Combat (French Resistance)
Encyclopedia
Combat was a large movement in the French Resistance
created in the non-occupied zone of France during the Second World War (1939-1945).
Combat was one of the eight great resistance movements which constituted the Conseil national de la Résistance
.
by Henri Frenay
, supported by Berty Albrecht
. Through a system of regional heads, he spread the movement through six regions within the free zone:
New regions appeared later, particularly in the north of France (e.g. Jura and Brittany).
Little by little, the MLN (subsequently renamed the Mouvement de Libération Française), merged with other smaller networks in the regions where it took root. On merging with the Liberté network at the end of 1941, the movement took on the name of Combat. At this point, however, Combat took a Gaullist approach, causing a split with other networks which tended towards Philippe Pétain
. The break caused Combat's sources of information to be diminished somewhat.
A satellite organization by the name of Combat-zone nord, was also created in the occupied zone, specifically in Paris
. The organiser was Robert Guédon
, called Robert. Combat-zone nord proved to be quite active, quickly growing its network into several regions of the occupied zone such as the Nord-Pas-de-Calais .
, Henri Devillers
, involved in linking and communications between the parts of the movement in the free and occupied zones. Jean-Paul Lien, another member of combat, learned about Devilliers' treachery by accident from two German agents. Lien alerted Henri Frenay, who had no power to stop Devilliers. 47 members of Combat were arrested, 31 by the Gestapo
and 16 by the French police, of whom only two would be released. They were tried by the Volkgerichthof (people's tribunal) and 23 were sentenced to death; this was referred to as the affaire Continent. The movement was completely disbanded in the occupied zone between the end of 1941 and the beginning of 1942. Frenay decided not to rebuild there but to concentrate all his efforts in the free zone. A new movement was born from the ashes of Combat-zone nord, Ceux de la Résistance
, founded by Jacques Lecompte-Boinet.
Frenay also declined repeated offers to put himself at the service of the Deuxième Bureau
of the Vichy Regime or of the Intelligence service of London
, preferring to keep his independence and continue to fight for France alone rather than a foreign power.
In the beginning of summer 1942, another network called Carte, which was directly linked to the British Special Operations Executive
and therefore better armed at that time than the other French networks in the free zone, took over two of Combat's groups on the Côte d'Azur. Frenay sent a message to the SOE asking them to stop taking his teams away from him. It did not happen again. This may have been due to the displeasure expressed by Frenay in his message, or alternatively to the invasion of the free zone by the Germans a few months later.
, the Germans invaded the free zone. This plunged Combat undercover, since they now had to deal with the well-organised Gestapo. Secrecy and security measures were reinforced. Messages were encrypted, rendez-vous locations were specified by letters and generally were moved to outside Lyon, which became by degrees the capital of the French resistance. Arrests took place from February onwards, followed by escapes. Combat was infiltrated by Gestapo and Abwehr agents.
In January, the idea of amalgamating the three big resistance movements of the south (Combat, Libération
et Franc-Tireur) gradually gained ground, culminating between February and March in Mouvements unis de la Résistance
(MUR). The steering committee of each movement lost much of its importance. Combat was represented on the steering committee of the MUR by Frenay, who was also the commissioner on military affairs of the three networks. The press of the three movements remained independent, and Combat's newspaper continued to exist in its own right. Combat's structure was unchanged by its affiliation to the MUR; it retained a steering committee, and branches for political and military affairs among others.
, Maurice Chevance, Alfred Coste-Floret, François de Menthon
(former head of Liberté), et Pierre-Henri Teitgen
. In January 1943, Combat contained a total of 14 specialised services and more than 100 permanent agents, paid by the network.
The network was split into four branches:
Initially Combat was mainly financed through gifts coming from all over France, solicited by Frenay from high-ranking members of society. This situation changed quickly, however, and soon most resources were provided from London, through the agency of Jean Moulin
. At the beginning of 1943, the money received by Combat from London went up to five million Francs, of which Libération received 1.5 million, and Franc-Tireur, just under a million.
Moulin tried to separate the different activities of the network, particularly the information and the Choc (shock, heavy military operations), following directions given to him in London. He finally won his case when the MUR was created.
In the occupied zone, the newspaper Les Petites Ailes du Nord et du Pas-de-Calais (little wings of the North and Pas-de-Calais) appeared. In time it became Les Petites Ailes de France, then Résistance.
In the free zone, an underground newspaper was established, modelled on Petites Ailes de France. Its name was Vérités (Truths). Vérité (Truth) had been considered for the name, but was judged too philosophical; according to Frenay, the truth was difficult, if not impossible to express. After the merger of Combat with Liberté, Vérités was scuttled and its place taken by a new newspaper bearing the name of the network, Combat.
Other small journals also saw the light of day, but gradually separated from the Combat movement. Examples are Veritas and the Catholic
-oriented Cahiers du Témoignage Chrétien (Christian witness notebooks). These journals, particularly the important ones, contained propaganda articles against the Vichy regime, which revealed and criticised the actions of the government and state apparatus, as well as substantive pieces dealing with e.g. Nazism
or collaboration
. Frenay generally constructed the editorial of the Combat newspaper in person, until he joined de Gaulle in Algeria
. The subtitle of the Combat newspaper was Organe du Mouvement de la Libération Française, accompanied by a quote from Georges Clemenceau
: "Dans la guerre comme dans la paix, le dernier mot est à ceux qui ne se rendent jamais." (In war as in peace, the last word is theirs that never surrender). In 1943, a section Attentats (attacks) was added to the paper; it contained a list of the paramilitary operations of Combat.
The first issue of the Combat newspaper appeared in late 1941 in Lyon, with a press run of 10,000. André Bollier replaced Martinet, the initial printer for the movement. He distributed the priniting across 14 presses in the free zone, thus reducing the need for transporting papers from Lyon, and allowing the run to be increased. In May 1944, the newspaper had a run of 250,000. Bollier was also responsible for printing Défense de la France (the future France-Soir), Action (a paper with communist sympathy), the first issues of Témoignage chrétien, et certains issues of the Franc-Tireur paper and La Voix du Nord
.
. The Noyautage des administrations publiques
(infiltration of public services) was also established, with the original aim of recruiting public figures who would be able to assure the return of the republic after the Vichy regime fell. However, the NAP gradually changed direction and allowing itself necessary cooperation with public services and the ability to obtain basic information about German army movements. The NAP-police were created, whose members would warn their comrades about forthcoming arrests. Another branch, the NAP-fer led by René Hardy
, provided the Groupes Francs with schedules of German supply trains from 1943. The NAP also operated within the customs service.
(the shops of the latter were generally blown up). From 1942 onwards the GC gradually merged into the Armée secrète which was assimilating by degrees the various paramilitary groups of Combat, Libération and Franc-Tireur. This merging was encouraged by Frenay and Moulin, who wanted the operations of the GC remained separate from any intelligence and propaganda activities. For this reason, the leadership of the Armée Secrète
was not conferred upon Frenay as he had initially wanted (his movement being more significant than the other two members of the MUR) but rather upon the division general Charles Delestraint
, who was recruited by thee chef de Combat.
The Sabotage and Maquis sections were added to the network in 1943.
but in contact with it to organise their operations and provide intelligence.
The Groupes Frances organised their operations on their own initiative, following the general framework which was given them. They communicated the results of their operations to the steering committee.
Before November 1942, the operations of the Groupes Francs were similar to those of the Groups de Choc. They were responsible for obtaining their own arms from supply dumps or police posts, and making their own explosives or stealing them from mines.
After the German invasion of the free zone in November 1942, the Groups Francs changed their operations style. They were ordered to attack trains containing German soldiers or going to Germany, to sabotage railway lines, to destroy arms factories and dumps and to assassinate Gestapo agents. The GF were supplied and armed by Britain through parachute dumps which provided them with Sten guns, pistols, ammunition
, explosives, grenade
s and other equipment.
The GF also organised escapes for captured resistance fighters such as that of Paul Reynaud
(planned and prepared but never executed) and the successful escape of Berty Albrecht
who was being held at the Lyon-Bron psychiatric hospital.
In January 1943, Jacques Renouvin, was arrested by the Gestapo getting off a train. He was held in Fresnes prison
. A commando raid was mounted to free him but all its members were arrested. Renouvin was deported to Mauthausen concentration camp where he died. He was replaced as head of the GF by a member of Libération
.
forced labour had fled to Haute-Savoie
and the Maquis
had been created in the mountainous massif
s. The service Maquis was established in Combat's Military affairs branch with the aim of helping all those who had "taken the maquis" to survive and to fight, and of providing them lives and armaments, and of integrating them into Combat's network. While the objective for Combat was to develop, oversee and organise these armed groups, there were some divisions relating to this at the heart of the MUR; some, like Charles Delestraint
, saw the Maquis as actual pockets of resistance within French territory, whereas others like Frenay saw them as armed bands operating by ambush and disappearing once their mission was accomplished.
(éditions Robert Laffont, 1973)
http://www.ordredelaliberation.fr
Patrice Miannay, Dictionnaire des agents doubles dans la Résistance, Le Cherche Midi, 2005.
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
created in the non-occupied zone of France during the Second World War (1939-1945).
Combat was one of the eight great resistance movements which constituted the Conseil national de la Résistance
Conseil National de la Résistance
The Conseil National de la Résistance or the National Council of the Resistance is the body that directed and coordinated the different movements of the French Resistance - the press, trade unions, and members of political parties hostile to the Vichy regime, starting from...
.
Combat's development
Combat, also known under its former name Mouvement de libération nationale (MLN), was active both in the unoccupied zone in southern France and in the occupied north.Birth and growth
Combat was created in August 1940 in LyonLyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
by Henri Frenay
Henri Frenay
Henri Frenay was a French military officer and French resistance member.Henri Frenay was born in Lyon, France on 11 November 1905, into a Catholic family with a military tradition. He studied the Germanic languages at the University of Strasbourg...
, supported by Berty Albrecht
Berty Albrecht
Berty Albrecht was a French Resistance Fighter, born Berthe Wild at Marseille, 15 February 1893. She died in 1943 at Fresnes.-Life:Born into a middle-class Protestant family, she married the Dutch banker Frédéric Albrecht in 1918...
. Through a system of regional heads, he spread the movement through six regions within the free zone:
- LyonLyonLyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
(10 départements)................... (R1) led jointly by Marcel Peck and André Plaisantin - MarseilleMarseilleMarseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
(7 départements)............... (R2) - MontpellierMontpellier-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....
(6 départements)............ (R3) - ToulouseToulouseToulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
(9 départements)............... (R4) - LimogesLimogesLimoges |Limousin]] dialect of Occitan) is a city and commune, the capital of the Haute-Vienne department and the administrative capital of the Limousin région in west-central France....
(9 départements)................ (R5), led until 1943 by Edmond MicheletEdmond MicheletEdmond Michelet was a French politician.On 17 June 1940, he distributed tracts calling to continue the war in all Brive-la-Gaillarde's mailboxes... - Clermont-FerrandClermont-FerrandClermont-Ferrand is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne region, with a population of 140,700 . Its metropolitan area had 409,558 inhabitants at the 1999 census. It is the prefecture of the Puy-de-Dôme department...
(5 départements)... (R6)
New regions appeared later, particularly in the north of France (e.g. Jura and Brittany).
Little by little, the MLN (subsequently renamed the Mouvement de Libération Française), merged with other smaller networks in the regions where it took root. On merging with the Liberté network at the end of 1941, the movement took on the name of Combat. At this point, however, Combat took a Gaullist approach, causing a split with other networks which tended towards Philippe Pétain
Philippe Pétain
Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Pétain , generally known as Philippe Pétain or Marshal Pétain , was a French general who reached the distinction of Marshal of France, and was later Chief of State of Vichy France , from 1940 to 1944...
. The break caused Combat's sources of information to be diminished somewhat.
A satellite organization by the name of Combat-zone nord, was also created in the occupied zone, specifically in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. The organiser was Robert Guédon
Robert Guédon
Robert Guédon was a founding member of the French resistance in the zone occupée during World War II.- Biography :...
, called Robert. Combat-zone nord proved to be quite active, quickly growing its network into several regions of the occupied zone such as the Nord-Pas-de-Calais .
Initial obstacles
Among the initial Combat members planted in the occupied zone, there was an agent of the AbwehrAbwehr
The Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
, Henri Devillers
Henri Devillers
Henri Devillers was a V-mann for the Abwehr III F .-Biography:Devillers was taken prisoner in 1940, and obtained his freedom in exchange for promising to work for the German services who assigned to the Hachette messageries...
, involved in linking and communications between the parts of the movement in the free and occupied zones. Jean-Paul Lien, another member of combat, learned about Devilliers' treachery by accident from two German agents. Lien alerted Henri Frenay, who had no power to stop Devilliers. 47 members of Combat were arrested, 31 by the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
and 16 by the French police, of whom only two would be released. They were tried by the Volkgerichthof (people's tribunal) and 23 were sentenced to death; this was referred to as the affaire Continent. The movement was completely disbanded in the occupied zone between the end of 1941 and the beginning of 1942. Frenay decided not to rebuild there but to concentrate all his efforts in the free zone. A new movement was born from the ashes of Combat-zone nord, Ceux de la Résistance
Ceux de la Résistance
Ceux de la Résistance" was a French resistance movement during the German occupation of France in World War II.At first the members of CDLR distributed copies of the underground newspaper Combat in the north zone of France which was directly occupied by the Germans...
, founded by Jacques Lecompte-Boinet.
Frenay also declined repeated offers to put himself at the service of the Deuxième Bureau
Deuxième Bureau
The Deuxième Bureau de l'État-major général was France's external military intelligence agency from 1871 to 1940. It was dissolved together with the Third Republic upon the armistice with Germany...
of the Vichy Regime or of the Intelligence service of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, preferring to keep his independence and continue to fight for France alone rather than a foreign power.
In the beginning of summer 1942, another network called Carte, which was directly linked to the British Special Operations Executive
Special Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct guerrilla warfare against the Axis powers and to instruct and aid local...
and therefore better armed at that time than the other French networks in the free zone, took over two of Combat's groups on the Côte d'Azur. Frenay sent a message to the SOE asking them to stop taking his teams away from him. It did not happen again. This may have been due to the displeasure expressed by Frenay in his message, or alternatively to the invasion of the free zone by the Germans a few months later.
1943
After the Allies landed in North AfricaNorth Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
, the Germans invaded the free zone. This plunged Combat undercover, since they now had to deal with the well-organised Gestapo. Secrecy and security measures were reinforced. Messages were encrypted, rendez-vous locations were specified by letters and generally were moved to outside Lyon, which became by degrees the capital of the French resistance. Arrests took place from February onwards, followed by escapes. Combat was infiltrated by Gestapo and Abwehr agents.
In January, the idea of amalgamating the three big resistance movements of the south (Combat, Libération
Libération-sud
The Libération-sud resistance group was established by a group of French people, including Emmanuel d'Astier, Lucie Aubrac and Raymond Aubrac. The first important Resistant group to emerge after the German occupation, it began publishing Libération in July 1941...
et Franc-Tireur) gradually gained ground, culminating between February and March in Mouvements unis de la Résistance
Mouvements Unis de la Résistance
Mouvements Unis de la Résistance was a French Resistance organisation, resulting from the regrouping of three major Resistance movements in January 1943 and also the merger of the military arms of these movements within the Armée secrète . Its committee was headed by Jean Moulin...
(MUR). The steering committee of each movement lost much of its importance. Combat was represented on the steering committee of the MUR by Frenay, who was also the commissioner on military affairs of the three networks. The press of the three movements remained independent, and Combat's newspaper continued to exist in its own right. Combat's structure was unchanged by its affiliation to the MUR; it retained a steering committee, and branches for political and military affairs among others.
Internal organisation
Combat was led by a steering committee, over which Frenay permanently presided. In March 1943, the other five members were Georges Bidault, Claude BourdetClaude Bourdet
Claude Bourdet , son of the dramatic author Édouard Bourdet, was a writer, journalist, polemist, and a militant French politician, who was born in 1909 and died in 1996 in Paris. He was a son of the poet Catherine Pozzi....
, Maurice Chevance, Alfred Coste-Floret, François de Menthon
François de Menthon
François de Menthon was a French politician and professor of law.-Early and private life:Menthon was born in Montmirey-la-Ville in Jura. He was a son of an old noble family from Menthon-Saint-Bernard. He studied law in Dijon, where he joined Action catholique de la Jeunesse française . He also...
(former head of Liberté), et Pierre-Henri Teitgen
Pierre-Henri Teitgen
Pierre-Henri Teitgen was a French lawyer, professor and politician.Teitgen was born in Rennes, Brittany. Made prisoner of war in 1940, he played a major role in the French Resistance....
. In January 1943, Combat contained a total of 14 specialised services and more than 100 permanent agents, paid by the network.
The network was split into four branches:
- External relations, led by Pierre Bénouville. This oversaw a delegation to Switzerland, relations with the United States of America and the British services. The external relations branch became indispensable at the start of 1943, when Combat needed money and armaments which the English were slow in providing. One member of the branch, Phillippe Monod, made contact with the American Office of Strategic ServicesOffice of Strategic ServicesThe Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
in Switzerland to procure these. The external branch became larger and more organized. The American OSS promised to give aid to the French resistance in the future, but this promise was not followed up after the British embassy opposed it, and General Charles de GaulleCharles de GaulleCharles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
forbade any further discussion on the matter. - Military affairs, led by Maurice Chevance, included the Groupes Francs of Jacques RenouvinJacques RenouvinJacques Renouvin was a royalist militant in France during the Second World War and hero of the French resistance....
, the Armée secrèteArmée secrèteThe Armée secrète, created in 1943, was an organisation of French resistance fighters during World War II set up by Jean Moulin. It resulted from an amalgamation of three smaller resistance groups:*Combat*Libération-Sud*Franc-Tireur...
, the MaquisMaquis (World War II)The Maquis were the predominantly rural guerrilla bands of the French Resistance. Initially they were composed of men who had escaped into the mountains to avoid conscription into Vichy France's Service du travail obligatoire to provide forced labour for Germany...
, and the Sabotage-Fer led by René HardyRené HardyRené Hardy was a French resistant during World War II. He was captured by the Gestapo and agreed to work with Klaus Barbie although it is not clear to what extent. He may have given information leading to the capture of Jean Moulin and of a number of other resistance leaders on 21 June 1943, at a...
. - Political affairs, led by Claude BourdetClaude BourdetClaude Bourdet , son of the dramatic author Édouard Bourdet, was a writer, journalist, polemist, and a militant French politician, who was born in 1909 and died in 1996 in Paris. He was a son of the poet Catherine Pozzi....
, oversaw propaganda, the information service of Jean Gemahling. - The general secretariat, led by Berty AlbrechtBerty AlbrechtBerty Albrecht was a French Resistance Fighter, born Berthe Wild at Marseille, 15 February 1893. She died in 1943 at Fresnes.-Life:Born into a middle-class Protestant family, she married the Dutch banker Frédéric Albrecht in 1918...
, was in charge of general services including lodging, false papers, finance and the service sociale (the service social was established in 1941, and allocated a small pension, income, goods and food to the families of resistance members who had been captured.)
Initially Combat was mainly financed through gifts coming from all over France, solicited by Frenay from high-ranking members of society. This situation changed quickly, however, and soon most resources were provided from London, through the agency of Jean Moulin
Jean Moulin
Jean Moulin was a high-profile member of the French Resistance during World War II. He is remembered today as an emblem of the Resistance primarily due to his role in unifying the French resistance under de Gaulle and his courage and death at the hands of the Germans.-Before the war:Moulin was...
. At the beginning of 1943, the money received by Combat from London went up to five million Francs, of which Libération received 1.5 million, and Franc-Tireur, just under a million.
Moulin tried to separate the different activities of the network, particularly the information and the Choc (shock, heavy military operations), following directions given to him in London. He finally won his case when the MUR was created.
The secret press
The activities of Combat originally revolved around the dispersal of information using secret newspapers. These pieces of information were provided to Frenay initially from army offices, then, after the disbandment of the French army, from the deuxième bureau of the Vichy regime. Combat quickly distanced itself from Vichy, after which information was gathered through various resistance groups with which Combat had links. These pieces of information fed into newspapers which were published from time to time. In the beginning Frenay mainly distributed bulletins in army offices; these bulletins stopped after the army broke up.In the occupied zone, the newspaper Les Petites Ailes du Nord et du Pas-de-Calais (little wings of the North and Pas-de-Calais) appeared. In time it became Les Petites Ailes de France, then Résistance.
In the free zone, an underground newspaper was established, modelled on Petites Ailes de France. Its name was Vérités (Truths). Vérité (Truth) had been considered for the name, but was judged too philosophical; according to Frenay, the truth was difficult, if not impossible to express. After the merger of Combat with Liberté, Vérités was scuttled and its place taken by a new newspaper bearing the name of the network, Combat.
Other small journals also saw the light of day, but gradually separated from the Combat movement. Examples are Veritas and the Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
-oriented Cahiers du Témoignage Chrétien (Christian witness notebooks). These journals, particularly the important ones, contained propaganda articles against the Vichy regime, which revealed and criticised the actions of the government and state apparatus, as well as substantive pieces dealing with e.g. Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
or collaboration
Collaborationism
Collaborationism is cooperation with enemy forces against one's country. Legally, it may be considered as a form of treason. Collaborationism may be associated with criminal deeds in the service of the occupying power, which may include complicity with the occupying power in murder, persecutions,...
. Frenay generally constructed the editorial of the Combat newspaper in person, until he joined de Gaulle in Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
. The subtitle of the Combat newspaper was Organe du Mouvement de la Libération Française, accompanied by a quote from Georges Clemenceau
Georges Clemenceau
Georges Benjamin Clemenceau was a French statesman, physician and journalist. He served as the Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909, and again from 1917 to 1920. For nearly the final year of World War I he led France, and was one of the major voices behind the Treaty of Versailles at the...
: "Dans la guerre comme dans la paix, le dernier mot est à ceux qui ne se rendent jamais." (In war as in peace, the last word is theirs that never surrender). In 1943, a section Attentats (attacks) was added to the paper; it contained a list of the paramilitary operations of Combat.
The first issue of the Combat newspaper appeared in late 1941 in Lyon, with a press run of 10,000. André Bollier replaced Martinet, the initial printer for the movement. He distributed the priniting across 14 presses in the free zone, thus reducing the need for transporting papers from Lyon, and allowing the run to be increased. In May 1944, the newspaper had a run of 250,000. Bollier was also responsible for printing Défense de la France (the future France-Soir), Action (a paper with communist sympathy), the first issues of Témoignage chrétien, et certains issues of the Franc-Tireur paper and La Voix du Nord
La Voix du Nord
La Voix du Nord is a regional daily newspaper of the North of France. The paper sponsors the GP de Fourmies bicycle race. It is owned by the Belgian company Rossel, who purchased it from Socpresse in 2006....
.
Information
Alongside the underground press activities, information was sent to London by circuitous routes. These operations were directed by Jean Gemahling, from AlsaceAlsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
. The Noyautage des administrations publiques
Noyautage des administrations publiques
Noyautage des administrations publiques, also known by the abbreviation NAP, was an arm of the French Resistance, started by André Plaisantin of the Combat movement, with the aim of infiltrating the Vichy Government...
(infiltration of public services) was also established, with the original aim of recruiting public figures who would be able to assure the return of the republic after the Vichy regime fell. However, the NAP gradually changed direction and allowing itself necessary cooperation with public services and the ability to obtain basic information about German army movements. The NAP-police were created, whose members would warn their comrades about forthcoming arrests. Another branch, the NAP-fer led by René Hardy
René Hardy
René Hardy was a French resistant during World War II. He was captured by the Gestapo and agreed to work with Klaus Barbie although it is not clear to what extent. He may have given information leading to the capture of Jean Moulin and of a number of other resistance leaders on 21 June 1943, at a...
, provided the Groupes Francs with schedules of German supply trains from 1943. The NAP also operated within the customs service.
The Groupes de Choc
The Groupes de Choc were set up, generally specializing in attacks against collaborators and shopkeepers who sold collborationist papers like the Nazi magazine SignalSignal (magazine)
Signal was a magazine published by the German Wehrmacht from 1940 through 1945.Signal was a modern, glossy, illustrated photo journal and army propaganda tool, meant specifically for audiences in neutral, allied, and occupied countries. It was available in the United States in English until...
(the shops of the latter were generally blown up). From 1942 onwards the GC gradually merged into the Armée secrète which was assimilating by degrees the various paramilitary groups of Combat, Libération and Franc-Tireur. This merging was encouraged by Frenay and Moulin, who wanted the operations of the GC remained separate from any intelligence and propaganda activities. For this reason, the leadership of the Armée Secrète
Armée secrète
The Armée secrète, created in 1943, was an organisation of French resistance fighters during World War II set up by Jean Moulin. It resulted from an amalgamation of three smaller resistance groups:*Combat*Libération-Sud*Franc-Tireur...
was not conferred upon Frenay as he had initially wanted (his movement being more significant than the other two members of the MUR) but rather upon the division general Charles Delestraint
Charles Delestraint
Charles Delestraint was a French Army general and member of the French Resistance during World War II.He was born in Biache Saint-Waast, Pas-de-Calais....
, who was recruited by thee chef de Combat.
The Sabotage and Maquis sections were added to the network in 1943.
Groupes Francs
Frenay put Jacques Renouvin in charge of mounting Groupes Francs, mobile armed squads, in each of the six regions covered by the network. They were organised in the Choc branch of the network. They worked independently of the Armée SecrèteArmée secrète
The Armée secrète, created in 1943, was an organisation of French resistance fighters during World War II set up by Jean Moulin. It resulted from an amalgamation of three smaller resistance groups:*Combat*Libération-Sud*Franc-Tireur...
but in contact with it to organise their operations and provide intelligence.
The Groupes Frances organised their operations on their own initiative, following the general framework which was given them. They communicated the results of their operations to the steering committee.
Before November 1942, the operations of the Groupes Francs were similar to those of the Groups de Choc. They were responsible for obtaining their own arms from supply dumps or police posts, and making their own explosives or stealing them from mines.
After the German invasion of the free zone in November 1942, the Groups Francs changed their operations style. They were ordered to attack trains containing German soldiers or going to Germany, to sabotage railway lines, to destroy arms factories and dumps and to assassinate Gestapo agents. The GF were supplied and armed by Britain through parachute dumps which provided them with Sten guns, pistols, ammunition
Ammunition
Ammunition is a generic term derived from the French language la munition which embraced all material used for war , but which in time came to refer specifically to gunpowder and artillery. The collective term for all types of ammunition is munitions...
, explosives, grenade
Grenade
A grenade is a small explosive device that is projected a safe distance away by its user. Soldiers called grenadiers specialize in the use of grenades. The term hand grenade refers any grenade designed to be hand thrown. Grenade Launchers are firearms designed to fire explosive projectile grenades...
s and other equipment.
The GF also organised escapes for captured resistance fighters such as that of Paul Reynaud
Paul Reynaud
Paul Reynaud was a French politician and lawyer prominent in the interwar period, noted for his stances on economic liberalism and militant opposition to Germany. He was the penultimate Prime Minister of the Third Republic and vice-president of the Democratic Republican Alliance center-right...
(planned and prepared but never executed) and the successful escape of Berty Albrecht
Berty Albrecht
Berty Albrecht was a French Resistance Fighter, born Berthe Wild at Marseille, 15 February 1893. She died in 1943 at Fresnes.-Life:Born into a middle-class Protestant family, she married the Dutch banker Frédéric Albrecht in 1918...
who was being held at the Lyon-Bron psychiatric hospital.
In January 1943, Jacques Renouvin, was arrested by the Gestapo getting off a train. He was held in Fresnes prison
Fresnes Prison
Fresnes Prison is the second largest prison in France, located in the town of Fresnes, Val-de-Marne South of Paris...
. A commando raid was mounted to free him but all its members were arrested. Renouvin was deported to Mauthausen concentration camp where he died. He was replaced as head of the GF by a member of Libération
Libération-sud
The Libération-sud resistance group was established by a group of French people, including Emmanuel d'Astier, Lucie Aubrac and Raymond Aubrac. The first important Resistant group to emerge after the German occupation, it began publishing Libération in July 1941...
.
The Maquis
In 1943 the steering committee of Combat learned that refugees from the Service du travail obligatoireService du travail obligatoire
The Service du travail obligatoire was the forced enlistment and deportation of hundreds of thousands of French workers to Nazi Germany in order to work as forced labour for the German war effort during World War II....
forced labour had fled to Haute-Savoie
Haute-Savoie
Haute-Savoie is a French department in the Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France. It borders both Switzerland and Italy. The capital is Annecy. To the north is Lake Geneva and Switzerland; to the south and southeast are the Mont Blanc and Aravis mountain ranges and the French entrance to the Mont...
and the Maquis
Maquis (World War II)
The Maquis were the predominantly rural guerrilla bands of the French Resistance. Initially they were composed of men who had escaped into the mountains to avoid conscription into Vichy France's Service du travail obligatoire to provide forced labour for Germany...
had been created in the mountainous massif
Massif
In geology, a massif is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole...
s. The service Maquis was established in Combat's Military affairs branch with the aim of helping all those who had "taken the maquis" to survive and to fight, and of providing them lives and armaments, and of integrating them into Combat's network. While the objective for Combat was to develop, oversee and organise these armed groups, there were some divisions relating to this at the heart of the MUR; some, like Charles Delestraint
Charles Delestraint
Charles Delestraint was a French Army general and member of the French Resistance during World War II.He was born in Biache Saint-Waast, Pas-de-Calais....
, saw the Maquis as actual pockets of resistance within French territory, whereas others like Frenay saw them as armed bands operating by ambush and disappearing once their mission was accomplished.
Some members of Combat
- Dr Achille Lacroix, Mayor of the town of Narbonne
- Benjamin Crémieux, (Lamy), organised information network from Marseille
- Henri FrenayHenri FrenayHenri Frenay was a French military officer and French resistance member.Henri Frenay was born in Lyon, France on 11 November 1905, into a Catholic family with a military tradition. He studied the Germanic languages at the University of Strasbourg...
, founder of the network - Georges BidaultGeorges BidaultGeorges-Augustin Bidault was a French politician. During World War II, he was active in the French Resistance. After the war, he served as foreign minister and prime minister on several occasions before he joined the Organisation armée secrète.-Early life:...
, member of the Combat steering committee - Jean-Guy Bernard, general secretary of Combat
- René HardyRené HardyRené Hardy was a French resistant during World War II. He was captured by the Gestapo and agreed to work with Klaus Barbie although it is not clear to what extent. He may have given information leading to the capture of Jean Moulin and of a number of other resistance leaders on 21 June 1943, at a...
- Albert CamusAlbert CamusAlbert Camus was a French author, journalist, and key philosopher of the 20th century. In 1949, Camus founded the Group for International Liaisons within the Revolutionary Union Movement, which was opposed to some tendencies of the Surrealist movement of André Breton.Camus was awarded the 1957...
- Pierre Bénouville, (Lahire), director of external relations
- Berty AlbrechtBerty AlbrechtBerty Albrecht was a French Resistance Fighter, born Berthe Wild at Marseille, 15 February 1893. She died in 1943 at Fresnes.-Life:Born into a middle-class Protestant family, she married the Dutch banker Frédéric Albrecht in 1918...
, chargé of the General Secretariat Général and Henri Frenay's girlfriend - Jean Gemahling
- Jacques RenouvinJacques RenouvinJacques Renouvin was a royalist militant in France during the Second World War and hero of the French resistance....
, organiser of the Groupes Francs - Jane Sivadon (Jeannette), member of Combat-zone north
- Maurice Chevance (Barrioz-Bertin), military adjunct
- Lieutenant Pierre de FromentPierre de FromentGeorges-Pierre de Froment was a French soldier and member of the World War II resistance.De Froment was born on November 17, 1913 in Châteauroux, in the garrison town of his father. His father was a graduate of the Saint-Cyr military academies who had been killed leading his company in Artois in...
(Deblé), member of Combat-zone north - Robert GuédonRobert GuédonRobert Guédon was a founding member of the French resistance in the zone occupée during World War II.- Biography :...
(Robert), chief of Combat-zone north - Claude BourdetClaude BourdetClaude Bourdet , son of the dramatic author Édouard Bourdet, was a writer, journalist, polemist, and a militant French politician, who was born in 1909 and died in 1996 in Paris. He was a son of the poet Catherine Pozzi....
, political adjunct - Alfred Coste-Floret, member of Combat steering committee
- François de MenthonFrançois de MenthonFrançois de Menthon was a French politician and professor of law.-Early and private life:Menthon was born in Montmirey-la-Ville in Jura. He was a son of an old noble family from Menthon-Saint-Bernard. He studied law in Dijon, where he joined Action catholique de la Jeunesse française . He also...
, head of the Liberté network which merged with Combat in 1941 - Pierre-Henri TeitgenPierre-Henri TeitgenPierre-Henri Teitgen was a French lawyer, professor and politician.Teitgen was born in Rennes, Brittany. Made prisoner of war in 1940, he played a major role in the French Resistance....
, member of Combat steering committee - Jacques Dhont
- Jacques Devillers, member of Combat-zone north, double agent of the AbwehrAbwehrThe Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
- Philippe Monod, member of the delegation of Combat to Switzerland
- Jean-Paul Lien
- Marcel Peck, regional chief of R1
- Marcel Degliame
- André Plaisantin, regional chief of R1
- Joseph-Paul Rambaud, former senator for l'Ariège
- Julien Freud
- Antoinette FeuerwerkerAntoinette FeuerwerkerAntoinette Feuerwerker was a French jurist and an active fighter in the French Resistance during the Second World War.-Biography:...
, educator and jurist, wife of David FeuerwerkerDavid Feuerwerker- Born in Geneva :He was born on October 2, 1912, at 11 Rue du Mont-Blanc, in Geneva, Switzerland. He was the seventh of eleven children. His father Jacob Feuerwerker was born in Sighet, now Sighetu Marmatiei, Maramureş, then Hungary, now Rumania...
, with Edmond MicheletEdmond MicheletEdmond Michelet was a French politician.On 17 June 1940, he distributed tracts calling to continue the war in all Brive-la-Gaillarde's mailboxes... - David FeuerwerkerDavid Feuerwerker- Born in Geneva :He was born on October 2, 1912, at 11 Rue du Mont-Blanc, in Geneva, Switzerland. He was the seventh of eleven children. His father Jacob Feuerwerker was born in Sighet, now Sighetu Marmatiei, Maramureş, then Hungary, now Rumania...
, rabbi of Brive (Corrèze, Creuse, Lot), with Edmond MicheletEdmond MicheletEdmond Michelet was a French politician.On 17 June 1940, he distributed tracts calling to continue the war in all Brive-la-Gaillarde's mailboxes... - Rose WarfmanRose WarfmanRose Warfman is a French survivor of Auschwitz and heroine of the French Resistance.-Born in Zürich:Rose Gluck was born on October 4, 1916, in Zürich, Switzerland, the daughter of Paul Gluck-Friedman and Henia Shipper .Her father was a direct descendant of Hasidic Masters, going back to the...
( à l'époque Rose Gluck), nurse, deportee, Auschwitz survivor, with Edmond MicheletEdmond MicheletEdmond Michelet was a French politician.On 17 June 1940, he distributed tracts calling to continue the war in all Brive-la-Gaillarde's mailboxes... - Edmond MicheletEdmond MicheletEdmond Michelet was a French politician.On 17 June 1940, he distributed tracts calling to continue the war in all Brive-la-Gaillarde's mailboxes...
- and many others.
Sources (French)
La nuit finira, Mémoires de Résistance 1940-1945, Henri FrenayHenri Frenay
Henri Frenay was a French military officer and French resistance member.Henri Frenay was born in Lyon, France on 11 November 1905, into a Catholic family with a military tradition. He studied the Germanic languages at the University of Strasbourg...
(éditions Robert Laffont, 1973)
http://www.ordredelaliberation.fr
Patrice Miannay, Dictionnaire des agents doubles dans la Résistance, Le Cherche Midi, 2005.