This story was first published after Allied troops entered Paris on Aug. 25, 1944 to liberate the French capital from Nazi occupation. Street fighting raged through the heart of Paris today as American and French columns drove into the city from the south amid a tumultuous welcome from hundreds of thousands
1 / 8France Paris LiberationFILE - In this Aug. 28, 1944 file photo, French girls rush to greet American soldiers upon their arrival in Paris. The fighting for the liberation of Paris took place from August 19 to August 25, 1944. The French Resistance staged an uprising against the Nazis, leading attacks against German soldiers and vehicles and building barricades in the streets of the French capital. Towers of Notre Dame are in background at right.
Machine guns and rifles cracked on all sides as the column I was with drove to within a block of the Luxembourg. But Frenchmen are fighting Frenchmen as well as Germans in liberating a city wild with happiness over the freedom which they waited for four years. Our column began to roll at 7 a.m. from Longjumeau, six miles south of Paris. A French captain stopped all correspondents one mile from town and insisted he had orders that no one without a written permit could enter the city. He told three British correspondents they would be shot if they drove by without a pass.
Then the column began to roll again. The strongpoint had been knocked out ahead of us. And at 9:57 a.m. my jeep rolled through the gates into Paris. Men and women, old and young, and children stormed the jeep every time the column stopped. And they were wild with emotion. The crowds, which a few minutes before lined the streets, melted as if a blast from a furnace had hit a snowbank. Then the streets were terribly lonely and barren except for armor with guns clattering.
Ahead of us, patriots crouched along the buildings and answered the enemy fire. Lying there, I felt lonely and lost in the city which all of us had dreamed of entering as a joyous occasion. The column moved in lurches, going forward for short distances, then stopping, either for reconnaissance or for guns to engage strongpoints. Rain glistened on the dark green trees and hedges and gave the countryside a freshly washed appearance.
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