Bite-Size History — The Most Famous Battle Of WW2 You’ve Never Heard Of

Operation Dragoon — D-Day’s Little Brother and Its Role In Allied Victory

The Operation Dragoon invasion force disembarking on the southern coast of France (Image credit: Wikipedia)

Whether you’re a historian, an enthused amateur, or someone who has ancestors that experienced the Second World War, if you asked about the key events of the conflict, you might expect some of the following to get a mention:

• The Nazi invasion of Poland
• The Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor
• The Battle of the Bulge
• The fall of France and the Low Countries
• The Battle of Britain
• Operation Overlord (or D-Day)
• The Battle of Stalingrad and the encircling of Paulus’ Sixth Army
• The Battle of Midway
• Montgomery vs. Rommel in North Africa
• Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• Operation Market Garden

And plenty more.

I doubt, though, too many lists would feature Operation Dragoon — an incredibly vital part of the war — but, for reasons we’ll cover, often only gets a passing mention in the histories of this conflict.