Some 200 people and nearly 80 vehicles, including roughly 30 armored machines, arrived at 8:30 a.m. place du général-de-Gaulle in Lampertheim to complete a historic journey commemorating the 2nd Armored Division.
Municipal officials laid a floral wreath as local residents gathered around the convoy of reenactors, whose faces bore the strain of more than a week on the road since departing from Dompaire, dna.fr reported.
The column follows the route Leclerc’s troops took from Utah Beach to Strasbourg, stopping at designated milestones along the way. While original plans involved following the exact path taken by Leclerc and his men to the cathedral, the prefecture altered the route.
“Fascinated by history,” said Materne Schaerlinger, a Mundolsheim resident who has spent a week portraying a soldier from the armored marine rifle regiment.
Schaerlinger drove La Rieuse, a 1943 jeep marked with the chalked phrase “Strasbourg, on arrive!” He views the reenactment as a way to honor France’s liberators and act as a bridge between the final survivors and younger generations.
The event also honors figures like Roger le Neurès, a sponsor of the column who enlisted in 1943 with the 1st Moroccan Spahis Marching Regiment and passed away this summer at age 103. Gauthier Roussel, an Amiens native participating in the trek, said that the journey helps raise awareness of the 2nd Armored Division as an embodiment of Free France, especially ahead of the 2027 commemoration marking 80 years since Leclerc’s death.
Among the participants is 22-year-old Damien from Montpellier, who drove a half-track named Kasserine after the February 1943 battle in Tunisia. He treasures a leather helmet belonging to pursuit pilot Augustin Sabatier, who was deported to Auschwitz, telling dna.fr that remembering the veterans ensures they do not die a second time.
Alban, a 30-year-old from Carentan, traveled with the crew of the Sherman tank Provence from the 12th Chasseurs d’Afrique Regiment. Six Sherman tanks and two other heavy armored vehicles successfully reached Strasbourg without major mechanical failures.
Participants gathered on Saturday afternoon for a ceremony in front of the Zimmer tank at the Port du Rhin, which carries the name Cherbourg. A ceremony honoring the dead of the 2nd Armored Division is scheduled for 9:15 a.m. Sunday at place Broglie, followed by a commemorative ceremony at 10 a.m. place du Château, and a memorial village opening at 3 p.m. place Broglie.
