, and we were to come up against a series of defenses of increasing resistance as we approached the capital.
Cantarel, with a squadron of armored cars (Lucien), an infantry section (Carrage) and a tank section (Galley) reduced a whole series of islands of resistance, took two hundred and ninety prisoners and seized the Longjumeau bridge to create an outlet north of the Palàiseau river. Warabiot, clinging to Savigny and especially to Morangis, infiltrates and overflows the defenses by taking six hundred prisoners and seizing Wissous. Putz comes up against strong resistance at Massy and Antony and passes in force.
Within sight of the Croix de Berny the baroud begins again. Berny's Cross is very strongly held. Witasse will try to overtake it by the left, Dronne by the right and by Fresnes. I order Warabiot to envelop it more widely from the east and send elements to the crossroads; if successful, he will head for Paris via Villejuif. Witasse arrives first at the goal and Putz goes there immediately. Warabiot had to overcome very strong opposition in Fresnes.
It's seven o'clock, everyone is exhausted. we are almost out of gas and ammunition. We only have an hour and a half of daylight left in front of us. Sorry, I have to give the order to stop when the gap is made. I propose to Leclerc who has come to my height to give the order to Dronne, the captain closest to us at this moment. to go for the Prefecture of Police by infiltrating:he has his chance. Leclerc acquiesces all the more willingly as he had had the same intention. All that remains is to make arrangements for the night and, above all, to set off again at full speed at dawn.
At full speed, because an envoy from Parodi and Chaban, Lieutenant Petit-Leroy, who had slipped through the German lines to Antony, had come to communicate to me a message from the civil and military delegates and more precisely from Chaban -Delmas. Here are his words; they were extremely important because, in my eyes, they commanded our entire manoeuvre, on and in Paris:
“You have to be quick and even very quick. First of all because we lack arms and ammunition and we cannot be sure of being able to prolong without excessive losses a resistance thus disarmed. But also because we believe that two German divisions from the north are coming to the aid of the commander of the Gross Paris:General von Choltitz. If they arrived in Paris before you, you could not liberate Paris without multiple victims and destruction. Especially since the Germans would have plenty of time to use their mine devices that they have put in place. Chaban-Delmas lets you know
on the other hand that Choltitz does not seem to him determined to fight to the limit, because he would be convinced of the vanity of such a fight; but he is threatened by the S.A. It is therefore also necessary to move quickly to deal with him and not with a Hitlerite extremist who would have replaced him. His P.C. is at the Hotel Meurice. »
In my opinion, under no circumstances should we dwell to liberate Paris, point of ap-
then by point of support, as was classically provided for by our rules of maneuver for the conquest of urban localities. Not only would the loss of human life and destruction have been very severe, but above all such a procedure would have required a lot of time, with all the worsening of the situation that could have resulted from it. On the contrary, it was necessary and at all costs to seize Choltitz before any other German and to force him to give his troops the order to cease fire. The information, moreover very incomplete, that Petit-Leroy had given me
about the German presence in the capital, was sufficient
to convince me that the enemy forces there were not very mobile, rather dispersed and unfit for manoeuvre. We could therefore slip through to Le Meurice without too much difficulty, without excessive risk of being counter-attacked on our flanks or our rear.
I therefore presented this conception to Leclerc. The discussion was tight; Leclerc could
not in an instant judge all the merits and all the capacities of the leaders of the interior Resistance that I had come to know little by little in three years. Obviously, I insisted with all the conviction and all the persuasiveness of which I was capable.
I was moreover quite ready to demand the arbitration of de Gaulle The affair seemed to me
of importance for Paris and for France, when Leclerc, whose intuition was great and who then seemed to me to pierce my intention, practically gave me carte blanche. “Take the Prefecture of Police and there, better informed, you will see what to do:go to Le Meurice or carry yourself as planned, on the cover, from Neuilly-sur-Marne to Charenton. From then on, I knew that I would go to Le Meurice.
No sooner had we liberated a small town or even a village, a district, a house, than men, women and children, in defiance of all caution, literally threw themselves into our arms. Often they thought they were dealing with Americans, and when they recognized the guys from the "Leclerc Army", their joy was even greater. I had to make special arrangements to try to escape, sometimes unsuccessfully, from their embraces, which were not always dangerous for them, but which always risked slowing our progress. These slight delays were moreover largely compensated by the additional impetus given to our boys by such demonstrations of gratitude and affection. The champions ordinarily break their records only sustained by the applause of the public; it is not often given to the combatant to shine even before the eyes of his compatriots; when this exceptional chance is offered to him, the French soldier could be more sensitive than others to this atmosphere as exhilarating as it is unusual. This indulgence, in any case, made him surpass himself that day.
From eight o'clock to midnight, I make arrangements for the outlet of the next day in the direction of the Porte d'Orléans, from six o'clock in the morning; the units are refueling and ammunition and reorganizing, because the losses, without having been too severe, have nevertheless been significant. The Battle of the Crown of Paris cost me twenty killed, eighty-one wounded and three missing. Leclerc put a platoon of armored cars and two sections of infantry from the Sammarcelli company of the Dio group at my disposal to reinforce me.
At midnight, I go to bed with a very welcoming inhabitant, because I feel that the day of August 25 will be hot and that I will have to take initiatives in the presence of situations that are completely new for us and totally unpredictable. I fall asleep and am immediately awakened by a very vigorous artillery bombardment; I find it difficult to detect its origin, even more so to perceive its objectives. I have the impression that the German pieces could be deployed around Verrières and that it is Langlade that interests them. Selfishly, I hope this is so and that the G.T.V. will be spared, because we are in charge of the main mission and that I know only with Leclerc the message of Chaban. I go back to sleep. At one o'clock in the morning, Commander Weil of Leclerc's staff comes to bring me new orders! “Go to the Ile de la Cité, at dawn, as agreed, but clear the routes that lead to the Croix de Berny because Dio will go there at your height; go through Villejuif and the Porte de Gentilly. I curse, of course, because my night's sleep, barely started for a few minutes, is over. I have to give new orders and above all make sure that they will be carried out on time. I add:“I hope that nothing has changed with regard to the arrangements that I made with General Leclerc around 6 p.m. concerning the maneuver in Paris? — "I don't know these arrangements," replies Weill. This absence of information from this valuable staff officer is not to reassure me. It seems to me that Leclerc was not entirely convinced by my arguments and that he reserves the right to intervene again, once the Prefecture of Police has been taken. Anyway, we'll see.
At seven o'clock Warabiot sets off with some delay due to late changes in arrangements. I urge him as best I can.
In the thick fog of the morning, the pace is at first cautious and then, no enemy presence being revealed, accelerates notably. The jubilant population has come out and clutters the sidewalks; she howls her joy; she throws us flowers; a vigorous fellow nearly knocked me out by throwing a magnificent apple at me, which hit me in the face. The driver of my command-car, faster than any other vehicle in the column, then took the bit between his teeth and overtook the few vehicles in front of us at full speed. Maurice Schumann's jeep comes up behind me and it's with a good lead on everyone that we both reach the Place Notre-Dame.
Waiting for the tanks to arrive de Warabiot, Schumann and I can't resist the urge to go to the Notre-Dame bridge and there, leaning against the balustrade, to contemplate for a few minutes the prodigious spectacle of the awakening of the illuminated Ile de la Cité by the rising sun. What a beauty!
We are called back to reality by machine gun fire from the left bank, from a watchtower on rue St-Jacques, which sweeps our bridge. We fell back in good order with all the more dignity as we had to go in the direction of the machine gun to reach the Prefecture of Police.
It was eight o'clock in the morning, the first Warabiot tanks arrive. I go up to Luizet, the new Prefect of Police. I set up my PC in the billiard room. I talk there immediately with Parodi and Chaban, rather satisfied to see me, at the head of important modern means of combat. They confirm what Petit-Leroy told me.
We then agree that while waiting for the concentration of my tanks, I will issue an ultimatum to Choltitz through Nordling, the Swedish consul. I will invite the commander of the Gross Paris to cease any combat that has become useless given the imbalance of the forces present. Otherwise too bad for him and his troops. If Choltitz accepts my urgent invitation and in any case as soon as he is in our hands, we will ask him to sign the capitulation of the troops under his command in the whole of the Gross Paris sector and we will organize with him the surrender the multiple islands of resistance as quickly as possible. Thus, when the German reinforcement divisions approach the greater suburbs, the He armored division will be ready to receive them with all honors, to the north and northeast of the capital.
I dictate then quickly the terms of the ultimatum to La Horie, assisted by Félix Gaillard, who was to keep the manuscript under glass on his desk until his death. Both of them, to impress Choltitz, named me general two days ahead of de Gaulle and, moreover, neglected to let me know when they brought me the text to sign. I will only learn much later about this manifest abuse of power by these two generous friends, who obviously doubted nothing. I then sent La Horie with some tanks to Nordling, rue d'Anjou; he meets there around ten thirty, an officer of Choltitz who is not there by chance! This officer will not return until noon. Choltitz rejects my ultimatum.
When La Horie at around one o'clock reports the refusal to me and comments with the perspicacity that is his on the explanations of the German officer of the General Staff of Choltitz, I have a feeling that the commander of the Gross Paris will not fight to the death.
As early as eleven o'clock in the morning, I had given Warabiot and Putz the necessary instructions for the capture of Le Meurice:with his tanks as far as the Concorde".
"Bricart will progress by the quays of the right bank along the Louvre and the Tuileries to cover Branet to the south and will attack the Tigers or the Panthers whose La Horie reported that they were occupying the Tuileries”.
“Sammarcelli will progress through the rue Saint-Honoré, taking cover towards the Opéra then the rue Royale”.
“On the left bank, Commander Putz will advance from Place St-Michel towards the Luxembourg Gardens, then fall back towards Concorde, linking up with the Dio group. »
To allow the Germans to surrender in honor under the direct pressure of our weapons, we will not fire first, as worthy heirs of the fighters of Fontenoy. The Germans did not understand this last invitation to wisdom and did not fail to imitate the adversaries of Marshal Saxe.
At two o'clock, the units were ready. I order Warabiot and Putz forward. Leclerc, who had arrived at Montparnasse station at the end of the morning, had of course been informed by me of the arrangements I had made following my interviews with Chaban and Parodi. I had also advised him to come quickly to the Prefecture of Police, where he would find more information and means of communication than at Montparnasse station.
While waiting for his arrival, I give the necessary indications for the drafting of a capitulation project:Félix Gaillard and Captain Puig, head of the Third Bureau, devote themselves to it. Then with Luizet, whose telephone communications with other prefectures and with a number of suburban police stations are working, I organize with the means at hand an alert system, which will have to signal to us the possible advance of German reinforcements to leave, if possible, from the Beauvais - Creil - Senlis Meaux cross-road.
Leclerc arrives around three o'clock at the police headquarters; not only does he fully approve of all the arrangements made, but he asks me to increase the pace of operations even more. Since he is now at the best possible command post, I can go to the field of action, rue de Rivoli.
From the Palais-Royal, I catch up with the infantrymen of the regiment of Chad of Branet and Sammarcelli who are struggling with the defenders of the Tuileries and the shooters of the buildings of the rue de Rivoli. I get off my scout-car and walk towards them. Our boys are cleaning the houses of their German occupants and already very many prisoners are in their hands. I arrive at Le Meurice to see La Horie invite von Choltitz to get into his jeep. I think it best to shelter the latter in my scout-car where he will escape the sight of the crowd. Above all, I want to speak to him very firmly to lead him to accept the conditions of capitulation and surrender that I prepared and proposed to Leclerc.
Choltitz seems relieved to find himself under my protection. Kracher, who took him prisoner, and La Horie, who first took charge of him a few moments later, were most courteous to him; but no doubt their ranks did not seem to him sufficient to guarantee him the security to which he aspired.
He was a fat man of about fifty, of such an warlike as possible; he was visibly suffering from the heat. How on earth could he have fought so vigorously in Normandy? No sooner had he been installed in one of the two seats in my scout-car, facing the desk table, than he begged me in favor to take his chief of staff with us. I nodded while pointing out to him that his colonel should lie down under the table, the only place available and of mediocre comfort. Both accepted with gratitude.
It was in this comical crew that we set off again towards the Prefecture of Police, Choltitz's feet and mine delicately placed on the stomach of the unfortunate head of state- major.
“I understand,” I said to Choltitz, “the reasons why you refused my ultimatum. I suppose you were threatened by the S.A.; I also imagine, from what I have been told, that your family who are in Baden-Baden in a hostage position could have been treated savagely by Hitler if you had not fought. That said, I had understood that it was only a "last stand". However, it was not so, and without knowing the number yet, I know that I have already lost too many of my soldiers. We are therefore faced with the situation envisaged by the last part of my ultimatum, namely the continuation of the struggle until the total extermination of your forces. So what do you suggest to prevent me from resorting to this extremity? »
The poor man turned redder and even more sweaty. “Monsieur le général (Come on! He too), what you are telling me is not right. I have done so much for Paris. If you knew the orders I received from the Führer! — "Well, if you think you have already done so much for Paris, you will have to continue in this direction and complete your work by accepting the conditions of capitulation which will be imposed on you and by "collaborating", it is your turn. , with our officers, to make your islands of resistance understand to stop fighting immediately. It is at this price now that we can avoid the destruction and other loss of life of which you would otherwise be guilty. Then, feeling the game won, I added, "Have you heard of the two divisions that would be sent to you from the north?" As of right no answer.
Choltitz has tradition. “When they enter your command perimeter, you will have to invite them to cease the fight like the other troops already under your command. »
Choltitz looks at me with big pleading eyes. Obviously, that was too much. Fortunately for him, we arrived at the Prefecture of Police.
We went up to the billiard room where Leclerc was waiting for us impatiently. The surrender ceremony begins:Choltitz behaves with dignity. Leclerc with greatness. All our conditions are accepted. The capitulation is signed.