On August 15th, after the drops, as the 3/517th PIR begins to assemble and search for their equipment, three major groups emerge. One of these groups consists of about a hundred parachutists from the Battalion Headquarters as well as the G & H Companies who landed near Tourrettes. Of these men, 10 are injured enough to be unable to walk. Three medics are left with this group at a chosen location in the hills east of Tourrettes. Leading this group is Capt. Joseph McGeever, commanding officer of the Hq & Hq Co. of the 3/517th, who gathers his men in the village cemetery. At 11 a.m., after gathering the wounded on the morning of D-Day, he begins to head towards his objective, Les Arcs.
The Americans are not the only ones to land near the village. A group from the 'C' Company of the 5th 'Scottish' Para. Bn., under the command of Major Blackwood, also finds themselves dropped north of Tourrettes and marches towards the DZ along with some Americans. Just after McGeever's group departs, Tourrettes is explored by a patrol of British paratroopers under the command of Maj. Blackwood. Discovering the unoccupied village, they redirect south and join up with the paratroopers of Capt. McGeever on the D562.
The group, now comprised of 140 parachutists, attacks a convoy of several vehicles heading towards Fayence on the D562 south of Tourrettes. Three serviceable vehicles are used.
The group continues their march until they encounter the group led by 1st Lt. Ludlow Gibbons on the D562, coming from Callian. With a strength of 380 men, the group then proceeds onto the D4 towards Bagnols-en-Forêt. The group of Lt. Holden from the 5th Para Bn., dropped north of Tourettes, heads towards the DZ by moving west of Fayence. They will have more difficulty reaching their assembly area.
