Trans-en-Provence is located at the western end of Drop Zone A and is one of the objectives of the 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment.
On the morning of August 15, several paratroopers of Major Boyle’s 1/517th Parachute Infantry Regiment and others of C/460th PFAB are dropped around Trans-en-Provence and even certain in Trans, such as Jacques Debray, one of the French attached to the FABTF to serve as a guide to paratroopers since he knows the region well.
The majority of C/517 landed south is west of Trans-en-Provence and Captain Charles La Chaussee, commander of C/517 landed in a vineyard near the village and injured his arm. He is guided by a Frenchman until he disappears.
C/460th PFAB parachuted with 1/517 and the other elements of the battalion are dropped by mistake north of Fréjus and are contacted through the communication network of the battalion. The Liaisons Parties are sent and at 9 am the infantry is informed that the artillery is ready to fire northwest of Trans-en-Provence. Captain Louis Vogel, commander of C/460 managed to gather two guns and ¾ of the C Battery.
Remaining on the road because the guns must be towed by hand, they meet a group of about forty infantrymen from the 1/517 commanded by Lt. Ralph Allison. Three hundred meters from Trans, the mixed group come under fire from a half-track.
Philip E. Kennamer and Battery Lieutenant Harry F. Moore are killed by neutralizing the vehicle. Allison, supported by the fire of a 75mm pack installed near a bridge, firing point-blank, forms a patrol of 5 men and enters the city. Four Germans are killed and the rest withdraws. Jacques Debray, of the Bataillon de Choc will be killed moments later by falling nose-to-nose with two German soldiers.
The Vogel Battery now has 3 guns, joins his battalion and Allison and continues to Sainte Roseline where they arrived early afternoon.