Comes with hand-signed C.O.A.

This original, exceptionally rare and museum-grade TOP SECRET D-Day (Camel Beach) Bigot amphibious target beachhead map vividly illustrates the intensive planning and operational accuracy that was behind Operation Dragoon (the Allied D-Day assault on Southern France.

This very scarce Top Secret Bigot-rated map and view target chart covers the U.S. invasion of southern France (Operation Dragoon), at Camel Beach, in the vicinity of St. Tropez. This area was the site of landings for Camel Force and the French Commando Force. Areas assigned The Northern Attack Force was to land forces in the St. Raphael - Agay area (Camel Beach). The Delta section of the Southern Attack Force was to land forces in the St. Tropez - St. Maxime area and the Alpha section forces in the Cavalaire area. This D-Day BIGOT target chart is very unique as it is printed in both English and French during the joint operation. This target map depicts several landing zones and relevant shore defences, such as MG emplacements, pillboxes, fortifications, radar, and other beach and water obstacles etc.

The main landing force consisted of three divisions of the VI Corps. The 3rd Infantry Division landed on the left at Alpha Beach (Cavalaire-sur-Mer), the 45th Infantry Division landed in the centre at Delta Beach (Le Muy, Saint-Tropez) and the 36th Infantry Division landed on the right at Camel Beach (Saint-Raphaël).

The landings were overwhelmingly successful. On Delta and Alpha beaches, German resistance was low. The Osttruppen surrendered quickly, and the biggest threats to the Allies were the mines. A single German gun and a mortar position were silenced by destroyer fire. The Allied units in this sector were able to secure a beachhead and quickly linked up with the paratroopers, capturing Saint-Tropez and Le Muy. The most serious fighting was on Camel Beach near the town of Saint-Raphaël. This beach was defended by several well-emplaced coastal guns, as well as flak batteries. Through heavy German fire, the Allies attempted to land at the shore. However, at sector Red of the Camel Beach landing zone, the Allies were not able to succeed. A bombing run of 90 Allied B-24 bombers was called in against a German strongpoint here. Even with the assistance of naval fire, the Allies were not able to bring the landing ships close to the shore. They decided to avoid Camel Red and land only at the sectors of Camel Blue and Camel Green, which was successful.

The BIGOT classification

Both the map and the key are rated "BIGOT TOP SECRET". Introduced during the Second World War, BIGOT was the highest-level military security classification, above Top Secret. Some sources suggest that it was an acronym for “British Invasion of German Occupied Territory;” others, that it was a “backronym” for “To Gib,” the code stamped on the papers of officers headed to Gibraltar in advance of the 1942 North Africa invasion.

Whatever the origins of the term, extraordinary efforts were made to protect BIGOT-level material. When for example a practice landing (“Operation Tiger”) on the Devon coast was ambushed by U-Boats, Eisenhower himself ordered the recovery of the bodies of the ten known victims with BIGOT clearance. This was necessary to prove that they had not been captured alive, as their capture would have compromised the invasion plans and necessitated its cancellation.

D-Day Landings at Camel Beach:

The landing beaches on the right flank of the Dragoon assault area, code-named Camel, were the target of Major General John Dahlquist and the veteran 36th Infantry Division. The division’s zone of responsibility stretched from the east bank of the Argens River, including the important road junction and town of Fréjus, Puget-sur-Argens, and Le Muy to the mountainous region of the Esterel Forest some eight miles away to the east. This coastal area included the open, sandy, but heavily fortified Camel Red Beach at the mouth of the Argens River, just to the west of Frejus. Camel Green Beach lay to the east of St. Raphaël near Cap Drammont. The 36th Division planners considered Camel Green large enough only for initial operations, but too small for sizable follow-on forces. On the extreme eastern flank of the invasion coast, Camel Blue Beach, at Antheor Cove, was rather small and not well suited for major landing operations.

Allied planners considered the Camel Beach assault area strategically important to the overall Sixth Corps invasion scheme because it presented a suitable entrance into the Argens River Valley, but there were certain obstacles. Camel Red Beach was too strongly defended on D-Day for an amphibious assault and ultimately was not used. Camel Green and Camel Blue consisted of narrow strips of rocky shale leading to steep embankments and could hardly be called beaches in the technical sense of the word.

The 141st Infantry Regiment assaulted Camel Green with its 2nd and 3rd battalions abreast at H-Hour on D-Day, while the 1/141 INF landed on Camel Blue. Four M4A1 Duplex Drive amphibious tanks of the 753rd Tank Battalion accompanied each landing force. The infantry encountered some small arms fire, but the main threat was the abundant German artillery fire, although it was not especially accurate due to a lack of enemy forward observers. The initial mission of the 141st was to secure the beachhead and roads paralleling the coast between Drammont and the eastern side of Antheor Cove, then push to the north and northeast toward Theoule-sur-Mer and the N-7 highway.

The 143rd Infantry Regiment landed over the beaches cleared by the 141st INF with the initial objectives of clearing the coast roads to the west and capturing the town of St. Raphaël. The regiment landed over Camel Green Beach in a column of battalions: 1st Battalion at 0945 hours, 2nd Battalion at 1005 hours, and 3rd Battalion at 1035 hours. The 1st Battalion seized the high ground north of the beach, and then moved west to attack St. Raphaël once the 3rd Battalion came ashore and moved into their positions on the high ground. The 2nd Battalion moved along the coast to attack the town from the east.

The 142nd Infantry Regiment planned to make a delayed assault at 1400 hours over Camel Red Beach. This was, quite possibly, the most difficult of all the Dragoon landings as this area southwest of Fréjus was quite heavily defended, and the Germans had clear lanes of fire over Fréjus Gulf and could easily target the approaching landing craft. At 1100 hours, minesweepers moved forward to sweep the Camel Red approach lanes, but as they neared the beach, heavy shelling forced them to retire. After a flight of 93 B-24 Liberator heavy bombers dropped 187 tons of bombs on the enemy defenders, the minesweepers started back in toward the beach. Again, under a heavy artillery barrage, they managed to clear the lanes to within 500 yards of the beach. Under the cover of fire from naval gunfire support ships, two demolitions teams with scout boats and 12 explosive drone boats were sent in. These also met with heavy enemy fire and withdrew.

While efforts to clear the beach continued, the 142nd INF, in more than 100 assault craft, waited for the signal to land. In the event that Camel Red proved too difficult to approach, planners prepared an alternative assault for the 142nd INF. The Commander of Naval Task Force 87, Rear Admiral Spencer S. Lewis, ordered that the alternate plan of landing the 142nd INF over Camel Green Beach behind the 143rd INF be put into effect immediately. The fleet turned to the east, and the entire regiment landed over Camel Green without loss.

The primary objective of the 142nd was capturing the town of Fréjus from the southeast by nightfall on D-Day. Obviously, the change in landing beach forced some operational changes as well. Landing over Camel Green and proceeding inland over the high ground, the 142nd attacked Fréjus from the northeast and captured the town at 1355 hours, 16 August.

St. Raphaël fell to the 143rd INF on the morning of 16 August, and the 141st INF captured Theoule-sur-Mer late in the afternoon on the same day. The 142nd INF continued west toward Puget, the 143rd moved north into the high ground toward the N-7, and the 141st INF consolidated its positions from the N-7 from the flank of the 143rd east to Theoule-sur-Mer. By the morning of 17 August, the “Texas” Division reached the Blue Line. The division then prepared for movement toward the northwest.