Paris yesterday celebrated the 80th anniversary of its liberation from German troops in World War II with tributes, military marches and the hoisting of a flag at the Eiffel Tower. On August 25, 1944, the 2nd French Armoured Division entered the capital under the command of General Philippe Leclerc de Hautecloque, ending 1,500 days of German occupation. Their triumphant arrival followed a tumultuous week of uprisings, strikes, combat at barricades and street battles between French Resistance fighters and occupying forces.
Yesterday a parade followed one of the itineraries of the French division from the south of the capital to its centre. The parade featured vintage military vehicles, as surviving veterans of the 2nd Armoured Division looked on. President Emmanuel Macron led the commemoration, also attended by Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and an audience including prominent cultural figures including American actor Jodie Foster.
“Beyond all divisions and contradictions, to be French is to be together,” Macron said in a speech. “Free, and true to the great things that have been achieved and determined to achieve more together.” A torch for the Paris Paralympics, which open Wednesday, was lit, ahead of a flyover by the Patrouille de France, a unit of French air force fighter planes.
People take images of French Air Force elite acrobatic flying team “Patrouille de France” performing a fly-over during a ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Paris from the Germans in the World War II, in Paris yesterday. (AFP)
