Operation Romeo was a French

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

commando Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...

operation to disable German artillery atop the cliffs of

Cap Nègre A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal s ...

. The operation happened the evening before

Operation Dragoon Operation Dragoon (initially Operation Anvil) was the code name for the landing operation of the Allied invasion of Provence (Southern France) on 15August 1944. Despite initially designed to be executed in conjunction with Operation Overlord, th ...

, the main invasion of Southern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The force consisted of 800 French commandos of the ''1er Commando Français de l'Afrique du Nord'' (First French Commando of North Africa), commanded by

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

Georges-Régis Bouvet. The attacking flotilla included the command ship HMCS ''Prince David'', HMCS ''Prince Henry'', HMS ''Princess Beatrix'', HMS ''Prins Albert'' and four U.S. Motor Torpedo Boats. At 0130 15 August, 95 commandos in

landing craft Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force (infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are larger. Pr ...

from Prince David beached first, while the remainder of the force waited offshore. The commandos had to climb a tall cliff to reach their objective. Half an hour later, they sent word back that the enemy gun positions had been silenced. The main body of Romeo then came onto the beach. About 800 commandos moved quickly and were soon established across the main road between

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

and the

Riviera ''Riviera'' () is an Italian word which means "coastline", ultimately derived from Latin , through Ligurian . It came to be applied as a proper name to the coast of Liguria, in the form ''Riviera ligure'', then shortened in English. The two areas ...

.Schull, Joseph. Far Distant Ships, An official Account of Canadian Operations in World War II. Stoddart. page 236 and page 363 300 German soldiers were killed and 700 taken prisoner. The French commandos suffered 11 men killed and 50 wounded. The force held its position until relieved by VI Corps from the east on August 15, 1944.

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Romeo Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Lord Montague and his wife, Lady Montague, he secretly loves and marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet, through a priest ...

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