Monument Details

Serrurier Drop- Operation Cadillac

Details:

By the side of the road on a bed of cobblestones.

Marker
A sculpted piece of vertical flat polished rock with a parachute carved into it.

Operation Cadillac:

'Cadillac' was an Allied major air-drop delivery of weapons, ammunition and other supplies to the French resistance forces (and OSS) in the Vercors massif area German-occupied France (14 July 1944).

The drop was made by some 144 Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers of the Lieutenant General James H. Doolittle’s US 8th AAF supplied by the 4th Combat Bombardment Wing (94th, 385th and 447th Bombardment Groups); 13th Combat Bombardment Wing (95th, 100th and 390th Bombardment Groups); and, 45th Combat Bombardment Wing (96th, 388th and 452nd Bombardment Groups), each loaded with 400 lb (181 kg) parachute-retarded supply containers, and escorted by about 200 Supermarine Spitfire fighters of the Royal Air Force. The Liberator bomber made their drop runs in groups of 12 at an altitude of only 350 ft (105 m) above the marked drop zones, and the accuracy of the delivery was therefore notably high.

Monument Text:

JUILLET

1944

"Ici, sur le terrain "SERRUIER" a ete larhue le 14 Juillet 1944

par les forteresses volantes

de la 3ième Division de la 8ième Armée de l'air des Etat Unis

au cours de l'operation "CADILLAC": 431 containers

Ce parachutage de jour fut le plus important

de la 2ième fuerre mondiale”

English translation:

July

1944

On this ground on July 14th, 1944, the flying fortresses of the 3rd Division, 8th Air Force dropped 413 containers of supplies on the Serrurier drop zone as part of Operation Cadillac. This daytime drop was the most important of WWII.

Commemorates:

Units:

100th Bomber Group

385th Bomber Group

388th Bombardment Group (Heavy)

390th Bomber Group

3rd Infantry Division

447th Bomber Group

452nd Bombardment Group, Heavy

8th Air Force

94th Bomber Group, Heavy

95th Bomb Group (Heavy)

96th Bomber Group

French Resistance

Office of Strategic Services (OSS)

OSS

Resistance

Wars:

WWII

Battles:

Operation Cadillac

Operation Carpetbagger

Other images :

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