Despite these tensions French armies fought hard in Lorraine and Alsace during the winter of 1944. De Lattre’s troops took Mulhouse on 21 November and Leclerc liberated Strasbourg on 23 November (despite the order that de Lattre should have this honour so as to have a victory to match Juin’s in Rome and Leclerc’s in Paris). The liberation of Strasbourg was a hugely symbolic moment, allowing Leclerc to respect the famous oath he had taken at Kufra four years earlier.
