Route of the 2nd Armoured Division

The route was the idea of the mayor of Saint-Martin-de-Varreville, Ghyslène Lebarbenchon, in 2004.^[6][7] She wanted to mark the route of the division which advanced from the village on 1 August 1944.^[8] Other municipalities along the route also installed markers over the following years. It took ten years, until 21 September 2014, for the route to be formally inaugurated.^[2][7]

The installation of markers is managed by the Leclerc Foundation, to which individual municipalities must apply.^[9] Some 109 markers are planned for the entire route.^[9] By May 2017 80 markers had been installed and 98 were in place by June 2018.^[9][10] Some of the marker posts have been ceremoniously "baptised" by being washed in the incoming tide of the English Channel before being installed.^[11] Some of the marker posts have been linked by a cycle path and a Michelin green guide has been produced for the overall route and made available free of charge.^[11][12]

The foundation has identified some 283 municipalities that were crossed or liberated by the division in France and so are eligible for a marker. One exception to the usual rules has been permitted. The foundation approved a request from Grugé-l'Hôpital in Maine-et-Loire, Western France. This post marks the location from which Leclerc began his escape from occupied France in 1940. He obtained false identification documents from Grugé's town hall before travelling to the United Kingdom via Spain and Portugal.^[10]

The markers are made of white resin.^[13] One side is marked with a red torch of liberty; the blue and white "A" badge of the Third Army and the words "Voie de la / 2ème D. B. / 1944-1945".^[13][8] The opposite side is marked with the emblem of the 2nd Armoured Division: a blue and yellow map of France superimposed with the Cross of Lorraine.^[8] In between the main emblems are two flat panels: one shows the name of the locality and distance along the route from Saint-Martin-de-Varreville and the other the words "Borne du serment de Koufra" (Marker of the Koufra Oath).^[9][8] The distance shown is determined by the municipality in which the marker is sited and not determined by any single method so may not be consistent when compared with adjacent markers.^[13] The top of the bollard is domed, below this the circumference is marked with the 48 stars of the 1912–1959 American flag.^[8]

Adjacent to each terminal two information panels are provided. One is common across all terminals and provides the history of the division during the war; the second panel is specific to each location and provides local history and the actions of the division in the locality during the war.^[14]