Voie de la Liberté

Spanning 1207 kilometres across northern France, Luxembourg and Belgium, the voie de la liberté - or freedom road - commemorates the route the Allies took as territories were liberated from German occupation during the summer of 1944.

As part of the Allied offensive following the Normandy beach landings, the US Third Army, led by General George S. Patton Jr., made rapid progress from west to east, pushing back German occupation. Thousands of towns and villages up to the west side of the Moselle river at Metz were liberated, before the batallions turned north as part of the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes. The resulting success freed much of France, Luxembourg and Belgium from Nazi control.

 

Creating a lasting legacy

Following the conclusion of World War II, former French colonel Guy de La Vasselais had the desire to commemorate the Liberation of France with a permament memorial. After leaving the military, he became the mayor of a village that was liberated in August 1944. He collaborated with the then-mayor of Metz, Gabriel Hocquard, to create this memorial following a trip to the USA.

The decision was commemorate the route taken by the Third Army from Normandy to Metz, follwoing their famously rapid advancement across France, managing to reach the city in just 54 days. This was close to Mayor de La Vasselais's heart because, as tactical liason chief, he worked closely with Patton and his Third Army.

Every kilometre point along the route, to be called la voie de la liberté, would be marked with a special marker post. Following consultation with local groups, the route was extended via Luxembourg to Bastogne in Belgium to include that part of the route taken by Patton's troops.

Monument to the Voie de la Liberté in Verdun, complete with Liberté and Voie Sacreé bornes

Marker 0 was installed in the village of Sainte-Mère-Église, with the last marker at km 1145 installed in Bastogne; the first one to be installed was fittingly the one in Mayor de La Vasselais's village. A further 58 were installed on the section between Cherbourg and Sainte-Mère-Église.

The route was subsequently extended on to km 1147 at the Mardason memorial, and a commemorative "km 00" marker was installed at Utah Beach.

The marker stones

The kilometre markers that line the route were origninally constructed out of pink cement, with a height of 120 centimetres and weighing 435 kilogrammes.

Most of those installed within France have been replaced by fibreglass replicas on road safety grounds, particularly those on higher speed roads. Original ones remain in some towns and villages, as well as in Luxembourg and Belgium.

	1	48 stars on a blue band, representing the 48 states that were in existence at the end of the War.
	2	Four red rectangles, denoting the four sections of the road: Cherbourg - Sainte-Mère-Église, Sainte-Mère-Église - Avranches, Avranches - Metz , Metz - Bastogne On some markers, the red has been since been painted yellow to match the road's classification.
	3	Road name and year in white, on a blue background.
	4	Space for road number and kilometre distance point.
	5	Torch of Liberty, the design based on the Statue of Liberty in New York.
	6	US Third Army emblem.
	7	Waves representing the Atlantic Ocean, crossed by the US military to reach France.

 Credits
 Comité de la Voie de la Liberté - www.lavoiedelaliberte.fr
 Les Amis de la Voie de la Liberté - www.voiedelaliberte.fr