Military history of France during World War II
Encyclopedia
The military history of France during World War II covers the period from 1939 until 1940, which witnessed French military participation under the French Third Republic
(established in Paris then Bordeaux
), and the period from 1940 until 1945, which was marked by mainland and overseas military administration and influence struggles for the French colonies (under the command of Admiral François Darlan
) between the French State
under Marshal Philippe Pétain
(Vichy
then Sigmaringen
), the Free French Forces
under General Charles de Gaulle
(London) and the Army of Africa
under General Henri Giraud
(Algiers
). In August 1943, de Gaulle and Giraud forces merged in a single chain of command subordinated to US-British leadership, meanwhile opposing French forces on the Eastern front
were subordinated to Soviet or German leaderships. This in-exile French force together with the French Forces of the Interior
(FFI) played a variable-scale role in the eventual Liberation of France by the Western Allies
and the termination of Fascist Italy
, Vichy France
, Nazi Germany
and the Japanese empire
.
France, along with the United Kingdom, was one of the first participants in World War II after declaring war on Germany following its invasion of Poland
in 1939. After the Phoney War from 1939 to 1940, the Germans conducted a brilliant campaign in the Low Countries
and, in the Battle of France
, managed to inflict defeat on the Allied forces. France formally surrendered to Germany and Italy—who invaded late in the campaign—on 25 June 1940, and a collaborationist government, the French State, was established. On 18 June 1940, as an answer to Pétain's own June 17 appeal to "cease the fight" and to obey him on the French national radio, Charles de Gaulle gave a memorable speech to the French people on the English speaking London emitting BBC
Radio, telling them that "France has lost a battle, but France has not lost the war" (the battle of France and World War II respectively). De Gaulle did not recognize the legitimacy of the Vichy government and went on to found the Free France (La France Libre) as the true government of France.
The number of Free French troops grew with Allied success in North Africa and subsequent rallying of the Army of Africa which pursued the fight against the Axis fighting in many campaigns and eventually invading Italy, occupied France and Germany from 1944 to 1945. On 23 October 1944, Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union officially recognized de Gaulle's regime as the provisional government of France (GPRF) which replaced the in-exile French State (relocated at Sigmarigen, a short-living City State in western Germany) and preceded the Fourth Republic
(1946).
Recruitment in liberated France led to notable enlargements of the French armies. By the end of the war in Europe in May 1945, France had 1,250,000 troops, 10 divisions of which were fighting in Germany. An expeditionary corps was created to liberate French Indochina
then occupied by the Japanese. During the course of the war, French military losses totaled 212,000 dead, of which 92,000 were killed through the end of the campaign of 1940, 58,000 from 1940 to 1945 in other campaigns, 24,000 lost while serving in the French resistance
, and a further 38,000 lost while serving with the German Army.
Among the odd aspects of French military history in the war were limited French participation in the Normandy beach landings
of June 1944 (Free French SAS
of Major
Philippe Kieffer
) and the presence of French SS among the defenders of Berlin in May 1945 (33rd SS Division
commanded by Hauptsturmführer
Henri Fenet
).
in 1940, the country switched from a democratic republican regime fighting with the Allies to an authoritarian regime collaborating with Germany and opposing the Allies in several campaigns. These complex opposing forces called, in a simplistic manner, Vichy French forces and Free French forces. They fought battles all over the world from 1940 to 1945, and sometimes fighting against each other. These forces were composite, made of rebel factions and colonial troops; France was then a world powerful colonial empire, only second to the British empire.
The military participation of the French ground armies, navies and air forces on the Allied side in each theater of World War II (1939–1945) before, during and after the Battle of France, even though it was on various degrees, secured France's acknowledgment as a World War II victor and allowed its evasion from the US-planned AMGOT; even though after World War II USAF bases were maintained in France
until their evacuation in 1967, due to de Gaulle's rejection of NATO. As a result, Free French General François Sevez
signed the first German Instrument of Surrender as witness on 7 May 1945 (Reims
, France) French 1st Army General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny
signed the second declaration on 8 May 1945 (Berlin, Germany), also as witness, and French General Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque
signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender
on behalf of the Provisional Government of the French Republic
on 15 August 1945 (Tokyo bay
, Japan).
The complex and ambiguous situation of France from 1939 to 1945, since its military forces fought on both sides under French, British, German, Soviet, US or without uniform, - often subordinated to Allied or Axis command - raised some critics vis-à-vis its actual role and allegiance, much like with Sweden, during World War II
.
The armistice army, which is the official name for the Vichy army, was headed by Marshal Pétain and had its headquarters in Vichy, capital of the French State with bases disseminated around the world as part of the French Colonial Empire. It was a limited force created in July 1940 following the occupation of metropolitan France by Germany. Northern part of the metropolitan territory was occupied from June 1940 to November 1942 as a consequence of the officially signed armistice, then, full metropolitan territory as a consequence of the Allied invasion of French North Africa (Operation Torch
) and Allied allegiance of the colonial French Army of Africa. Beside its regular limited armistice army, the French State created irregular forces in order to fight the French Resistance and inner/outer communists; both considered enemies by Vichy and the German authorities.
The Légion Française des Combattants ("French Legion of Fighters") was the French State's first paramilitary force, created in 29 August 1940 by Xavier Vallat
.
On 19 November 1941, the force changed its name to Légion française des combattants et des volontaires de la Révolution nationale ("French Legion of Fighters and Volunteers of the National Revolution"). The National Revolution
was the French State's official ideology.
The Légion Tricolore ("tricolore legion") was created by Pierre Laval
and Jacques Benoist-Méchin
on summer 1941 and was disbanded on autumn 1942.
The French Milice
, ("militia
") was a Vichy French paramilitary
force created on 30 January 1943 by the French State for service as auxiliary of the German occupation army; hunting down the French Resistance
maquisards
. Its commander was Joseph Darnand
a battle of France veteran and volunteer; he took an oath of loyalty to Adolf Hitler
in October 1943 and received a rank of Sturmbannführer
(Major
) in the Waffen SS. By 1944, the French Milice had over 35,000 members.
The French Milice originated as French Legion Volunteer's shock unit called Service d'Ordre Légionnaire (SOL).
while saying «Je le jure !» ("I swear it !") instead of cheering Hitler.
The Chantiers de la jeunesse française ("French youth workings") were a paramilitary youth organization created in 30 July 1940 by ex-Scout Movement-Chief General Joseph de La Porte du Theil (42nd Infantry Division) as a substitute to the French army conscription
(draft). Its members were under Vichy army officers and dressed with military uniforms similar to those of the French Milice (béret
included) and had to claim allegiance to Marshal Pétain with an arm salute.
The French Youth Workings were available in all French departments which it means they were also in those of French Algeria and apply to European settlers and Muslim locals. However, Lieutenant-Colonel van Hecke advised La Porte du Theil to reject the young Jews, and so they were not anymore in the French Youth Workings by decree in 15 July 1942; twenty-four hours before the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup.
In November 1942, La Porte du Theil and van Hecke were both in French Algeria when the Allied invasion of Algiers
and Oran
took place. The first, loyal to Pétain, flew to metropolitan France, while the second sided on the Free French side and joined Henri Giraud's Army of Africa. Local French Youth Workings became units of this military force, the most famous being the 7e régiment de chasseurs d'Afrique, 7e RCA (7th Africa Chasers Regiment) created in 1943 and fighting the Italian, French and German Allied campaigns from 1944 to 1945 as hinted by its battle flag; e.g. the 1944 Battle of Monte Cassino
(Garigliano), Operation Dragoon
(Toulon
) and the 1945 invasion of Germany (Württemberg
). The famous battle song Le Chant des Africains
version 1943 is dedicated to Lt.Col. van Hecke and his 7e RCA.
The Reserve Mobile Group (Groupe mobile de réserve, GMR) was a paramilitary force of the French State created by Vichy French René Bousquet
. It was a police version of the Mobile Gendarmerie
that served as French Milice and German army auxiliary during battles against the French Resistance's maquisards. In December 1944, the GMRs were disbanded, with selected members joining the FFI, and replaced with the CRS Riot Police
.
Some Vichy French joined Hermann Göring
's Gestapo
(Sicherheitspolizei
) secret state police which was a branch of the paramilitary Allgemeine SS
under Heinrich Himmler
. It was active during the occupation as its two main roles were to seek out French Jews and to fight the French Resistance in collaboration with the Vichy police's Special Brigades
and the German military police of France called Geheime Feldpolizei
.
Carlingue
was the name of the French Gestapo, it was headed by Henri Lafont
and Pierre Loutrel
. A famous Vichy French agent of the Gestapo was Scharführer
-SS Pierre Paoli who served in central France, Cher department; Paoli subsequently applied for German nationality.
The 8th Sturmbrigade SS Frankreich ("French assault brigade") was created in 1943. Surviving troops were incorporated to the 286th Security Division
in 1944.
The French State's distinct forces L.V.F. and French Milice merged to become a full division of the German army. The division's name is a reference to the Frankish
emperor Charlemagne
who has common French and German roots.
Free French Forces were created in 1940 as a rebel faction of the French Army, refusing both the armistice (they were called « the fighting French ») and Vichy's authority. Its allegiance was toward General de Gaulle and its HQ was in London; later moving to Algiers. Starting as a limited force made of volunteers from metropolitan France and French colonies but also from other countries (such as Belgium and Spain). It evolved to a full army after its merger with Giraud's Army of Africa, then with new recruits from the French Resistance
(also called « soldiers without uniform »).
during the Battle of France
, in 1940. As French defence forces were increasingly overwhelmed, de Gaulle found himself part of a group of politicians who argued against a negotiated surrender to Nazi Germany
and Fascist Italy
. These views being shared by the President of the Council, Paul Reynaud
, de Gaulle was sent as an emissary to the United Kingdom, where he was when the French government collapsed.
On the 18 of June, de Gaulle spoke to the French people via BBC
radio. He asked French soldiers, sailors and airmen to join in the fight against the Nazis. In France, De Gaulle's "Appeal of June the 18th
" (Appel du 18 juin) was not widely heard, but subsequent discourse by de Gaulle could be heard nationwide. Some of the British Cabinet had attempted to block the speech, but were over-ruled by Winston Churchill
. To this day, the Appeal of June 18 remains one of the most famous speeches in French history. Nevertheless, on 22 June, Pétain signed the surrender and became leader of the new regime known as Vichy France. (Vichy
is the French town where the government was based.)
De Gaulle was tried in absentia in Vichy France and sentenced to death for treason and desertion; he, on the other hand, regarded himself as the last remaining member of the legitimate Reynaud government able to exercise power, seeing the rise to power of Pétain as an unconstitutional coup.
support to the CNF.
The capitaine de corvette
Thierry d'Argenlieu suggested the adoption of the Cross of Lorraine
as symbol of the Free French, both to recall the perseverance of Joan of Arc
, whose symbol it had been, and as an answer to the nazi cross.
In his general order number 2 of 3 July 1940, Vice-Admiral Émile Muselier
, chief of the naval and air forces of the Free French, created the bow flag displaying the French colours with a red cross of Lorraine, and a cocarde also featuring the cross of Lorraine.
Despite repeated broadcasts on the English speaking Britain-based BBC radio, by the end of July that year, only 7,000 people had volunteered to join the Free French forces. The Free French Navy had fifty ships and some 3,700 men operating as an auxiliary force to the British Royal Navy
.
A monument on Lyle Hill in Greenock, in the shape of the Cross of Lorraine combined with an anchor, was raised by subscription as a memorial to the Free French naval vessels which sailed from the Firth of Clyde
to take part in the Battle of the Atlantic
, and is also locally associated with the memory of the loss of the Maillé Brézé which blew up at the Tail of the Bank
.
created the airbone unit called 1re compagnie de l'air, 1re CIA (1st Air Company) in Great Britain. This unit later known as 1re compagnie de chasseurs parachutistes, 1re CCP (1st Parachute Light Infantry Company) joined the July 1941-created British Special Air Service
airborne unit at David Stirling
's demand to Charles de Gaulle in 1942 to become the SAS Brigade's French Squadron. In his biography, Scottish commander Stirling, creator of the SAS, acknowledges Georges Bergé as co-founder of this force:
The 3rd SAS (French) and 4th SAS (French) are also known as 1st Airborne Marine Infantry Regiment (1er RPIMa) and 2e régiment de chasseurs parachutistes (2e RCP) respectively. The French SAS World War II battle honor is as following:
(Forces Françaises Libres, FFL) comprised 1st Free French Division
(1re Division Française Libre, 1re DFL), Free French Air Force
(Forces Aériennes Françaises Libres, FAFL), Free French Naval Forces
(Forces Navales Françaises Libres, FNFL), Free French Naval Air Service
(Aéronavale française libre, AFL), Naval Commandos
(Commandos de marine), the French Resistance branch called French Forces of the Interior
(Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur, FFI), and the intelligence service Central Bureau of Intelligence and Operations
(Bureau Central de Renseignements et d'Action, BCRA), all giving allegiance to General Charles de Gaulle, creator of the Free France (France libre).
The Army of Africa is a historical colonial force created in 1830 as an expeditionary corps set to conquer the Regency of Algiers (proto-Algeria); mission fulfilled in 1847. It fought 1939-1940 as a force of the French Republic, then following the surrender of metropolitan France it became a Vichy force fighting the Allies (1940–1942) at the battle of Mers-el-Kebir and Operation Torch, then it evolved as a rebel faction of the Vichy forces in 1942. It eventually merged with the Free French Forces prior to the 1944 operations in mainland Europe.
It was headed by General Henri Giraud and made of mixed European settlers and indigenous colonial forces from the French North Africa, French West Africa
and French Equatorial Africa
. Unlike de Gaulle's Free French Forces, Giraud's Army of Africa was massively supplied by the United States through a lend-lease
plan. This newly equipped force enjoying modern US-built material was nicknamed the « Nouvelle armée française » ("New French Army").
Unlike General de Gaulle who claimed authority over France without any real legitimacy, Giraud was the legitimate Commander of the French Forces in North Africa since he received this civil and military charge on 26 December 1942 as (Commandement civil et militaire d'Alger) replacing murdered Vichy French admiral François Darlan
.
, the Allied invasion of Vichy-controlled French North Africa in November 1942, many Vichy troops surrendered and joined the Free French cause. Vichy coastal defences were captured by the French Resistance.
Following Operation Torch, Henri Giraud took the head of Army of Africa
a third French force distinct of de Gaulle's Free French Forces and the Vichy French forces.
In response, the 60,000-strong Vichy forces in French North Africa - the Army of Africa - (created in 1830
) joined the Allied side as the French XIX Corps
based in French Algeria
.
performed several bombing in Algiers's harbour and Eastern French Algeria cities (including Annaba
and Jijel
).
, Libya
, where Leclerc's Free French Forces met Giraud's Army of Africa for the first time, in 1943.
(Corps Expéditionnaire Français, CEF), under General Alphonse Juin
, that would take part in the 1943 Italian Campaign
and the August 1944 invasion in Southern France called Operation Dragoon
.
By September 1944, the Free French forces stood at 560,000 (and the FFI at 300,000), which rose to 1 million by the end of 1944, and were fighting in Alsace
, the Alps
and Brittany
. By the end of the war in Europe (May 1945), the Free French forces comprised 1,250,000, including seven infantry and three armoured divisions fighting in Germany.
Other Free French units were directly attached to Allied forces including the British SAS, RAF and the Soviet air force.
gradually grew in strength. Charles de Gaulle set a plan to bring together the different groups under his leadership. He changed the name of his movement to Forces Françaises Combattantes (Fighting French Forces) and sent Jean Moulin
back to France to unite the eight major French Resistance
groups into one organisation. Moulin got their agreement to form the Conseil National de la Résistance (National Council of the Resistance). He was eventually captured, and died under torture.
which was still occupied by the Japanese since 1940. Recruiting posters of the FEFEO depicted a US-built M4 Sherman
tank of general Leclerc's Free French 2nd Armoured Division, famous for its role in the 1944 liberation of Paris and Strasbourg, with the caption « Yesterday Strasbourg, tomorrow Saigon: Join the Far East French Expeditionary Forces ».
(C.L.I.) were created by de Gaulle in November 1943 as part of the FEFEO and trained in French Algeria then in British India, after the British Chindits
, to fight the Japanese forces in occupied French Indochina
.
They served in French Indochina, under General Roger Blaizot
, since 1944 and were dropped by the British Force 136
's B-24 Liberator
. The first C.L.I. commandos were rather known as "Gaurs", the gaur
is an Indian bison.
During World War II (1939–1945), the French colonies were administered by the Minister of the Navy and Colonies. On 16 June 1940 Minister César Campinchi
resigned and was replaced by Admiral François Darlan
who became the colonies' authority.
On 21 June, Campinchi left metropolitan France, on board the Massilia ocean liner at Bordeaux
, with other government members such as Interior Minister Georges Mandel
and joined Casablanca
, French Morocco, on 24 June. Mandel's idea was to leave Bordeaux to establish a government-in-exile in French North Africa, and from there to pursue the fight with the colonies power. However, when the boat arrived in Casablanca, the politicians were arrested by French Morroco administrator, General Charles Noguès, under orders from General Maxime Weygand
and Marshal Philippe Pétain; the latter had signed a French-German-Italian armistice on 22 June, and became the de facto chief of state. As a consequence of the Armistice, the French colonial world empire became Vichy French.
However, inspired by Mandel, General Charles de Gaulle eventually created a French government-in-exile in London and tried to rally these colonies in order to gain strategic bases and gather troops in view the liberation of metropolitan France. The 1940 rally of the French colonies by General de Gaulle was incomplete, de Gaulle's charisma
wasn't sufficient to gather older and upranked Generals of the French colonial administrations. As a result, a battle was engaged between Free French colonies and Vichy French colonies, each one siding either with the Axis or the Allies.
and French Equatorial Africa
joined the Free French side. French colonies in New Caledonia
, French Polynesia
, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon
and the New Hebrides
joined later.
and the colonies of Guadeloupe
and Martinique
in the West Indies remained under Vichy government control.
civilian and military materiel to the French. After the Axis defeat in 1945, the captured German V-2
s would be studied by the French military and scientists to develop the French national atomic programme which led to the creation of the French atomic bomb.
), Mediterranean (Gibraltar
) and Canada. Seized by force, by armed sailors and soldiers, the captured Free French ships were taken over and distributed to the Allied navies being British or Polish.
Later, with the recognition of Charles de Gaulle's legitimacy over France, the Allied stopped their captures and instead supplied the fighting French through Lend-Lease.
Some captured ships were eventually handed over to the Free French Navy and later the British would lend their own ships to the Free French Navy.
at New York
in 1940, which later became troopship , ended as a complete diplomatic fiasco.
However, the US Navy eventually supported the Free French Navy and Free French Army of Africa by lending vessels - among other matériel- starting in 1942.
, the United States eventually entered the war on the Allied side. This act was linked to a logistics support toward General Charles de Gaulle's London-based Free French Forces, then Algiers-based General Henri Giraud's Army of Africa.
squadrons and British navy ships were also lent to the Free French navy. Besides materiel, the British formed and trained some Free French pilots and airborne commandos such as the 3rd SAS (French) and 4th SAS (French) and the C.L.I.: the latter were trained in Ceylon and created after the British Chindits
.
fully equipped with M4A2s. The 1st and 5th DB, which entered S. France as part of the First French Army were equipped with a mixture of M4A2 and M4A4 medium tanks. The 3rd DB, which served as a training and reserve organization for the three operational armored divisions was equipped with roughly 200 medium and light tanks. Of these, 120 were later turned in to the U.S. Army's Delta Base Section for reissue. Subsequent combat losses for the 1st, 2nd, and 5th Armored Divisions were replaced with standard-issue tanks from U.S. Army stocks.
Beside tanks, the US Army supplied the Free Free forces and Army of Africa with US-built aircraft and equipment such as helmets, uniforms and firearms.
Free French fighters who fought on the Russian front
with the Soviet air force were awarded their Yakovlev
Soviet-built fighters, offered by Stalin in counterpart of their contribution against the German forces.
on 1 September 1939 was a resounding success for German forces. France declared war to Germany on 3 September 1939 and invaded its western territory, Saarland
, with the Saar Offensive
led by general Louis Faury
. This attempt was led by France's military obligation to help Poland per the Franco-Polish Military Alliance
, and was the following of the French Military Mission to Poland
headed by the same commanding officer.
Although tactically successful, as the advance in German territory reached 8 km, the Saar operation was abandoned on 12 September when the Anglo French Supreme War Council
decided that all offensive actions were to be halted immediately. This SWC was composed of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
and Lord Chatfield as the British delegation while Prime Minister Édouard Daladier
and General Maurice Gamelin
formed the French delegation. As a result of the deliberations, General Gamelin ordered the French troops to withdraw to the Maginot Line
in France, leaving Poland to its own fate facing the Germans and Soviets all alone; the latter entering Poland on 17 September. On 16 October, German general Erwin von Witzleben
started a counter-offensive against France entering its territory a few kilometers and the last covering French forces left Germany the following day to defend their country.
Norwegian Campaign
The resulting Phoney War, in which there were no major conflicts in Continental Europe, was broken by the German invasion of Denmark and Norway
in April 1940. The French fought back the Germans while defending Norway.
and the surrender of King Leopold III of Belgium
on 28 May spurred the creation of the Free Belgian Forces
.
under General Henri Giraud
fought the Germans in support to its allies of the Netherlands.
Neither the French nor the British anticipated such a rapid defeat of Poland, and the quick German
victory, relying on a new form of mobile warfare
, disturbed some generals in London and Paris. However, the Allies still expected they would be able to contain the Germans, anticipating a war reasonably like the First World War
, so they believed that even without an Eastern Front
the Germans could be defeated by blockade
, as in the previous conflict. This feeling was more widely shared in London than in Paris, which had suffered more severely during the First World War. The Prime Minister of France
Édouard Daladier
, also respected the large gap between France's human and economic resources as compared to those of Germany.
The commander of France's army, Maurice Gamelin
, like the rest of the French government, was expecting a campaign from the Germans that in the strategic sense would mirror the First World War. The Schlieffen Plan
, Gamelin believed, would be repeated with a reasonably close degree of accuracy. Even though important parts of the French army in the 1930s had been designed to wage offensive warfare, Gamelin reasoned it would be preferable to confront a German threat defensively, as the French military staff believed its country was not, for the moment, equipped militarily or economically to launch a decisive offensive. It would be better to wait until 1941 when the combined allied economic superiority over Germany could be fully exploited. To confront the expected German plan - which rested on a move into the Low Countries
, outflanking the fortified Maginot Line
- Gamelin intended to send the best units of the French army along with the British Expeditionary Force
(BEF) north to halt the Germans in the area of the river Dyle, east of Brussels
, until a decisive victory could be achieved with the support of the united British, Belgian, French and Dutch armies. The original German plan closely resembled Gamelin's expectations.
The crash in Belgium of a light plane carrying two German officers with a copy of the then-current invasion plan forced Hitler to scrap the plan and search for an alternative. The final plan for Fall Gelb (Case Yellow) had been suggested by General Erich von Manstein
, then serving as Chief of Staff to Gerd von Rundstedt
, but had been initially rejected by the German General Staff. It proposed a deep penetration further south of the original route which would take advantage of the speed of the unified Panzer divisions to separate and encircle the opposing forces. It had the virtue of being unlikely (from a defensive point of view), as the Ardennes
was heavily wooded and implausible as a route for a mechanized invasion. It also had the considerable virtue of not having been intercepted by the Allies (for no copies were being carried about), and of being dramatic, which seems to have appealed to Hitler.
Manstein's aggressive plan was to break through the weak Allied centre with overwhelming force, trap the forces to the north in a pocket, and drive on to Paris. The plan would benefit from an Allied response close to how they would have responded in the original case; namely, that a large part of French and British strength would be drawn north to defend Belgium and Picardy
. To help ensure this result, German Army Group B
would still attack Belgium and the Netherlands
in order to draw Allied forces eastward into the developing encirclement. The attack would also enable the Germans to secure bases for a later attack on Britain.
The Allied general staff and key statesmen, after capturing the original invasion plans, were initially jubilant that they had potentially won a key victory in the war before the campaign was even fought. Contrarily, General Gamelin and Lord Gort
, the commander of the BEF, were shaken into realizing that whatever the Germans came up with instead would not be what they had initially expected. More and more Gamelin became convinced that the Germans would try to attempt a breakthrough by concentrating their mechanized forces. They could hardly hope to break the Maginot Line
on his right flank or to overcome the allied concentration of forces on the left flank. That only left the centre. But most of the centre was covered by the river Meuse
. Tanks were useless in defeating fortified river positions. However at Namur
the river made a sharp turn to the east, creating a gap between itself and the river Dyle. This Gembloux Gap, ideal for mechanized warfare, was a very dangerous weak spot. Gamelin decided to concentrate half of his armoured reserves there. Of course the Germans might try to overcome the Meuse position by using infantry
. But that could only be achieved by massive artillery
support, the build-up of which would give Gamelin ample warning.
and, in the morning, German Army Group B (Bock) launched a feint offensive into the Netherlands and Belgium. German Fallschirmjäger from the 7th Flieger and 22nd Air Landing divisions under Kurt Student executed surprise landings at The Hague
, on the road to Rotterdam
and against the Belgian Fort Eben-Emael on its opening day with the goal of facilitating Army Group B's advance.
The Allied command reacted immediately, sending forces north to combat a plan that, for all the Allies could expect, resembled the earlier Schlieffen plan. This move north committed their best forces, diminished their fighting power through loss of readiness and their mobility through loss of fuel. That evening French troops crossed the Dutch border.
The French and British air command was less effective than their generals had anticipated, and the Luftwaffe
quickly obtained air superiority, depriving the Allies of key reconnaissance abilities and disrupting Allied communication and coordination.
While the German invaders secured all the strategically vital bridges in and toward Rotterdam, which penetrated "Fortress Holland" and bypassed the Water Line, an attempt to seize the Dutch seat of government, The Hague, ended in complete failure, which later led the Germans to skip paratrooper attacks. The airfields surrounding the city (Ypenburg, Ockenburg, and Valkenburg) were taken with heavy casualties on 10 May, only to be lost on the very same day to furious counter attacks launched by the two Dutch reserve infantry divisions.
The French marched north to establish a connection with the Dutch army, which came under attack from German paratroopers, but simply not understanding German intentions they failed to block German armoured reinforcements of the 9th Panzer Division from reaching Rotterdam on May 13. The Dutch, their poorly-equipped army largely intact, surrendered on 14 May after the Germans bombed Rotterdam. However the Dutch troops in Zeeland
and the colonies continued the fight while Queen Wilhelmina established a government-in-exile in Britain.
The centre of the Belgian defensive line, Fort Eben-Emael
, had been seized by German paratroopers using gliders on May 10, allowing their forces to cross the bridges over the Albert Canal, although the arrival of the British Expeditionary Force managed to save the Belgians for a time. Gamelin's plan in the north was achieved when the British army reached the Dyle; then the expected major tank battle took place in the Gembloux Gap between the French 2nd and 3rd Divisions Légères mécaniques, (Mechanized Light Divisions), and the German 3rd and 4th Panzer divisions of Erich Hoepner's XVI Panzer Corps,, costing both sides about 100 vehicles; the German offensive in Belgium seemed stalled for a moment. But this was a feint.
In the centre German Army Group A smashed through the Belgian infantry regiments and French Light Divisions of the Cavalry (Divisions Légères de cavalerie) advancing into the Ardennes, and arrived at the Meuse River
near Sedan
the night of May 12/13. On May 13, the Germans forced three crossing near Sedan. Instead of slowly massing artillery as the French expected, the Germans replaced the need for traditional artillery by using the full might of their bomber force to punch a hole in a narrow sector of the French lines by carpet bombing
(punctuated by dive bombing
). Sedan was held by the 55th French Infantry Division (55e DI), a grade "B" reserve division. The forward elements of the 55e DI held their positions through most of the 13th, initially repulsing three of the six German crossing attempts; however, the German air attacks had disrupted the French supporting artillery batteries and created an impression among the troops of the 55e DI that they were isolated and abandoned. The combination of the psychological impact of the bombing, the generally slowly expanding German lodgements, deep penetrations by some small German infantry units and the lack of air or artillery support eventually broke down the 55e DI's resistance and much of the unit went into rout by the evening of May 13/14. The German aerial attack of May 13, with 1215 bomber sorties, the heaviest air bombardment the world had yet witnessed, is considered to have been very effective and key to the successful German river crossing. It was the most effective use of tactical air power yet demonstrated in warfare. The disorder begun at Sedan was spread down the French line by groups of haggard and retreating soldiers. During the night, some units in the last prepared defence line at Bulson
panicked by the false rumour German tanks were already behind their positions. On May 14, two French tank battalions and supporting infantry from the 71st North African Infantry Division (71e NADI) counter-attacked the German bridgehead without success. The attack was partially repulsed by the first German armour and anti-tank units which had been rushed across the river as quickly as possible at 7:20 A.M. on pontoon bridges. On May 14, every available Allied light bomber was employed in an attempt to destroy the German pontoon bridges; but, despite incurring the highest single day action losses in the entire history of the British and French air forces, failed to destroy these targets. Despite the failure of numerous quickly planned counter attacks to collapse the German bridgehead, the French Army was successful in re-establishing a continuous defensive position further south; on the west flank of the bridgehead, however, French resistance began to crumble.
The commander of the French Second Army, General Huntzinger, immediately took effective measures to prevent a further weakening of his position. An armoured division (3rd Division Cuirassée de réserve) and a motorized division blocked further German advances around his flank. However the commander of XIX Panzer Corps, Heinz Guderian
, wasn't interested in Huntzinger's flank. Leaving for the moment 10th Panzer Division
at the bridgehead to protect it from attacks by 3rd DCR, he moved his 1st
and 2nd
Panzer divisions sharply to the west on the 15th, undercutting the flank of the French Ninth Army
by 40 km and forcing the 102nd Fortress Division to leave its positions that had blocked XVI Panzer Corps at Monthermé
. While the French Second Army had been seriously mauled and had rendered itself impotent, now Ninth Army began to disintegrate completely, for in Belgium also its divisions, not having had the time to fortify, had been pushed back from the river by the unrelenting pressure of German infantry, allowing the impetuous Erwin Rommel
to break free with his 7th Panzer Division
. A French armoured division (1st DCR) was sent to block him but advancing unexpectedly fast he surprised it while refuelling on the 15th and dispersed it, despite some losses caused by the heavy French tanks.
On the 16th, both Guderian and Rommel disobeyed their explicit direct orders to halt in an act of open insubordination against their superiors and moved their divisions many kilometres to the west, as fast as they could push them. Guderian reached Marle
, 80 kilometres from Sedan, Rommel crossed the river Sambre
at Le Cateau, a hundred kilometres from his bridgehead, Dinant
. While nobody knew the whereabouts of Rommel (he had advanced so quickly that he was out of range for radio contact, earning his 7th Panzer Division the nickname Gespenster-Division, "Ghost Division"), an enraged von Kleist flew to Guderian on the morning of the 17 and after a heated argument relieved him of all duties. However, von Rundstedt would have none of it and refused to confirm the order.
The French high command, however, was reeling from the shock of the sudden offensive and was stung by a sense of defeatism. On the morning of May 15, French Prime Minister Paul Reynaud
telephoned newly minted Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Winston Churchill
and said "We have been defeated. We are beaten; we have lost the battle." Churchill, attempting to console Reynaud reminded the Prime Minister of the times the Germans had broken through allied lines in World War I only to be stopped. However, Reynaud was inconsolable.
Churchill flew to Paris on May 16. He immediately recognized the gravity of the situation when he observed that the French government was already burning its archives and preparing for an evacuation of the capital. In a sombre meeting with the French commanders, Churchill asked General Gamelin, "Where is the strategic reserve?" which had saved Paris in the First World War. "There is none", Gamelin replied. Later, Churchill described hearing this as the single most shocking moment in his life. Churchill asked Gamelin when and where the general proposed to launch a counter attack against the flanks of the German bulge. Gamelin simply replied "inferiority of numbers, inferiority of equipment, inferiority of methods".
Gamelin was right; most reserve divisions had by now been committed. The only armoured division still in reserve, 2nd DCR, attacked on the 16th. However the French armoured divisions of the Infantry, the Divisions Cuirassées de Réserve, were despite their name very specialized breakthrough units, optimized for attacking fortified positions. They could be quite useful for defence, if dug in, but had very limited utility for an encounter fight: they could not execute combined infantry-tank tactics as they simply had no important motorized infantry component; they had poor tactical mobility as the heavy Char B1 bis, their main tank in which half of the French tank budget had been invested, had to refuel twice a day. So 2nd DCR divided itself in a covering screen, the small subunits of which fought bravely - but without having any strategic effect.
Of course, some of the best units in the north had yet seen little fighting. Had they been kept in reserve they could have been used for a decisive counter strike. But now they had lost much fighting power simply by moving to the north; hurrying south again would cost them even more. The most powerful allied division, the 1st DLM (Division Légère Mécanique, "light" in this case meaning "mobile"), deployed near Dunkirk on the 10th, had moved its forward units 220 kilometres to the northeast, beyond the Dutch city of 's-Hertogenbosch, in 32 hours. Finding that the Dutch had already retreated to the north, it had withdrawn and was now moving to the south. When it would reach the Germans again, of its original 80 SOMUA S 35 tanks only three would be operational, mostly as a result of break down.
Nevertheless, a radical decision to retreat to the south, avoiding contact, could probably have saved most of the mechanized and motorized divisions, including the BEF. However, that would have meant leaving about thirty infantry divisions to their fate. The loss of Belgium alone would be an enormous political blow. Besides, the Allies were uncertain about German intentions. They threatened in four directions: to the north, to attack the allied main force directly; to the west, to cut it off; to the south, to occupy Paris and even to the east, to move behind the Maginot Line. The French decided to create a new reserve, among which a reconstituted 7th Army, under General Touchon, using every unit they could safely pull out of the Maginot Line to block the way to Paris.
Colonel Charles de Gaulle, in command of France's hastily formed 4th Armoured Division, attempted to launch an attack from the south and achieved a measure of success that would later accord him considerable fame and a promotion to Brigadier General. However, de Gaulle's attacks on the 17th and 19th did not significantly alter the overall situation.
While the Allies did little either to threaten them or escape from the danger they posed, the Panzer Corps used the 17th and 18th to refuel, eat, sleep and get some more tanks in working order. On the 18th, Rommel made the French give up Cambrai
by merely feinting an armoured attack.
On the 19th, German High Command grew very confident. The Allies seemed incapable of coping with events. There appeared to be no serious threat from the south - indeed General Franz Halder
, Chief of Army General Staff
, toyed with the idea of attacking Paris immediately to knock France out of the war in one blow. The Allied troops in the north were retreating to the river Scheldt
, their right flank giving way to the 3rd and 4th Panzer Divisions. It would be foolish to remain inactive any longer, allowing them to reorganize their defence or escape. Now it was time to bring them into even more serious trouble by cutting them off. The next day the Panzer Corps started moving again, smashed through the weak British 18th and 23rd Territorial Divisions, occupied Amiens
and secured the westernmost bridge over the river Somme at Abbeville
isolating the British, French, Dutch, and Belgian forces in the north. In the evening of the 20th a reconnaissance unit from 2nd Panzer Division reached Noyelles, a hundred kilometres to the west. There they could see the estuary of the Somme flowing into The Channel
.
On May 20 also, French Prime Minister Paul Reynaud
dismissed Maurice Gamelin
for his failure to contain the German offensive, and replaced him with Maxime Weygand
, who immediately attempted to devise new tactics to contain the Germans. More pressing, however, was his strategic task: he formed the Weygand Plan, ordering to pinch off the German armoured spearhead by combined attacks from the north and the south. On the map, this seemed a feasible mission: the corridor through which von Kleist's
two Panzer Corps had moved to the coast was a mere 40 kilometres wide. On paper, Weygand had sufficient forces to execute it: in the north,the three DLM and the BEF; in the south, de Gaulle's 4th DCR. These units had an organic strength of about 1200 tanks and the Panzer divisions were very vulnerable again, the mechanical condition of their tanks rapidly deteriorating. But the condition of the Allied divisions was far worse. Both in the south and the north they could in reality muster but a handful of tanks. Nevertheless, Weygand flew to Ypres
on the 21st trying to convince the Belgians and the BEF of the soundness of his plan.
That same day, May 21, a detachment of the British Expeditionary Force under Major-General Harold Edward Franklyn had already attempted to at least delay the German offensive and, perhaps, to cut the leading edge of the German army off. The resulting Battle of Arras
demonstrated the ability of the heavily armoured British Matilda tank
s (the German 37 mm anti-tank guns proved ineffective against them) and the limited raid overran two German regiments. The panic that resulted (the German commander at Arras, Erwin Rommel
, reported being attacked by 'hundreds' of tanks, though there were only 58 at the battle) temporarily delayed the German offensive. German reinforcements pressed the British back to Vimy Ridge the following day.
Although this attack wasn't part of any coordinated attempt to destroy the Panzer Corps, the German High Command panicked a lot more than Rommel. For a moment they feared to have been ambushed, that a thousand Allied tanks were about to smash their elite forces. But the next day they had regained confidence and ordered Guderian's XIX Panzer Corps to press north and push on to the Channel ports of Boulogne
and Calais
, in the back of the British and Allied forces to the north.
That same day, the 22nd, the French tried to attack south to the east of Arras, with some infantry and tanks, but by now the German infantry had begun to catch up and the attack was, with some difficulty, stopped by the 32nd Infantry Division.
Only on the 24th the first attack from the south could be launched when 7th DIC, supported by a handful of tanks, failed to retake Amiens. This was a rather weak effort; however, on May 27, the British 1st Armoured Division, hastily brought over from England, attacked Abbeville in force but was beaten back with crippling losses. The next day de Gaulle tried again with the same result. But by now even complete success couldn't have saved the forces in the north.
In the early hours of the 23rd, Gort ordered a retreat from Arras. He had no faith in the Weygand plan nor in the proposal of the latter to at least try to hold a pocket on the Flemish coast, a Réduit de Flandres. The ports needed to supply such a foothold were already threatened. That day, the 2nd Panzer Division assaulted Boulogne and 10th Panzer assaulted Calais. The British garrison in Boulogne surrendered on the 25th, although 4,368 troops were evacuated. Calais, though strengthened by the arrival of 3rd Royal Tank Regiment
equipped with cruiser tanks and 30th Motor Brigade, fell to the Germans on the 27th.
While the 1st Panzer Division was ready to attack Dunkirk on the 25th, Hitler ordered it to halt on the 24th. This remains one of the most controversial decisions of the entire war. Hermann Göring
had convinced Hitler the Luftwaffe
could prevent an evacuation; von Rundstedt had warned him that any further effort by the armoured divisions would lead to a much prolonged refitting period. Attacking cities wasn't part of the normal task for armoured units under any operational doctrine.
(May 26-June 4) and later Operation Ariel
(June 14–25), evacuating Allied forces from the northern pocket in Belgium and Pas-de-Calais, beginning on May 26. (see Battle of Dunkirk
) The Allied position was complicated by King Léopold III of Belgium
's surrender the following day, which was postponed till the 28th.
Confusion still reigned however, as after the evacuation at Dunkirk and while Paris was enduring its short-lived siege, the First Canadian Division and a Scottish division were sent to Normandy
and penetrated 200 miles inland toward Paris before they heard that Paris had fallen and France had capitulated. They retreated and re-embarked for England.
At the same time as the Canadian 1st division landed in Brest
, the Canadian 242 Squadron of the RAF flew their Hawker Hurricane
s to Nantes
(100 miles south-east) and set up there to provide air cover.
, and the French government had begun to lose heart that the Germans could still be defeated, particularly as the remaining British forces were retreating from the battlefield returning to Great Britain, a particularly symbolic event for French morale, intensified by the German anti-British propaganda slogan "The British will fight to the last Frenchman".
The Germans renewed their offensive on June 5 on the Somme. A panzer-led attack on Paris broke the scarce reserves that Weygand had put between the Germans and the capital, and on June 10 the French government fled to Bordeaux
, declaring Paris an open city
.
On June 10, Italy declared war on France and Britain; Italian Royal Air Force (Regia Aeronautica
) started its bomb raids over France. On June 13, French ace pilot Pierre Le Gloan
shot down two Fiat BR.20
bombers with his Dewoitine D.520
fighter. On June 15, Le Gloan, along with another pilot, attacked a group of twelve Italian Fiat CR.42
fighters, and shot down three of them, while Cpt. Assolent shot down another. While returning to the airfield, Le Gloan shot down another CR.42 and another BR.20 bomber. For this achievement of destroying five aircraft in one flight, he was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant.
The following week, an Italian army crossed the Alps and fought with the French Chasseurs Alpins (Alpine Hunters), the Regia Aeronautica carried out 716 bombing missions in support of the invasion of France by the Italian Royal Army (Regio Esercito). Italian aircraft dropped a total of 276 tons of bombs.
Churchill returned to France on June 11, meeting the French War Council in Briare
. The French, clearly in a panic, wanted Churchill to give every available fighter to the air battle over France; with only 25 squadrons remaining, Churchill refused to further help his ally, believing that the decisive battle would be fought over Britain (the Battle of Britain
started on July 10). British support ended and France was left to its own fate facing the Germans and Italians all alone. Concerned about an upcoming German invasion of his own country, Churchill, at the meeting, obtained promises from French admiral François Darlan
that the French Navy
's fleet would not fall into German hands.
, France's Prime Minister, resigned because he believed a majority of his government favoured an armistice. He was succeeded by a patriarcal figure, 84-years old World War I veteran Maréchal Philippe Pétain. On June 16, the new French President of the Council, Philippe Pétain (the President of the Republic office was vacant from July 11, 1940 until 16 January 1947), began negotiations with Axis
officials. On June 17, 1940, Marshal Pétain delivered a famous appeal to the French people via radio ordering them « it is necessary to cease to fight » (« il faut cesser le combat »).
in three places. Roughly thirty-two Italian divisions faced just four French divisions. Fighting continued in the east until General Pretelat, commanding the French Second Army group, was forced to surrender on June 22 by the armistice. France formally surrendered
to the German armed forces on June 22 in the same railroad car at Compiègne
in which Germany had been forced to surrender
in 1918. This railway car was lost in allied air raids on the German capital of Berlin later in the war.
Metropolitan France
was divided into a German occupation zone in the north and west and an unoccupied zone in the south. Pétain set up a collaborationist
government in the spa town of Vichy
and the authoritarian regime French State
, replacing the abolished French Republic, came to be known as Vichy France
.
joined de Gaulle's fight, while others like French Indochina
were soon attacked by the Japanese or remained loyal to the Vichy government. Italy occupied a small area, essentially the Alpes-Maritimes
, and Corsica
.
against the German Luftwaffe
. Among these men were Adjutant Émile Fayolle, son of an Admiral and grandson of French Marshal Marie Émile Fayolle
. When the Armistice was signed on June 22, 1940 Fayolle was at the Fighter School at Oran
, French Algeria
. On June 30, he and a comrade flew to the British base at Gibraltar
and from there sailed to Liverpool
where they arrived on July 13 and joined the RAF. On November 1941 Fayolle went to Turnhouse to join 340 Squadron, the first all-French fighter unit. Another pilot with a similar course was Adjutant René Mouchotte, eleven Free French pilots were posted to No.1 School of Army Co-operation, Old Sarum
on July 29. Mouchotte was posted to Turnhouse as Deputy 'A' Flight Commander with 340 Squadron on November 10. On January 18, 1943, Captain Mouchotte returned to Turnhouse to form and command the 341 Free French Squadron.
(also known as Groupe de chasse 2 "Île-de-France", a Free French unit attached to the No. 13 Group RAF
, equipped with Spitfire aircrafts and born in Turnhouse
, Scotland. Other notable All-Free French RAF flights were the No. 327 Squadron RAF and No. 341 Squadron RAF
.
The French State sent an expeditionary force, called Légion des Volontaires Français Contre le Bolchevisme (LVF), to fight the Red army
along the German Wehrmacht
on the Russian front. This volunteers unit, including old men and 15-year children as evidenced by Nazi propaganda archives, took part in the German invasion of Soviet Union called Operation Barbarossa
.
The L.V.F.'s German designation was 638.Infanterie-Regiment 638 ("638th Infantry Regiment") and it served under Field Marshal
Günther von Kluge
, commander of the Fourth Army.
The L.V.F. 638th Infantry Regiment fought the Battle of Diut'kovo (maybe Dyatkovo
), which is part of the Battle of Moscow
.
The L.V.F. 638th Infantry Regiment fought the Battle of Berezina as hinted by its flag.
) under Hauptsturmführer
(Captain) Henri Fenet
was among the last defenders of the Nazi German capital, fighting against Soviet forces during the Battle of Berlin
in April–May 1945.
At de Gaulle's initiative, the Free French Air Force
Groupe de Chasse 3 "Normandie"
was formed on September 1, 1942, for service on the Eastern Front
along the Soviet 1st Air Army
. It served with distinction on board soviet aircrafts and was awarded the supplementary title Niemen
(from the Belaruss river) by Stalin. Its first commander was Jean Tulasne who was KIA (history of Normandie-Niemen).
The group Normandie-Niemen evolved from a single squadron called "Normandie" to a full regiment called Normandie-Niemen
which included Squadron Caen
, Squadron Le Havre
and Squadron Rouen
.
Their battle honor is Oryol
1943 and Smolensk
1943.
Battle honor is Orche 1944, Berezina 1944 and Niemen 1944.
Battle honor is Chernyakhovsk
1945 and Baltiysk
1945.
On May 31, 1945, Normandie-Niemen squadrons were directed to Moscow by the Soviet authorities who decided to allow them to return in France with their handed over aircrafts as a reward. By the end of World War II, the Free French unit counted 273 certified victories, 37 non-certified victories and 45 damaged aircrafts with 869 fights and 42 dead.
They arrived at Elbląg
, Poland on June 15, 1945 and in Paris Le Bourget
, through Posen
, Prague
and Stuttgart
, on June 21 (their arrival at Stuttgart and parade at Le Bourget were taped).
of 1943, 130,000 Free French soldiers fought on the Allied side.
The 1st group, Ist Landing Corps (1er groupement du Ier corps de débarquement), later redesignated by as the French Expeditionary Corps (Corps Expéditionnaire Français, CEF) participated in the Italian Campaign
with two divisions and two separate brigades from late 1943 to July 23, 1944.
. After the Allied capture of Rome the Corps was gradually withdrawn from Italy and incorporated into the B Army
(Armée B) for the invasion of Southern France.
was a successful Allied assault, including Free French, on German Gustav Line defences in Italy.
This success was followed in June 1944 by the invasion of Elba in which the 9th Colonial Infantry Division (9 DIC) and Choc (special forces
) battalions of I Corps assaulted and seized the heavily fortified island, defended by German fortress infantry and coastal artillery troops. Combat on the island was characterized by close-in fighting, use of flamethrower
s, well-ranged German artillery, and the liberal use of mines.
A force of 4,000 French Resistance (FFI) fighters proclaimed the Free Republic of Vercors opposing the German army and French Milice.
fought the Wehrmacht General Curt von Jesser
's brigade.
in Normandy
on August 2 and eventually led the drive towards Paris later that month. The FFI (French Resistance) began to seriously harass the German forces, cutting roads, railways, making ambushes as well as fighting battles alongside their allies.
Free French airborne under Colonel Pierre-Louis Bourgoin dropped behin German lines in Brittany.
A reduced number of French infantry was involved in the June 6, 1944 Allied landing operations
. Its number is 209 which include 177 commandos and 32 airborne troopers. Additional personnel include a hundred French air force fighter and bomber pilots and hundreds sailors from the French navy.
Free French infantry fighting in the Normandy beaches on June 6 is limited to the 1er Bataillon de Fusiliers Marins Commandos
(1er BFMC) under Free French Navy Major Philippe Kieffer
.
The Free French Navy's 1er BFMC comprised 177 commandos and had been created at Achnacarry
, Scotland after the British Commandos
. This All-French unit, including many Bretons
as Brittany
was close to England, was attached to the British No. 4 Commando
under Lieutenant-Colonel Dawson. It was the very first infantry unit to touch the sand of Ouistreham
, (Normandy) in the landing full-scale operation Operation Overlord; preceding the 3rd British Infantry Division. This honor was a courtesy of 1st Special Service Brigade
(S.S.B.) commander Scottish Brigadier Simon Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat
who slowed down the British commandos landing crafts to let pass the French LCI
527 (Troop 1) and LCI 528 (Troop 8). The 1er BFMC's Normandy campaign lasted 83 days, casualty rate was high, from the 117 Kieffer commandos of June 6, only 24 survived.
The Free French Navy under Admiral Ramsay took part in Operation Neptune
which was the naval part of Operation Overlord, a series of missions were fulfilled on June 6:
Another French mission from June 3 to 16, consisted in the bombing of Omaha Beach
's defense by a fleet under Admiral Jaujard which comprised the 7,500 tons cruisers Georges-Leygues and Montcalm, with their 10,000 tons tanker, and the cruiser Duquesne. The three battleships fired thousands of shells in four days.
Defense operations were also performed by the corvettes and frigates establishing a shuttle between English harbours and the French coast. They escorted the logistics maneuvers involving infantry landing crafts, medical evacuations from the battlefield and sought for any Kriegsmarine menace.
On June 9, the obsolete French cuirassé Courbet was disarmed and saborded - together with other ships - in the Hermanville-sur-Mer
area to be used as artificial breakwaters
.
Light bomber Boston equipped bomb group No. 342 Squadron RAF
(GB 1/20 Lorraine), commanded by Michel Fouquet, supported the Omaha Beach invasion with a smoke screen campaign blinding and isolating the German defenders.
Heavy bombers of bomb groups GB 1/15 Touraine and No. 347 Squadron RAF (GB 1/25 Tunisie) and fighters of No. 329 Squadron RAF
(GC 1/2 Cigognes), No. 345 Squadron RAF (GC 2/2 Berry), No. 341 Squadron RAF
(GC 3/2 Alsace) and No. 340 Squadron RAF
(GC 4/2 Île de France) serviced under Air Marshal Leigh-Mallory.
The Free French airmen were part of the first casualties of Day-D. These include the flying crew Boissieux-Canut-Henson from bomb group No. 342 Squadron RAF (GB 1/20 Lorraine) which left its base at dawn and was KIA when its Boston was shot down.
, and served under General Patton's Third Army.
The 2nd division played a critical role in Operation Cobra
, the Allied breakthrough from Normandy, when it served as a link between American and Canadian armies and made rapid progress against German forces. They all but destroyed the 9th Panzer Division
and defeated several other German units. During the Battle for Normandy, the 2nd Division lost 133 men killed, 648 wounded, and 85 missing. Division material losses included 76 armored vehicles, 7 cannons, 27 halftracks, and 133 other vehicles. In the same period, the 2nd Division inflicted losses on the Germans of 4,500 killed and 8,800 taken prisoner, while the Germans' material losses in combat against the 2nd Division during the same period were 117 tanks, 79 cannons, and 750 wheeled vehicles.
The most celebrated moment in the 2nd's history involved the Liberation of Paris
. Allied strategy emphasized destroying German forces retreating towards the Rhine, but when the French Resistance under Colonel Rol-Tanguy
staged an uprising in the city, Charles de Gaulle pleaded with Eisenhower
to send help. Eisenhower agreed and Leclerc's forces headed for Paris. After hard fighting that cost the 2nd Division 35 tanks, 6 self-propelled guns, and 111 vehicles, von Choltitz
, the military governor of Paris, surrendered the city at the Hôtel Meurice
. Jubilant crowds greeted French forces, and de Gaulle conducted a famous parade through the city.
Subsequently, the 2nd Division campaigned with American forces in Lorraine
, spearheading the U.S. Seventh Army drive through the northern Vosges Mountains
and forcing the Saverne
Gap. Eventually, after liberating Strasbourg
in November 1944, defending against the German Nordwind
counter-offensive in Alsace
in January 1945, and conducting operations against the Royan
Pocket on the Atlantic coast of France.
Free French airborne commandos, called "Jedburgh", were dropped behind Nazi lines in Provence in order to support the upcoming Allied landing (Operation Dragoon
) and prepare the French Resistance. This Allied operation was in conjunction with the Free French intelligence service Bureau Central de Renseignements et d'Action
(BCRA); famous French Jedburghs are Jean Sassi
and Paul Aussaresses
.
Operation Dragoon
was the Allied
invasion of southern France, on August 15, 1944, as part of World War II. The invasion took place between Toulon
and Cannes
. During the planning stages, the operation was known as Anvil, to complement Operation Hammer, which was at that time the codename for the invasion of Normandy
. Subsequently, both plans were renamed, the latter becoming Operation Overlord
, the former becoming Operation Dragoon; a name supposedly picked by Winston Churchill, who was opposed to the plan, and claimed to having been "dragooned" into accepting it.
The plan originally envisaged a mixture of Free French
and American troops taking Toulon
and later Marseille
, with subsequent revisions encompassing Saint Tropez. The plan was revised throughout 1944, however, with conflict developing between British military staff — who were opposed to the landings, arguing that the troops and equipment should be either retained in Italy or sent there — and American military staff, who were in favour of the assault. This was part of a larger Anglo-American strategic disagreement.
The balance was tipped in favour of Dragoon by two events: the eventual fall of Rome in early June, plus the success of Operation Cobra
, the breakout from the Normandy
pocket, at the end of the month. Operation Dragoon's D-Day
was set for August 15, 1944. The final go-ahead was given at short notice.
The U.S. 6th Army Group
, also known as the Southern Group of Armies, commanded by Lieutenant General Jacob L. Devers
was created in Corsica
and activated on August 1, 1944 to consolidate the combined French and American forces that were planning to invade southern France in Operation Dragoon. At first it was subordinate to AFHQ (Allied Forces Headquarters) under the command of Field Marshal Sir Henry Maitland Wilson who was the supreme commander of the Mediterranean Theater
. One month after the invasion, command was handed over to SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Forces) under U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower
, the supreme commander of Allied forces on the Western Front
.
The assault troops were formed of three American divisions of the VI Corps, reinforced by a French armoured division. The 3rd Infantry Division landed on the left at Alpha Beach (Cavalaire-sur-Mer
), the 45th Infantry Division landed in the centre at Delta Beach (Saint-Tropez
), and the 36th Infantry Division landed on the right at Camel Beach (Saint-Raphaël
). These were supported by French commando groups landing on both flanks, and by Rugby Force, a parachute assault in the Le Muy-Le Luc area by the 1st Airborne Task Force: British 2nd Parachute Brigade
, the U.S. 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team
, and a composite U.S. airborne glider regimental combat team formed from the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion, the 550th Glider Infantry Battalion, and the 1st Battalion, 551st Parachute Infantry regiment. The 1st Special Service Force took two offshore islands to protect the beachhead.
Naval gunfire from Allied ships, including battleships Lorraine
, , , and and a fleet of over 50 cruisers and destroyers supported the landings. Seven Allied escort carriers provided air cover.
Over ninety-four thousand troops and eleven thousand vehicles were landed on the first day. A number of German troops had been diverted to fight the Allied forces in Northern France after Operation Overlord
and a major attack by French resistance
fighters, coordinated by Captain Aaron Bank
of the OSS
, helped drive the remaining German forces back from the beachhead in advance of the landing. As a result, the Allied forces met little resistance as they moved inland. The quick success of this invasion, with a twenty-mile penetration in twenty-four hours, sparked a major uprising by resistance fighters in Paris.
Follow-up formations included US VI Corps HQ, US Seventh Army HQ, French Army B
(later redesignated the French First Army) and French I and II Corps.
The rapid retreat of the German Nineteenth Army resulted in swift gains for the Allied forces. The plans had envisaged greater resistance near the landing areas and under-estimated transport needs. The consequent need for vehicle fuel outstripped supply and this shortage proved to be a greater impediment to the advance than German resistance. As a result, several German formations escaped into the Vosges and Germany.
The Dragoon force met up with southern thrusts from Overlord in mid-September, near Dijon
.
Operation Dragoon included a glider landing (Operation Dove
) and a deception (Operation Span
).
A planned benefit of Dragoon was the usefulness of the port of Marseille
. The rapid Allied advance after Operation Cobra
and Dragoon slowed almost to a halt in September 1944 due to a critical lack of supplies, as thousands of tons of supplies were shunted to NW France to compensate for the inadequacies of port facilities and land transport in northern Europe. Marseille and the southern French railways were brought back into service despite heavy damage to the Port of Marseille and its railroad trunk lines. They became a significant supply route for the Allied advance into Germany, providing about a third of the Allied needs.
French commandos assaulted German artillery position at Cap Nègre. 300 German soldiers were killed and 700 were taken prisoner. The French commandos suffered 11 men killed and 50 wounded.
From: Southern France
The French First Army under Jean de Lattre de Tassigny
performed spectacularly in the capture of Toulon
and Marseilles.
"The original plan intended to attack the two ports in succession. The accelerated landings of de Lattre's French forces, however, and the general situation allowed concurrent operations against both. De Lattre ordered Lt. Gen. Edgard de Larminat
to move west against Toulon along the coast, with two infantry divisions supported by tanks and commandos. Simultaneously, a second force, under Maj. Gen. Goislard de Monsabert
and consisting of one infantry division and similar supporting forces, would advance in a more northwesterly direction, encircling the naval port from the north and west and probing toward Marseille. De Lattre knew that the German garrisons at the ports were substantial: some 18,000 troops of all types at Toulon and another 13,000, mostly army, at Marseille. However, Resistance sources also told him that the defenders had not yet put much effort into protecting the landward approaches to the ports, and he was convinced that a quick strike by experienced combat troops might well crack their defenses before they had a chance to coalesce. Speed was essential.
On the morning of August 20, with the German command in Toulon still in a state of confusion and the Nineteenth Army more concerned with Truscott's westward progress well north of the port, de Larminat attacked from the east while Monsabert circled around to the north, quickly outflanking Toulon's hasty defenses along the coast. By the 21st Monsabert had cut the Toulon-Marseille road, and several of his units had entered Toulon from the west, penetrating to within two miles of the main waterfront. Between 21 and 23 August, the French slowly squeezed the Germans back into the inner city in a series of almost continuous street fights. As the German defense lost coherence, isolated groups began to surrender, with the last organized resistance ending on the 26th and the formal German surrender occurring on 28 August. The battle cost de Lattre about 2,700 casualties, but the French claimed 17,000 prisoners, indicating that few Germans had followed the Fuehrer's "stand and die" order.
Even as French forces occupied Toulon, Monsabert began the attack on Marseille, generally screening German defenses along the coast and striking from the northeastern and northern approaches. Early gains on the 22d put French troops within five to eight miles of the city's center, while a major Resistance uprising within the port encouraged French soldiers to strike deeper.
Although de Lattre urged caution, concerned over the dispersion of his forces and the shortage of fuel for his tanks and trucks, Monsabert's infantry plunged into the heart of Marseille in the early hours of 23 August. Their initiative decided the issue, and the fighting soon became a matter of battling from street to street and from house to house, as in Toulon. On the evening of the 27th, the German commander parleyed with Monsabert to arrange terms and a formal surrender became effective on the 28th, the same day as the capitulation of Toulon. At Marseille, the French took over 1,800 casualties and acquired roughly 11,000 more prisoners. Equally important, both ports, although badly damaged by German demolitions, were in Allied hands many weeks ahead of schedule."
on 2 September 1944 and moved into the southern Vosges Mountains
, capturing Belfort
and forcing the Belfort Gap at the close of November 1944. Following the capture of the Belfort Gap, French operations in the area of Burnhaupt destroyed the German IV Luftwaffe Korps. In February 1945, with the assistance of the U.S. XXI Corps
, the First Army collapsed the Colmar Pocket
and cleared the west bank of the Rhine River of Germans in the area south of Strasbourg
.
fortifications in the Bienwald
Forest near Lauterbourg
. Subsequently, the First Army crossed the Rhine near Speyer
and captured Karlsruhe
and Stuttgart
. Operations by the First Army in April 1945 encircled and captured the German XVIII. S.S.-Armeekorps in the Black Forest
and cleared southwestern Germany.
squadron's flag features Battle of Königsberg
1945 as battle honor and the unit was awarded the "Take of the Königsberg Fortress" medal.
, in southeastern Germany, where Hitler's mountain residence, the Berghof, was located. Leclerc's armoured unit was along the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division.
during the Allied invasion of Germany in 1945.
On 7 May 1945, the Germans signed the Instrument of Surrender
at Rheims, France, officially ending the war in Europe. The United States and Great Britain ceded both a part of their occupation area in western Germany to France.
troopers of 3rd and 4th French SAS on the night of 7 April 1945. The teams spread out to capture and protect key facilities from the Germans. Advancing Canadian troops of the 8th Reconnaissance Regiment relieved the isolated French SAS.
's VII Corps (United States)) and six French Light Infantry Battalions from Metz region (Troy H. Middleton
's VIII Corps (United States)
) fought the Battle of the Bulge
. The 3rd SAS French 1st Airborne Marine Infantry Regiment battle honor bears the Battle of Bulge ("Ardennes Belges 1945").
Hijacked Free French vessels include Free which was captured by the British at Plymouth. Because of the complexity of her handling and of the need to support the Free France, Triomphant was handed to the FNFL, on 28 August 1940, and put under the command of captain Pierre Gilly. Her aft gun was replaced by a British model. was on repair at Portsmouth
after the Dunkirk evacuation when it was captured by the British. It was handed over to the Free French Naval Forces
on 31 August. French battleship Paris
also on repair at Plymouth, along with its sister-ship Courbet
, eight torpedo boats, five submarines and a number of other ships of lesser importance. After its hijack, the British planned to transfer her to the Polish Navy
. The ceremony was to be held on July 15, 1940 and it was planned to rename the ship to OF Paris (OF - Okręt Francuski - "French ship") but due to lack of personnel the ship was never handed over to the Polish Navy and was used by the British as an accommodation ship in Devonport
.
British captured French destroyer Ouragan was not returned to the Free French and instead was transferred to the Free Polish Navy
on 17 July 1940. Until 30 April 1941 she sailed under the Polish ensign (using pennant number H16) but as OF Ouragan (OF - Okręt Francuski - "French ship"), instead of the usual ORP
prefix. It was only after 287 days that Ouragan was returned to its owner, on 30 April 1941.
After the capture of allied ships, the British attempted to repatriate the captured Free French sailors. The British hospital ship that was carrying them back to metropolitan France was sunk by the Germans, and many of the French blamed the British for the deaths.
The Operation Catapult was called « treachery
» by both the Vichy and Free French; the French State exploited this series of events in its anti-British propaganda which has a long running history back to the Perfidious Albion
myth.
, headed by admiral Émile Muselier
, were created and pursued the war on the Allies side.
sailing from Mediterranean sea to the Atlantic from Almería
, Spain to Barrow-in-Furness
, England was sunk by a Kriegsmarine U-Boot
(U-564) which fired five torpedo
es at the convoy. Three ships had been hit and were sunk. These were the Carsbreck, the Ariosto and the Alhama. Twenty-four of the Carsbrecks crew, nineteen crew members and four gunners and the master, were lost. Sixteen crew members and two gunners survived to be picked up by the Free French Naval Forces
sloop Commandant Duboc (F743).
.
sea.
killing 1000 French soldiers at Mers El Kebir alone. This action led to feelings of animosity and mistrust between the Vichy French and their former British allies. During the course of the war, Vichy France forces lost 2,653 soldiers and Free France lost 20,000.
In German and Italian hands, the French fleet would have been a grave threat to Britain and the British Government was unable to take this risk. In order to neutralise the threat, Winston Churchill ordered that the French ships should rejoin the Allies, agree to be put out of use in a British, French or neutral port or, as a last resort, be destroyed by British attack (Operation Catapult
). The Royal Navy
attempted to persuade the French Navy to agree to these terms, but when that failed they attacked the French Navy at Mers El Kébir and Dakar
(see http://www.combinedops.com/mers%20el%20kabir.htm), on July 3, 1940. This caused bitterness and division in France, particularly in the Navy, and discouraged many French soldiers from joining the Free French forces in Britain and elsewhere. Also, the attempt to persuade Vichy French forces in Dakar
to join De Gaulle failed. (See West African campaign
and Operation Menace
).
gave British captains George Jellicoe
and Free French Georges Bergé
a mission in the Greek island of Crete
called Operation Heraklion. Bergé chose three Free French commandos Jacques Mouhot, Pierre Léostic and Jack Sibard, while Lieutenant Kostis Petrakis a local from Crete's special service joined them as civilian.
They managed to destroy 22 Junkers Ju 88
German bombers at the Candia-Heraklion
airfield. However their retreat was betrayed and 17-year old Pierre Léostic refused to surrender and was killed while the other three Free French were caught and transferred in Germany; the British and Cretian commandos escaped and were evacuated to Egypt.
Jacques Mouhot failed to escape three times, he eventually succeeded the fourth time. He subsequently crossed Germany, Belgium, France and Spain to arrive in London on August 22, 1943.
in southern France. This act's purpose was to prevent the German Kriegsmarine to seize the Vichy French ships and to be able to use its firepower against the Allies and Free French.
Operation Husky involved infantry, air force and armored cavalry forces from the Army of Africa including 4th Morrocan Tabor (66th, 67th & 68th Goums landed on July 13 at Licata
) from U.S. 7th Army, No. II/5 "LaFayette" French Squadron with Curtiss P-40
s and No. II/7 "Nice" French Squadron with Spitfires both from No. 242 Group RAF
), II/33 Groupe "Savoie" with P-38 Lightning
from the Northwest African Photographic Reconnaissance Wing
and 131st RCC with Renault R35 tanks.
force (ca. 6,000 troops) of the French Ist Corps
liberated Corsica, defended by the German 90th Panzergrenadier Division and the Sturmbrigade Reichsführer-SS
(ca. 30,000 troops) (45,000 Italians were also present, but at least part of that force joined the Allies). Thereby Corsica became the first French metropolitan department liberated in World War II; the first liberated département was Algiers in November 1942.
North African campaign
A large scale Allied invasion of the French protectorate in Morocco and French departements of Algeria was set on November 1942, it is called Operation Torch
. Naval and airbornes landings opposed American and British troops to Vichy French forces. The French Resistance interfered in the Allied side by setting a coup d'état against both Vichy French governors, one failed the other succeeded.
Operation Torch had an important aftermath on the French military rallying the Army of Africa to the Free French cause and in the same time infuriated Hitler who ordered the occupation of metropolitan France's southern, said free, zone as well as air raids against French Algeria cities by the Libya based Luftwaffe.
In July 1940, there were sufficient Free French pilots in African colonial bases to man several squadrons based in French North Africa. On July 8, 1940 were created the Free French Flight
(FAFL) units based in Middle-Eastern French colonies. They were initially equipped with a mixture of British, French and American aircraft. From a strength of 500 on July 1940, the ranks of the Forces Aériennes Françaises Libres (FAFL) grew to 900 by 1941, including 200 fliers.
Besides the FAFL air force existed the Free French Naval Air Service
. On August 3, 1943, de Gaulle's Free French forces merged with Giraud's Army of Africa.
On the night of 7 November − the eve of Operation Torch
− pro-Allied French General Antoine Béthouart
attempted a coup d'état against the Vichy French command in Morocco, so that he could surrender to the Allies the next day. His forces surrounded the villa of General Charles Noguès, the Vichy-loyal high commissioner. However, Noguès telephoned loyal forces, who stopped the coup. In addition, the coup attempt alerted Noguès to the impending Allied invasion, and he immediately bolstered French coastal defenses.
As agreed at Cherchell
, starting at midnight and continuing through the early hours of 8 November, as the invasion troops were approaching the shore, a group of 400 French resistance under the command of Henri d'Astier de la Vigerie
and José Aboulker
staged a coup in the city of Algiers. They seized key targets, including the telephone exchange, radio station, governor's house and the headquarters of 19th Corps.
Robert Murphy
then drove to the residence of General Alphonse Juin
, the senior French Army officer in North Africa, with some resistance fighters. While the resistance surrounded the house, making Juin effectively a prisoner, Murphy attempted to persuade him to side with the Allies. However, he was treated to a surprise: Admiral François Darlan
, the commander of all French forces, was in Algiers on a private visit. Juin insisted on contacting Darlan, and Murphy was unable to persuade either to side with the Allies. In the early morning, the Gendarmerie arrived and released Juin and Darlan.
) alongside de Gaulle's Free French Forces, the British 1st Army and the US II Corps for six months until April, 1943. Using antiquated equipment, they took heavy casualties - 16,000 - against modern armour of the German enemy.
The Operation Pugilist
involves the Free French Flying Column (X Corps (United Kingdom)
, British Eighth Army under General Sir Bernard Montgomery) and Leclerc's Force (2nd Division (New Zealand)).
France had fallen, her empire in tatters, but her flag still flew from the isolated but strategically important ex-Italian fort of El Tag which dominated the Kufra oasis in Southern Libya. Free France had struck a blow, a beginning in the campaign to recapture France and defeat the Axis
.
Colonel Leclerc and the intrepid Lt Col d'Ornano (commander of French Forces in Chad
), on the orders of de Gaulle in London, were tasked with attacking Italian positions in Libya with the motley forces at their disposal in Chad which had declared for Free France. Kufra was the obvious target. The task of striking at the heavily defended oasis at Kufra was made all the more difficult by the use of inadequate transport to cross sand dunes and the rocky Fech Fech
, considered to be impassable to vehicles.
Fortunately for the French, assistance was received from Major Clayton
of the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG), who was keen to join with the Free French to test the Italians. Clayton had under his command G (Guards) and T (New Zealand) patrols, a total of seventy-six men in twenty-six vehicles.
In order to assist in the attack against Kufra, a raid was mounted against the airfield at the oasis of Murzuk
, capital of the Fezzan
region of Libya. Ten Free French (three officers, two sergeants and five native soldiers) under d'Ornano met with Clayton's LRDG patrols on January 6, 1941 at Kayouge. The combined force reached Murzuk on January 11. In a daring daylight raid, they surprised the sentries and swept through the oasis, devastating the base. The majority of the force attacked the main fort, while a troop from T patrol under Lieutenant Ballantyne engaged the airfield defences, destroying three Caproni
aircraft and capturing a number of prisoners.
The success of the raid was tempered by the loss of a T patrol member and the intrepid d'Ornano. Another wounded French officer cauterised his leg wound with his own cigarette, much to the admiration of the LRDG. A diversionary raid by mounted Mehariste
s Colonial
Cavalry
failed after it was betrayed by local guides, prompting Leclerc to relegate these troops to recon duties only.
After the success of the Murzuk raid, Leclerc, who had assumed overall command, marshalled his forces to take on Kufra itself. Intelligence indicated that the Oasis was defended by two defensive lines based around the El Tag fort which included barbed wire, trenches, machine guns and light AA defences. The garrison was thought to comprise a battalion of Askaris (Colonial Infantry) under Colonel Leo, plus supporting troops.
In addition to the static defences, the oasis was defended by La Compania Sahariana de Cufra, a specialist mobile force and the forerunner of the famous "Sahariana" companies of the mid war period. The company was composed of desert veterans crewing various Fiat
and Lancia
trucks equipped with HMGs and 20 mm AA weapons, together with some armoured cars. The company also had the support of its own air arm to assist in long range reconnaissance and ground attack.
Leclerc could not pinpoint the Saharianas, so he tasked the LRDG with the job of hunting them down and robbing the defenders of their mobile reserve.
Unfortunately for the LRDG, a radio intercept unit at Kufra picked up their radio traffic and they were spotted from the air. The defenders had been on their guard since Murzuk.
G patrol had been kept in reserve and Major Clayton was leading T patrol, 30 men in 11 trucks.
The patrol was at Bishara
on the morning of January 31 when an Italian aircraft appeared overhead.
The trucks scattered and made for some hills, and the plane flew away without attacking them. The patrol took cover among some rocks in a small wadi
at Gebel Sherif
and camouflaged the trucks, before preparing to have lunch. The plane returned and circled over the wadi, where it directed a patrol of the Auto-Saharan Company to intercept the Long Range Desert Group
(LRDG).
During fierce fighting, the LRDG patrol came off second best to superior Italian fire power and constant air attack. After severe losses, the surviving seven trucks of the patrol were forced to withdraw, leaving behind their commanding officer, who was captured along with several others. Other survivors embarked on epic journeys to seek safety. After this reverse, the LRDG force was forced to withdraw and refit, leaving Leclerc the services of one LRDG vehicle from T patrol crucially equipped for desert navigation.
Leclerc pressed on with his attack, in spite of losing a copy of his plan to the enemy with the capture of Major Clayton. After conducting further reconnaissance
, Leclerc reorganized his forces on February 16. He abandoned his two armoured cars and took with him the remaining serviceable artillery piece, a crucial decision.
On the 17th, Leclerc's forces brushed with the Saharianas and despite a disparity in fire power were able to drive them off, as the Kufra garrison failed to intervene.
Following this, El Tag was surrounded, despite a further attack from the Saharan's and harassment from the air, the French laid siege to the fort. The lone 75 mm gun was placed 3000m from the fort, beyond range of the defences and accurately delivered 20 shells per day at regular intervals.
Despite having superior numbers, Italian resolve faltered. Negotiations to surrender began on February 28 and finally on March 1, 1941 the Free French captured El Tag and with it, the oasis at Kufra.
The Battle of Bir Hakeim was fought between the Afrika Korps
and the Free French
Brigade, with support from the British 7th Armoured Division
. The German commander was Generaloberst Erwin Rommel
and the French commander was General
Marie Pierre Koenig
. The outnumbered Free French Brigade heroically resisted for sixteen days. It allowed the Allied Forces to regroup and prepare for the battle of El Alamein
.
The Germans attacked Bir Hakeim on May 26, 1942. Over the next two weeks, the Luftwaffe
flew 1,400 sorties against the defences, whilst 4 German/Italian divisions attacked. On June 2, 3, and 5, the German forces requested that Koenig surrender, he refused and launched counter attacks with his Bren gun carriers
. Despite the explosion of the defences ammunition
dump, the French continued to fight using ammunition brought in by British armoured cars during the night. Meanwhile, the Royal Air Force
dropped water and other supplies.
On June 9, the British Eighth Army authorized a retreat and during the night of June 10/June 11 the defenders of Bir Hakeim escaped.
Subordinate units of the defending 1st Free French Brigade were:
The Battle of Dakar
, also known as Operation Menace, was an unsuccessful attempt by the Allies
to capture the strategic port of Dakar
in French West Africa
(modern-day Senegal
), which was under Vichy French control, and to install the Free French under General Charles de Gaulle there.
De Gaulle believed that he could persuade the Vichy French forces in Dakar to join the Allied cause. There were several advantages to this; not only the political consequences if another Vichy French colonies changed sides, but also more practical advantages, such as the fact that the gold reserves of the Banque de France
and the Polish government in exile
were stored in Dakar and, militarily, the better location of the port of Dakar for protecting the convoys sailing around Africa than Freetown
, the base the Allies were using.
It was decided to send a naval force of an aircraft carrier
, two battleship
s (of World War I vintage), four cruiser
s and ten destroyer
s to Dakar. Several transports, would transport the 8,000 troops. Their orders were first to try and negotiate with the Vichy French governor, but if this was unsuccessful, to take the city by force.
The Vichy French forces present at Dakar were led by a battleship, the Richelieu, one of the most advanced in the French fleet. It had left Brest on the June 18 before the Germans reached it. Richelieu was then only about 95% complete. Before the establishment of the Vichy government, , an aircraft carrier, had been operating with the French forces in Dakar. Once the Vichy regime was in power, Hermes left port but remained on watch, and was joined by the Australian heavy cruiser
. Planes from Hermes had attacked the Richelieu, and had struck it once with a torpedo. The French ship was immobilised but was able to function as a floating gun battery. Three Vichy submarines and several lighter ships were also at Dakar. A force of three cruisers (Gloire, Georges Leygues, and Montcalm) and three destroyers had left Toulon
for Dakar just a few days earlier. The Gloire was slowed by mechanical troubles, and was intercepted by Australia and ordered to sail for Casablanca. The other two cruisers and the destroyers outran the pursuing Allied cruisers and had reached Dakar safely.
On September 23, the Fleet Air Arm
dropped propaganda
leaflets on the city. Free French aircraft flew off from Ark Royal and landed at the airport, but the crews were taken prisoner. A boat with representatives of de Gaulle entered the port but were fired upon. At 10:00, Vichy French ships trying to leave the port were given warning shots from Australia. The ships returned to port but the coastal forts opened fire on Australia. This led to an engagement between the battleships and cruisers and the forts. In the afternoon, Australia intercepted and fired on the Vichy destroyer L'Audacieux, setting it on fire and causing it to be beached.
In the afternoon, an attempt was made to set Free French troops ashore on a beach at Rufisque
, to the north east of Dakar, but they came under heavy fire from strong points defending the beach. De Gaulle declared he did not want to "shed the blood of Frenchmen for Frenchmen" and the attack was called off.
During the next two days, the Allied fleet attacked the coastal defences, as the Vichy French tried to prevent them. Two Vichy French submarines were sunk, and a destroyer damaged. After the Allied fleet also took heavy damage (both battleships and two cruisers were damaged), they withdrew, leaving Dakar and French West Africa in Vichy French hands.
The effects of the Allied failure were mostly political. De Gaulle had believed that he would be able to persuade the Vichy French at Dakar to change sides, but this turned out not to be the case, which damaged his standing with the Allies.
, in November 1940, was a successful attempt to rally the French african colony.
), fought Italian troops in their colonies of Ethiopia
and Eritrea
, and Vichy French Forces of French Somaliland
.
under General Henri Dentz
during the Allied campaign set in French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon.
during Allied Operation Ironclad. The Madagascar governor surrender on November 1942.
The United States Chief of Staff also formally restricted the Allied support to French Indochina, 14th USAAF Commander Claire Lee Chennault
(a French-American) wrote in his memoirs the now famous statement: « I carried out my orders to the letter but I did not relish the idea of leaving Frenchmen to be slaughtered in the jungle while I was forced officially to ignore their plight ». Ten years later Chennault supplied the bessieged French garrison fighting the outnumbering communist Viet-Minh at the Siege of Dien Bien Phu through his CIA-owned Civil Air Transport
; at the cost of the first American casualty in Vietnam.
In contrast, the British, who trained the first C.L.I./Gaurs supported French Indochina through its Force 136
, flew aerial supply missions for the airborne commandos, delivering tommy gun
s, mortar
and grenades all the way from their Calcutta base.
and fought the Japanese troops occupying the French colonies of Indochina (Vietnam
, Laos
, Cambodia
). The Gaur Polaire ("polar") codename of Captain Ayrolles's commando unit dropped in the Traninh in order to prepare the arrival of the C.L.I., however they were taken by surprise by the Japanese coup de force of March 9, 1945 and Cpt. Ayrolles changed the original plan to a sabotage operation. The Gaur Polaire blowed eight bridges on the RC 7 (route coloniale 7), assaulted Japanese detachments and convoys, blowed airstrip holds and storages of the Khan Kai camp and also destructed a fuel and vehicles storage. A Japanese battalion was sent after them, without success. The results of this operation was the Japanese entry in Luang Prabang
was delayed for around three weeks.
On March 17, 1945, Captain Cortadellas's Gaur K is dropped at Dien Bien Phu
(area of the famous siege
in the Indochina War (1946–1954). At French Commander Marcel Alessandri's request, Gaur K, supported by 80 remaining legionnaires from the 3/5th REI (Régiment Étranger d'Infanterie), was sent to the arrière-garde of the Alessandri column retreating to China for hundreds kilometers of tracks in the high region. Battles ensued on April 11 at Houei Houn, April 15 at Muong Koua, April 21 at Boun Tai and April 22 at Muong Yo.
On October 9, 1945, Gaur Détachement C infiltrates Cambodia, restored French colonial administration and staged a discrete coup d'état to resume the King of Cambodia's rule.
Gaurs roles were guerrilla warfare and the creation and training of Mèo
and Thai
local commandos. Following World War II, the GCMA
French airborne commandos, servicing in the Indochina War, were created after the gaurs (C.L.I.) which were themselves created after the British Chindits
special forces.
Another French special operations force secretly fought the Japanese in French Indochina. These were forty former French Jedburgh
volunteers who embarked at Glascow with layover at Port Said
, Bombay and Colombo
, and gathered in a camp at Ceylon on November 1944. Notable Force 136 members dropped in Laos during 1945 are French Colonels Jean Deuve (January 22), Jean Le Morillon (February 28) and Jean Sassi
(June 4).
Local resistance was headed by General Eugène Mordant.
French Third Republic
The French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...
(established in Paris then Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
), and the period from 1940 until 1945, which was marked by mainland and overseas military administration and influence struggles for the French colonies (under the command of Admiral François Darlan
François Darlan
Jean Louis Xavier François Darlan was a French naval officer. His great-grandfather was killed at the Battle of Trafalgar...
) between the French State
French state
The French state may refer to:*The Republic of France *Vichy France, 'French state' was the official name of the regime first directed by Philippe Pétain, explicitly opposed to the French Republic...
under Marshal 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...
(Vichy
Vichy
Vichy is a commune in the department of Allier in Auvergne in central France. It belongs to the historic province of Bourbonnais.It is known as a spa and resort town and was the de facto capital of Vichy France during the World War II Nazi German occupation from 1940 to 1944.The town's inhabitants...
then Sigmaringen
Sigmaringen
Sigmaringen is a town in southern Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Situated on the upper Danube, it is the capital of the Sigmaringen district....
), the Free French Forces
Free French Forces
The Free French Forces were French partisans in World War II who decided to continue fighting against the forces of the Axis powers after the surrender of France and subsequent German occupation and, in the case of Vichy France, collaboration with the Germans.-Definition:In many sources, Free...
under General Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles 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....
(London) and the Army of Africa
Army of Africa (France)
The Army of Africa was an unofficial but commonly used term for those portions of the French Army recruited from or normally stationed in French North Africa from 1830 until the end of the Algerian War in 1962.-Composition:...
under General Henri Giraud
Henri Giraud
Henri Honoré Giraud was a French general who fought in World War I and World War II. Captured in both wars, he escaped each time....
(Algiers
French Algeria
French Algeria lasted from 1830 to 1962, under a variety of governmental systems. From 1848 until independence, the whole Mediterranean region of Algeria was administered as an integral part of France, much like Corsica and Réunion are to this day. The vast arid interior of Algeria, like the rest...
). In August 1943, de Gaulle and Giraud forces merged in a single chain of command subordinated to US-British leadership, meanwhile opposing French forces on the Eastern front
Eastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...
were subordinated to Soviet or German leaderships. This in-exile French force together with the French Forces of the Interior
French Forces of the Interior
The French Forces of the Interior refers to French resistance fighters in the later stages of World War II. Charles de Gaulle used it as a formal name for the resistance fighters. The change in designation of these groups to FFI occurred as France's status changed from that of an occupied nation...
(FFI) played a variable-scale role in the eventual Liberation of France by the Western Allies
Western Allies
The Western Allies were a political and geographic grouping among the Allied Powers of the Second World War. It generally includes the United Kingdom and British Commonwealth, the United States, France and various other European and Latin American countries, but excludes China, the Soviet Union,...
and the termination of Fascist Italy
Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
, Vichy France
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
, Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
and the Japanese empire
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
.
France, along with the United Kingdom, was one of the first participants in World War II after declaring war on Germany following its invasion of Poland
Invasion of Poland (1939)
The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...
in 1939. After the Phoney War from 1939 to 1940, the Germans conducted a brilliant campaign in the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
and, in the Battle of France
Battle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
, managed to inflict defeat on the Allied forces. France formally surrendered to Germany and Italy—who invaded late in the campaign—on 25 June 1940, and a collaborationist government, the French State, was established. On 18 June 1940, as an answer to Pétain's own June 17 appeal to "cease the fight" and to obey him on the French national radio, Charles de Gaulle gave a memorable speech to the French people on the English speaking London emitting BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
Radio, telling them that "France has lost a battle, but France has not lost the war" (the battle of France and World War II respectively). De Gaulle did not recognize the legitimacy of the Vichy government and went on to found the Free France (La France Libre) as the true government of France.
The number of Free French troops grew with Allied success in North Africa and subsequent rallying of the Army of Africa which pursued the fight against the Axis fighting in many campaigns and eventually invading Italy, occupied France and Germany from 1944 to 1945. On 23 October 1944, Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union officially recognized de Gaulle's regime as the provisional government of France (GPRF) which replaced the in-exile French State (relocated at Sigmarigen, a short-living City State in western Germany) and preceded the Fourth Republic
French Fourth Republic
The French Fourth Republic was the republican government of France between 1946 and 1958, governed by the fourth republican constitution. It was in many ways a revival of the Third Republic, which was in place before World War II, and suffered many of the same problems...
(1946).
Recruitment in liberated France led to notable enlargements of the French armies. By the end of the war in Europe in May 1945, France had 1,250,000 troops, 10 divisions of which were fighting in Germany. An expeditionary corps was created to liberate French Indochina
French Indochina
French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....
then occupied by the Japanese. During the course of the war, French military losses totaled 212,000 dead, of which 92,000 were killed through the end of the campaign of 1940, 58,000 from 1940 to 1945 in other campaigns, 24,000 lost while serving in the French resistance
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...
, and a further 38,000 lost while serving with the German Army.
Among the odd aspects of French military history in the war were limited French participation in the Normandy beach landings
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
of June 1944 (Free French SAS
1er Bataillon de Fusiliers Marins Commandos
1er Bataillon de Fusiliers Marins Commandos was a Fusiliers Marins commando unit of the Free French Navy which served during the Second World War...
of Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
Philippe Kieffer
Philippe Kieffer
Philippe Kieffer , capitaine de frégate in the French Navy, was a French officer and political personality, and a hero of the Free French Forces.- Life and career :...
) and the presence of French SS among the defenders of Berlin in May 1945 (33rd SS Division
33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne (1st French)
The 33. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS Charlemagne and Charlemagne Regiment are collective names used for units of French volunteers in the Wehrmacht and later Waffen-SS during World War II...
commanded by Hauptsturmführer
Hauptsturmführer
Hauptsturmführer was a Nazi rank of the SS which was used between the years of 1934 and 1945. The rank of Hauptsturmführer was a mid-grade company level officer and was the equivalent of a Captain in the German Army and also the equivalent of captain in foreign armies...
Henri Fenet
Henri Joseph Fenet
Henri Joseph Fenet was a soldier during World War II who was awarded both the Croix de Guerre by France, and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross by Germany.-French service:...
).
Military forces of France during World War II
France had several regular and irregular army forces during World War II; this was partially due to a major geopolitical change. Following the lost Battle of FranceBattle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
in 1940, the country switched from a democratic republican regime fighting with the Allies to an authoritarian regime collaborating with Germany and opposing the Allies in several campaigns. These complex opposing forces called, in a simplistic manner, Vichy French forces and Free French forces. They fought battles all over the world from 1940 to 1945, and sometimes fighting against each other. These forces were composite, made of rebel factions and colonial troops; France was then a world powerful colonial empire, only second to the British empire.
The military participation of the French ground armies, navies and air forces on the Allied side in each theater of World War II (1939–1945) before, during and after the Battle of France, even though it was on various degrees, secured France's acknowledgment as a World War II victor and allowed its evasion from the US-planned AMGOT; even though after World War II USAF bases were maintained in France
United States Air Force In France
During the early years of the Cold War, the United States Air Force deployed thousands of personnel and hundreds of combat aircraft to France to counter the buildup of Soviet forces in Eastern Europe....
until their evacuation in 1967, due to de Gaulle's rejection of NATO. As a result, Free French General François Sevez
François Sevez
François Sevez was a French general during World War II. Sevez was present at the German surrender in Rheims, and signed the German Instrument of Surrender as the official witness.-Military career:...
signed the first German Instrument of Surrender as witness on 7 May 1945 (Reims
Reims
Reims , a city in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France, lies east-northeast of Paris. Founded by the Gauls, it became a major city during the period of the Roman Empire....
, France) French 1st Army General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny
Jean de Lattre de Tassigny
Jean Joseph Marie Gabriel de Lattre de Tassigny, GCB, MC was a French military hero of World War II and commander in the First Indochina War.-Early life:...
signed the second declaration on 8 May 1945 (Berlin, Germany), also as witness, and French General Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque
Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque
Philippe François Marie, comte de Hauteclocque, then Leclerc de Hauteclocque, by a 1945 decree that incorporated his French Resistance alias Jacques-Philippe Leclerc to his name, , was a French general during World War II...
signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender
Japanese Instrument of Surrender
The Japanese Instrument of Surrender was the written agreement that enabled the Surrender of Japan, marking the end of World War II. It was signed by representatives from the Empire of Japan, the United States of America, the Republic of China, the United Kingdom, the Union of Soviet Socialist...
on behalf of the Provisional Government of the French Republic
Provisional Government of the French Republic
The Provisional Government of the French Republic was an interim government which governed France from 1944 to 1946, following the fall of Vichy France and prior to the Fourth French Republic....
on 15 August 1945 (Tokyo bay
Tokyo Bay
is a bay in the southern Kantō region of Japan. Its old name was .-Geography:Tokyo Bay is surrounded by the Bōsō Peninsula to the east and the Miura Peninsula to the west. In a narrow sense, Tokyo Bay is the area north of the straight line formed by the on the Miura Peninsula on one end and on...
, Japan).
The complex and ambiguous situation of France from 1939 to 1945, since its military forces fought on both sides under French, British, German, Soviet, US or without uniform, - often subordinated to Allied or Axis command - raised some critics vis-à-vis its actual role and allegiance, much like with Sweden, during World War II
Sweden during World War II
Sweden during World War II maintained a policy of neutrality. When the Second World War began on September 1, 1939, the fate of Sweden was unclear...
.
French Republic Army (1939-1940)
The French Army was commanded by Gamelin and had its HQ in Paris, capital of the Third Republic.French State Army (1940-1944)
Operation Torch
Operation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign, started on 8 November 1942....
) and Allied allegiance of the colonial French Army of Africa. Beside its regular limited armistice army, the French State created irregular forces in order to fight the French Resistance and inner/outer communists; both considered enemies by Vichy and the German authorities.
Legion of French Volunteers
French Legion of Fighters
The Légion Française des Combattants ("French Legion of Fighters") was the French State's first paramilitary force, created in 29 August 1940 by Xavier Vallat
Xavier Vallat
Xavier Vallat , French politician, was Commissioner-General for Jewish Questions in the wartime Vichy collaborationist government, and was sentenced after World War II to ten years in prison for his part in the persecution of French Jews.- Until World War II :Vallat was born in the department of...
.
French Legion of Fighters and Volunteers of the National Revolution
On 19 November 1941, the force changed its name to Légion française des combattants et des volontaires de la Révolution nationale ("French Legion of Fighters and Volunteers of the National Revolution"). The National Revolution
Révolution nationale
The Révolution nationale was the official ideological name under which the Vichy regime established by Marshal Philippe Pétain in July 1940 presented its program...
was the French State's official ideology.
Legion of French Volunteers against Bolshevism
Tricolore Legion (1941-1942)
The Légion Tricolore ("tricolore legion") was created by Pierre Laval
Pierre Laval
Pierre Laval was a French politician. He was four times President of the council of ministers of the Third Republic, twice consecutively. Following France's Armistice with Germany in 1940, he served twice in the Vichy Regime as head of government, signing orders permitting the deportation of...
and Jacques Benoist-Méchin
Jacques Benoist-Méchin
Jacques Benoist-Méchin was a French far right politician and writer.Although active as both a writer and rightist political figure he did not fully come to prominence until the German occupation of France during World War II, which was somewhat welcomed by the Germanophile...
on summer 1941 and was disbanded on autumn 1942.
French Milice (1943-1944)
Milice
The Milice française , generally called simply Milice, was a paramilitary force created on January 30, 1943 by the Vichy Regime, with German aid, to help fight the French Resistance. The Milice's formal leader was Prime Minister Pierre Laval, though its chief of operations, and actual leader, was...
, ("militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
") was a Vichy French paramilitary
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
force created on 30 January 1943 by the French State for service as auxiliary of the German occupation army; hunting down the French Resistance
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...
maquisards
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...
. Its commander was Joseph Darnand
Joseph Darnand
Joseph Darnand was a French soldier and later a leader of the Vichy French collaborators with Nazi Germany....
a battle of France veteran and volunteer; he took an oath of loyalty to Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
in October 1943 and received a rank of Sturmbannführer
Sturmbannführer
Sturmbannführer was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party equivalent to major, used both in the Sturmabteilung and the Schutzstaffel...
(Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
) in the Waffen SS. By 1944, the French Milice had over 35,000 members.
Legionnaire Order Service (1940-1943)
The French Milice originated as French Legion Volunteer's shock unit called Service d'Ordre Légionnaire (SOL).
Paramilitary forces (1940-1944)
Just like the Vichy police agents, the national police forces collaborated with the German authorities, the French Youth Workings alumni had to claim allegiance to Marshal Pétain with a serment. The gesture was the Nazi saluteNazi salute
The Nazi salute, or Hitler salute , was a gesture of greeting in Nazi Germany usually accompanied by saying, Heil Hitler! ["Hail Hitler!"], Heil, mein Führer ["Hail, my leader!"], or Sieg Heil! ["Hail victory!"]...
while saying «Je le jure !» ("I swear it !") instead of cheering Hitler.
French Youth Workings (1940-1944)
The Chantiers de la jeunesse française ("French youth workings") were a paramilitary youth organization created in 30 July 1940 by ex-Scout Movement-Chief General Joseph de La Porte du Theil (42nd Infantry Division) as a substitute to the French army conscription
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
(draft). Its members were under Vichy army officers and dressed with military uniforms similar to those of the French Milice (béret
Beret
A beret is a soft, round, flat-crowned hat, designated a "cap", usually of woven, hand-knitted wool, crocheted cotton, or wool felt, or acrylic fiber....
included) and had to claim allegiance to Marshal Pétain with an arm salute.
The French Youth Workings were available in all French departments which it means they were also in those of French Algeria and apply to European settlers and Muslim locals. However, Lieutenant-Colonel van Hecke advised La Porte du Theil to reject the young Jews, and so they were not anymore in the French Youth Workings by decree in 15 July 1942; twenty-four hours before the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup.
In November 1942, La Porte du Theil and van Hecke were both in French Algeria when the Allied invasion of Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
and Oran
Oran
Oran is a major city on the northwestern Mediterranean coast of Algeria, and the second largest city of the country.It is the capital of the Oran Province . The city has a population of 759,645 , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately 1,500,000, making it the second largest...
took place. The first, loyal to Pétain, flew to metropolitan France, while the second sided on the Free French side and joined Henri Giraud's Army of Africa. Local French Youth Workings became units of this military force, the most famous being the 7e régiment de chasseurs d'Afrique, 7e RCA (7th Africa Chasers Regiment) created in 1943 and fighting the Italian, French and German Allied campaigns from 1944 to 1945 as hinted by its battle flag; e.g. the 1944 Battle of Monte Cassino
Battle of Monte Cassino
The Battle of Monte Cassino was a costly series of four battles during World War II, fought by the Allies against Germans and Italians with the intention of breaking through the Winter Line and seizing Rome.In the beginning of 1944, the western half of the Winter Line was being anchored by Germans...
(Garigliano), Operation Dragoon
Operation Dragoon
Operation Dragoon was the Allied invasion of southern France on August 15, 1944, during World War II. The invasion was initiated via a parachute drop by the 1st Airborne Task Force, followed by an amphibious assault by elements of the U.S. Seventh Army, followed a day later by a force made up...
(Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
) and the 1945 invasion of Germany (Württemberg
Württemberg
Württemberg , formerly known as Wirtemberg or Wurtemberg, is an area and a former state in southwestern Germany, including parts of the regions Swabia and Franconia....
). The famous battle song Le Chant des Africains
Le Chant des Africains
"Le Chant des Africains" is the unofficial anthem of the Pied-noir community in France and her former colonies in Africa.-World War I:...
version 1943 is dedicated to Lt.Col. van Hecke and his 7e RCA.
Reserve Mobile Group (1941-1944)
The Reserve Mobile Group (Groupe mobile de réserve, GMR) was a paramilitary force of the French State created by Vichy French René Bousquet
René Bousquet
René Bousquet was a high-ranking French civil servant, who served as secretary general to the Vichy regime police from May 1942 to 31 December 1943.-Biography:...
. It was a police version of the Mobile Gendarmerie
Mobile Gendarmerie
The Mobile Gendarmerie is a subdivision of the French Gendarmerie. The Mobile Gendarmerie is the inheritor of the traditions of the gendarmerie's historic infantry component. Specific anti-riot units of the Gendarmerie date back to the beginning of the 19th century...
that served as French Milice and German army auxiliary during battles against the French Resistance's maquisards. In December 1944, the GMRs were disbanded, with selected members joining the FFI, and replaced with the CRS Riot Police
Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité
The Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité are the riot control forces and general reserve of the French National Police. The CRS were created on 8 December 1944 and the first units were organised by 31 January 1945. The CRS were reorganized in 1948...
.
French Gestapo (1941-1944)
Some Vichy French joined Hermann Göring
Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring, was a German politician, military leader, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. He was a veteran of World War I as an ace fighter pilot, and a recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite, also known as "The Blue Max"...
's 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...
(Sicherheitspolizei
Sicherheitspolizei
The Sicherheitspolizei , often abbreviated as SiPo, was a term used in Nazi Germany to describe the state political and criminal investigation security agencies. It was made up by the combined forces of the Gestapo and the Kripo between 1936 and 1939...
) secret state police which was a branch of the paramilitary Allgemeine SS
Allgemeine SS
The Allgemeine SS was the most numerous branch of the Schutzstaffel paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany. It was managed by the SS-Hauptamt...
under Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
. It was active during the occupation as its two main roles were to seek out French Jews and to fight the French Resistance in collaboration with the Vichy police's Special Brigades
Special Brigades
During the Second World War, the Special Brigades were a French police force specialising in tracking down "internal enemies" , dissidents, escaped prisoners, Jews and those evading the STO...
and the German military police of France called Geheime Feldpolizei
Geheime Feldpolizei
The ' or GFP, was the secret military police of the German Wehrmacht until the end of Second World War. These units were used to carry out plain-clothed security work in the field such as counter-espionage, counter sabotage, detection of treasonable activities, counter-propaganda and to provide...
.
Carlingue
Carlingue
The French Gestapo or Carlingue was the name given to French auxiliaries of the Gestapo, based at 93, rue Lauriston in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, and active between 1941 and 1944...
was the name of the French Gestapo, it was headed by Henri Lafont
Henri Lafont
Henri Lafont, real name Henri Chamberlin was the head of the French Gestapo during the German occupation in World War II.-Sources:*Magazine Historia Hors Série n°26 1972 by Fabrice Laroche...
and Pierre Loutrel
Pierre Loutrel
Pierre Loutrel , better known by his nickname of "Pierrot le fou" was France's first "public enemy number one" and one of the leaders of the Gang des tractions.-Life:...
. A famous Vichy French agent of the Gestapo was Scharführer
Scharführer
Scharführer was a Nazi Party title that was used by several paramilitary organizations from 1925 to 1945. Translated as “Squad Leader”, the title of Scharführer can trace its origins to the First World War, where a Scharführer was often a Sergeant or Corporal who commanded special action or shock...
-SS Pierre Paoli who served in central France, Cher department; Paoli subsequently applied for German nationality.
French SS (1942-1945)
8th Sturmbrigade SS Frankreich (1943-1944)
The 8th Sturmbrigade SS Frankreich ("French assault brigade") was created in 1943. Surviving troops were incorporated to the 286th Security Division
286th Security Division (Germany)
The 286th Security Division was a German military formation which fought in World War II.-History and organisation:The 286th Security Division was formed on 15 March 1941 around elements of the 213th Infantry Division...
in 1944.
33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne (1943-1945)
The French State's distinct forces L.V.F. and French Milice merged to become a full division of the German army. The division's name is a reference to the Frankish
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
emperor Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
who has common French and German roots.
The African Phalange (1942-1943)
La Phalange Africaine was created in November 1942 in French Tunisia to fight against the Allied, Free French and Army of Africa after Operation Torch. This unit was under Lieutenant-colonel Christian du Jonchay, Lieutenant-colonel Pierre Simon Cristofini and Captain André Dupuis, its nicknames alternative designations were Französische Freiwilligen Legion ("Legion of French Volunteers") or Compagnie Frankonia ("Frankonia company).North-African Legion (1944)
The Légion nord-africaine, LNA, or Brigade nord-africaine, BNA was a paramilitary force created by French Gestapo agent Henri Lafont and Muslim Algerian nationalist Mohamed el-Maadi. This unit was made of Parisians of Arab and Kabyle ancestry.Free French Forces (1940-1945)
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...
(also called « soldiers without uniform »).
De Gaulle's appeals on the BBC (June 1940)
General Charles de Gaulle was a member of the French cabinetCabinet (government)
A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...
during the Battle of France
Battle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
, in 1940. As French defence forces were increasingly overwhelmed, de Gaulle found himself part of a group of politicians who argued against a negotiated surrender to Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
and Fascist Italy
Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
. These views being shared by the President of the Council, 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...
, de Gaulle was sent as an emissary to the United Kingdom, where he was when the French government collapsed.
On the 18 of June, de Gaulle spoke to the French people via BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
radio. He asked French soldiers, sailors and airmen to join in the fight against the Nazis. In France, De Gaulle's "Appeal of June the 18th
Appeal of June 18
The Appeal of 18 June was a famous speech by Charles de Gaulle, the leader of the Free French Forces, in 1940. The appeal is often considered to be the origin of the French Resistance to the German occupation during World War II. De Gaulle spoke to the French people from London after the fall of...
" (Appel du 18 juin) was not widely heard, but subsequent discourse by de Gaulle could be heard nationwide. Some of the British Cabinet had attempted to block the speech, but were over-ruled by Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
. To this day, the Appeal of June 18 remains one of the most famous speeches in French history. Nevertheless, on 22 June, Pétain signed the surrender and became leader of the new regime known as Vichy France. (Vichy
Vichy
Vichy is a commune in the department of Allier in Auvergne in central France. It belongs to the historic province of Bourbonnais.It is known as a spa and resort town and was the de facto capital of Vichy France during the World War II Nazi German occupation from 1940 to 1944.The town's inhabitants...
is the French town where the government was based.)
De Gaulle was tried in absentia in Vichy France and sentenced to death for treason and desertion; he, on the other hand, regarded himself as the last remaining member of the legitimate Reynaud government able to exercise power, seeing the rise to power of Pétain as an unconstitutional coup.
Free French government-in-exile at London (1941-1943)
In September 1941, de Gaulle created the Comité National Français (CNF; French National Committee), the Free French government-in-exile. On 24 November of that year, the United States granted Lend-LeaseLend-Lease
Lend-Lease was the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of war in Europe in...
support to the CNF.
Cross of Lorraine
Ranks in the French Navy
The rank insignia of the French Navy are worn on shoulder straps of shirts and white jackets, and on sleeves for navy jackets and mantels....
Thierry d'Argenlieu suggested the adoption of the Cross of Lorraine
Cross of Lorraine
The Cross of Lorraine is originally a heraldic cross. The two-barred cross consists of a vertical line crossed by two smaller horizontal bars. In the ancient version, both bars were of the same length. In 20th century use it is "graded" with the upper bar being the shortest...
as symbol of the Free French, both to recall the perseverance of Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc
Saint Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" , is a national heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. A peasant girl born in eastern France who claimed divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, which paved the way for the...
, whose symbol it had been, and as an answer to the nazi cross.
In his general order number 2 of 3 July 1940, Vice-Admiral Émile Muselier
Émile Muselier
Emile Henry Muselier was a French admiral who led the Free French Naval Forces during World War II. He was responsible for the idea of distinguishing his fleet from that of Vichy France by adopting the Cross of Lorraine, which later became the emblem of all of the Free French...
, chief of the naval and air forces of the Free French, created the bow flag displaying the French colours with a red cross of Lorraine, and a cocarde also featuring the cross of Lorraine.
Despite repeated broadcasts on the English speaking Britain-based BBC radio, by the end of July that year, only 7,000 people had volunteered to join the Free French forces. The Free French Navy had fifty ships and some 3,700 men operating as an auxiliary force to the British Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
.
A monument on Lyle Hill in Greenock, in the shape of the Cross of Lorraine combined with an anchor, was raised by subscription as a memorial to the Free French naval vessels which sailed from the Firth of Clyde
Firth of Clyde
The Firth of Clyde forms a large area of coastal water, sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre peninsula which encloses the outer firth in Argyll and Ayrshire, Scotland. The Kilbrannan Sound is a large arm of the Firth of Clyde, separating the Kintyre Peninsula from the Isle of Arran.At...
to take part in the Battle of the Atlantic
Second Battle of the Atlantic
The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, running from 1939 to the defeat of Germany in 1945. At its core was the Allied naval blockade of Germany, announced the day after the declaration of war, and Germany's subsequent counter-blockade. It was at its...
, and is also locally associated with the memory of the loss of the Maillé Brézé which blew up at the Tail of the Bank
Tail of the Bank
The Tail of the Bank is the name given to the anchorage in the upper Firth of Clyde immediately north of Greenock and Gourock. This area of the firth gets its name from the sandbar immediately to its east which marks the entrance to the estuary of the River Clyde.The Tail of the Bank was a...
.
French SAS (1942-45)
On 15 September 1940, Free French Captain Georges BergéGeorges Bergé
Georges Roger Pierre Bergé was a French Army general who served during World War II. He enlisted in the Free French Forces, where he took command of the 1re compagnie de chasseurs parachutistes . He is mentioned by David Stirling as one of the co-founders of the Special Air Service...
created the airbone unit called 1re compagnie de l'air, 1re CIA (1st Air Company) in Great Britain. This unit later known as 1re compagnie de chasseurs parachutistes, 1re CCP (1st Parachute Light Infantry Company) joined the July 1941-created British Special Air Service
Special Air Service
Special Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
airborne unit at David Stirling
David Stirling
Colonel Sir Archibald David Stirling, DSO, DFC, OBE was a Scottish laird, mountaineer, World War II British Army officer, and the founder of the Special Air Service.-Life before the war:...
's demand to Charles de Gaulle in 1942 to become the SAS Brigade's French Squadron. In his biography, Scottish commander Stirling, creator of the SAS, acknowledges Georges Bergé as co-founder of this force:
"I have always felt uneasy in being known as the founder of the Regiment. To ease my conscience I would like it to be recognised that I have five co-founders: Jock LewesJock LewesLieutenant John Steel Lewes, known as Jock was born in Calcutta but grew up in Australia and served as a British officer of the Welsh Guards in World War II...
and 'Paddy' Blair MaynePaddy MayneLieutenant Colonel Robert Blair "Paddy" Mayne DSO & Three Bars was a Northern Irish soldier, solicitor, Ireland rugby union international, amateur boxer, polar explorer and a founding member of the Special Air Service .-Early life and sporting achievements:Robert Blair "Paddy" Mayne was born in...
of the original 'L' Detachment, SAS; Georges Bergé, whose unit of the Free French joined the SAS in June 1942; Brian Franks, who re-established 21 SAS Regiment after the SAS had been disbanded at the end of the Second World War; and John WoodhouseJohn Woodhouse (British Army officer)Lieutenant-Colonel John Michael Woodhouse MBE, MC was a British soldier credited with helping to reform the Special Air Service.-Early years:...
who created the modern 22 SAS Regiment during the Malayan campaignMalayan EmergencyThe Malayan Emergency was a guerrilla war fought between Commonwealth armed forces and the Malayan National Liberation Army , the military arm of the Malayan Communist Party, from 1948 to 1960....
by restoring the Regiment to its original philosophy."
The 3rd SAS (French) and 4th SAS (French) are also known as 1st Airborne Marine Infantry Regiment (1er RPIMa) and 2e régiment de chasseurs parachutistes (2e RCP) respectively. The French SAS World War II battle honor is as following:
- CreteCreteCrete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
1942 - LibyaLibyaLibya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
1942 - South TunisiaTunisiaTunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
1943 - France 1944 (3rd SAS) / 1944-1945 (4th SAS)
- BulgeBattle of the BulgeThe Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
1945 - the NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
1945
Composition (1940-1945)
Free French ForcesFree French Forces
The Free French Forces were French partisans in World War II who decided to continue fighting against the forces of the Axis powers after the surrender of France and subsequent German occupation and, in the case of Vichy France, collaboration with the Germans.-Definition:In many sources, Free...
(Forces Françaises Libres, FFL) comprised 1st Free French Division
1st Free French Division
The 1st Free French Division was one of the principal units of the Free French Forces during World War II, and the first Free French unit of divisional size.-World War II:...
(1re Division Française Libre, 1re DFL), Free French Air Force
Free French Air Force
The Free French Air Force was the air arm of the Free French Forces during the Second World War.-Fighting for Free France — the FAFL in French North Africa :...
(Forces Aériennes Françaises Libres, FAFL), Free French Naval Forces
Free French Naval Forces
Les Forces Navales Françaises Libres were the naval arm of the Free French Forces during the Second World War. They were commanded by Admiral Emile Muselier.- History :...
(Forces Navales Françaises Libres, FNFL), Free French Naval Air Service
Free French Naval Air Service
The Free French Naval Air Service was the air arm of Free French Naval Forces during the Second World War....
(Aéronavale française libre, AFL), Naval Commandos
Naval commandos (France)
The Naval Commandos are the special forces of the French Navy. They are made up of ~500 members, mostly based in northwestern France , with several bases across the country for specific training needs. The Naval Commandos are nicknamed bérets verts . Their qualification training is one of the...
(Commandos de marine), the French Resistance branch called French Forces of the Interior
French Forces of the Interior
The French Forces of the Interior refers to French resistance fighters in the later stages of World War II. Charles de Gaulle used it as a formal name for the resistance fighters. The change in designation of these groups to FFI occurred as France's status changed from that of an occupied nation...
(Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur, FFI), and the intelligence service Central Bureau of Intelligence and Operations
Bureau Central de Renseignements et d'Action
The Bureau Central de Renseignements et d'Action , commonly referred as the BCRA was the World War II-era forerunner of the SDECE, the French intelligence service...
(Bureau Central de Renseignements et d'Action, BCRA), all giving allegiance to General Charles de Gaulle, creator of the Free France (France libre).
Army of Africa (1942-1943)
It was headed by General Henri Giraud and made of mixed European settlers and indigenous colonial forces from the French North Africa, French West Africa
French West Africa
French West Africa was a federation of eight French colonial territories in Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan , French Guinea , Côte d'Ivoire , Upper Volta , Dahomey and Niger...
and French Equatorial Africa
French Equatorial Africa
French Equatorial Africa or the AEF was the federation of French colonial possessions in Middle Africa, extending northwards from the Congo River to the Sahara Desert.-History:...
. Unlike de Gaulle's Free French Forces, Giraud's Army of Africa was massively supplied by the United States through a lend-lease
Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease was the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of war in Europe in...
plan. This newly equipped force enjoying modern US-built material was nicknamed the « Nouvelle armée française » ("New French Army").
Unlike General de Gaulle who claimed authority over France without any real legitimacy, Giraud was the legitimate Commander of the French Forces in North Africa since he received this civil and military charge on 26 December 1942 as (Commandement civil et militaire d'Alger) replacing murdered Vichy French admiral François Darlan
François Darlan
Jean Louis Xavier François Darlan was a French naval officer. His great-grandfather was killed at the Battle of Trafalgar...
.
Torch aftermath
During Operation TorchOperation Torch
Operation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign, started on 8 November 1942....
, the Allied invasion of Vichy-controlled French North Africa in November 1942, many Vichy troops surrendered and joined the Free French cause. Vichy coastal defences were captured by the French Resistance.
Following Operation Torch, Henri Giraud took the head of Army of Africa
Army of Africa (France)
The Army of Africa was an unofficial but commonly used term for those portions of the French Army recruited from or normally stationed in French North Africa from 1830 until the end of the Algerian War in 1962.-Composition:...
a third French force distinct of de Gaulle's Free French Forces and the Vichy French forces.
In response, the 60,000-strong Vichy forces in French North Africa - the Army of Africa - (created in 1830
French conquest of Algeria
The French conquest of Algeria took place between 1830 and 1847. Using an 1827 diplomatic slight by Hussein Dey, the ruler of the Ottoman Regency of Algiers, against its consul as a pretext, France invaded and quickly seized Algiers in 1830, and rapidly took control of other coastal communities...
) joined the Allied side as the French XIX Corps
XIX Corps (France)
The French 19th Army Corps was formed in 1873. Anthony Clayton writes that the title of the 19th Army Corps was given to the Army of Africa in 1873. Antoine Chanzy commanded the corps between 1873 and 1879, at which time the commander also held the post of Governor of Algeria.It was in service...
based in French Algeria
French Algeria
French Algeria lasted from 1830 to 1962, under a variety of governmental systems. From 1848 until independence, the whole Mediterranean region of Algeria was administered as an integral part of France, much like Corsica and Réunion are to this day. The vast arid interior of Algeria, like the rest...
.
Axis retaliations (1942-1943)
The Nazis suspected Vichy determination after Torch and they occupied the southern "free" part of metropolitan France known as Vichy France in November 1942, (Case Anton). Also, the Libya-based LuftwaffeLuftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
performed several bombing in Algiers's harbour and Eastern French Algeria cities (including Annaba
Annaba
Annaba is a city in the northeastern corner of Algeria near the river Seybouse. It is located in Annaba Province. With a population of 257,359 , it is the fourth largest city in Algeria. It is a leading industrial centre in eastern Algeria....
and Jijel
Jijel
Jijel is the capital of Jijel Province in northeastern Algeria. It is flanked by the Mediterranean Sea in the region of Corniche Jijelienne, and has an estimated population of 148,000 inhabitants .Jijel is the administrative and trade centre for a region specializing in cork processing, leather...
).
French Expeditionary Corps (1943-1944)
It was close to TripoliTripoli
Tripoli is the capital and largest city in Libya. It is also known as Western Tripoli , to distinguish it from Tripoli, Lebanon. It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean , describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Tripoli is a Greek name that means "Three...
, Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
, where Leclerc's Free French Forces met Giraud's Army of Africa for the first time, in 1943.
Free French Forces and Army of Africa merger (August 1, 1943)
In November 1943 the French forces received enough military equipment through Lend-Lease to re-equip eight divisions and allow the return of borrowed British equipment. At this point, the Free French forces and Army of Africa were merged to form the French Expeditionary CorpsFrench Expeditionary Corps (1943-1944)
The French Expeditionary Corps , also known as the French Expeditionary Corps in Italy , was an expeditionary force composed of French soldiers that fought in the Italian Campaign during World War II under the command of General Alphonse Juin....
(Corps Expéditionnaire Français, CEF), under General Alphonse Juin
Alphonse Juin
- Early years :Juin was born at Bône in French Algeria, and enlisted in the French Army, graduating from the École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr in 1912.- Career :...
, that would take part in the 1943 Italian Campaign
Italian Campaign (World War II)
The Italian Campaign of World War II was the name of Allied operations in and around Italy, from 1943 to the end of the war in Europe. Joint Allied Forces Headquarters AFHQ was operationally responsible for all Allied land forces in the Mediterranean theatre, and it planned and commanded the...
and the August 1944 invasion in Southern France called Operation Dragoon
Operation Dragoon
Operation Dragoon was the Allied invasion of southern France on August 15, 1944, during World War II. The invasion was initiated via a parachute drop by the 1st Airborne Task Force, followed by an amphibious assault by elements of the U.S. Seventh Army, followed a day later by a force made up...
.
By September 1944, the Free French forces stood at 560,000 (and the FFI at 300,000), which rose to 1 million by the end of 1944, and were fighting in Alsace
Alsace
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 Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
and Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
. By the end of the war in Europe (May 1945), the Free French forces comprised 1,250,000, including seven infantry and three armoured divisions fighting in Germany.
Other Free French units were directly attached to Allied forces including the British SAS, RAF and the Soviet air force.
French Resistance (1940-1945)
Resistance groups (1940-1945)
The earlier French Resistance groups were created in June 1940 following Marshal Pétain's appeal to cease the fight on 17 June, and its subsequent signing of the French-German-Italian armistices in July 1940. There were a myriad of paramalitary groups from various size and political ideology which made difficult its latter unification under a single chain of command. Famous groups included communist Francs Tireurs Partisans, FTP ("Partisan irregular riflemen") and rebel police Honneur de la police ("Honour of the Police").Unification of the Resistance
The French ResistanceFrench 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...
gradually grew in strength. Charles de Gaulle set a plan to bring together the different groups under his leadership. He changed the name of his movement to Forces Françaises Combattantes (Fighting French Forces) and sent 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...
back to France to unite the eight major French Resistance
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...
groups into one organisation. Moulin got their agreement to form the Conseil National de la Résistance (National Council of the Resistance). He was eventually captured, and died under torture.
Creation on paper (1943)
The Forces Expéditionnaires Françaises d'Extrême-Orient (FEFEO) was a French expeditionary corps created on 4 October 1943 to fight in the Asian theatre of World War II and liberate French IndochinaFrench Indochina
French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....
which was still occupied by the Japanese since 1940. Recruiting posters of the FEFEO depicted a US-built M4 Sherman
M4 Sherman
The M4 Sherman, formally Medium Tank, M4, was the primary tank used by the United States during World War II. Thousands were also distributed to the Allies, including the British Commonwealth and Soviet armies, via lend-lease...
tank of general Leclerc's Free French 2nd Armoured Division, famous for its role in the 1944 liberation of Paris and Strasbourg, with the caption « Yesterday Strasbourg, tomorrow Saigon: Join the Far East French Expeditionary Forces ».
Gaurs & C.L.I. commandos (1943-1945)
Free French commando groups called Corps Léger d'InterventionCorps Léger d'Intervention
The Corps Léger d'Intervention was a Pacific War interarm corps of the Far East French Expeditionary Forces commanded by Général de corps d'armée Roger Blaizot and using guerrilla warfare against the Imperial Japanese Army who occupied French Indochina since 1941...
(C.L.I.) were created by de Gaulle in November 1943 as part of the FEFEO and trained in French Algeria then in British India, after the British Chindits
Chindits
The Chindits were a British India "Special Force" that served in Burma and India in 1943 and 1944 during the Burma Campaign in World War II. They were formed into long range penetration groups trained to operate deep behind Japanese lines...
, to fight the Japanese forces in occupied French Indochina
French Indochina
French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....
.
They served in French Indochina, under General Roger Blaizot
Roger Blaizot
Roger Charles André Henri Blaizot was a French military leader, who commanded French forces during the World War II and the First Indochina War. Blaizot served in Indochina through the last two years of the World War II, having been sent to command the Far East French Expeditionary Forces by...
, since 1944 and were dropped by the British Force 136
Force 136
Force 136 was the general cover name for a branch of the British World War II organization, the Special Operations Executive . The organisation was established to encourage and supply resistance movements in enemy-occupied territory, and occasionally mount clandestine sabotage operations...
's B-24 Liberator
B-24 Liberator
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber...
. The first C.L.I. commandos were rather known as "Gaurs", the gaur
Gaur
The gaur , also called Indian bison, is a large bovine native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. The species is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986 as the population decline in parts of the species' range is likely to be well over 70% over the last three generations...
is an Indian bison.
Franco-French struggle for the colonies
César Campinchi
César Campinchi was a lawyer and French statesman in the beginning of the 20th century....
resigned and was replaced by Admiral François Darlan
François Darlan
Jean Louis Xavier François Darlan was a French naval officer. His great-grandfather was killed at the Battle of Trafalgar...
who became the colonies' authority.
On 21 June, Campinchi left metropolitan France, on board the Massilia ocean liner at Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
, with other government members such as Interior Minister Georges Mandel
Georges Mandel
Georges Mandel was a French politician, journalist, and French Resistance leader.-Biography:Born Louis George Rothschild in Chatou, Yvelines, was the son of a tailor...
and joined Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
, French Morocco, on 24 June. Mandel's idea was to leave Bordeaux to establish a government-in-exile in French North Africa, and from there to pursue the fight with the colonies power. However, when the boat arrived in Casablanca, the politicians were arrested by French Morroco administrator, General Charles Noguès, under orders from General Maxime Weygand
Maxime Weygand
Maxime Weygand was a French military commander in World War I and World War II.Weygand initially fought against the Germans during the invasion of France in 1940, but then surrendered to and collaborated with the Germans as part of the Vichy France regime.-Early years:Weygand was born in Brussels...
and Marshal Philippe Pétain; the latter had signed a French-German-Italian armistice on 22 June, and became the de facto chief of state. As a consequence of the Armistice, the French colonial world empire became Vichy French.
However, inspired by Mandel, General Charles de Gaulle eventually created a French government-in-exile in London and tried to rally these colonies in order to gain strategic bases and gather troops in view the liberation of metropolitan France. The 1940 rally of the French colonies by General de Gaulle was incomplete, de Gaulle's charisma
Charisma
The term charisma has two senses: 1) compelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others, 2) a divinely conferred power or talent. For some theological usages the term is rendered charism, with a meaning the same as sense 2...
wasn't sufficient to gather older and upranked Generals of the French colonial administrations. As a result, a battle was engaged between Free French colonies and Vichy French colonies, each one siding either with the Axis or the Allies.
Free French colonies
In the autumn of 1940, the French colonies of CameroonCameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
and French Equatorial Africa
French Equatorial Africa
French Equatorial Africa or the AEF was the federation of French colonial possessions in Middle Africa, extending northwards from the Congo River to the Sahara Desert.-History:...
joined the Free French side. French colonies in New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
, French Polynesia
French Polynesia
French Polynesia is an overseas country of the French Republic . It is made up of several groups of Polynesian islands, the most famous island being Tahiti in the Society Islands group, which is also the most populous island and the seat of the capital of the territory...
, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon
Saint-Pierre and Miquelon
Saint Pierre and Miquelon is a self-governing territorial overseas collectivity of France. It is the only remnant of the former colonial empire of New France that remains under French control....
and the New Hebrides
New Hebrides
New Hebrides was the colonial name for an island group in the South Pacific that now forms the nation of Vanuatu. The New Hebrides were colonized by both the British and French in the 18th century shortly after Captain James Cook visited the islands...
joined later.
Vichy French colonies
French IndochinaFrench Indochina
French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....
and the colonies of Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...
and Martinique
Martinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
in the West Indies remained under Vichy government control.
From the Armistice to the occupation of Berlin
When the French German-Italian-Japanese armistice was signed, the Axis powers started to predatecivilian and military materiel to the French. After the Axis defeat in 1945, the captured German V-2
V-2 rocket
The V-2 rocket , technical name Aggregat-4 , was a ballistic missile that was developed at the beginning of the Second World War in Germany, specifically targeted at London and later Antwerp. The liquid-propellant rocket was the world's first long-range combat-ballistic missile and first known...
s would be studied by the French military and scientists to develop the French national atomic programme which led to the creation of the French atomic bomb.
Allied Angary (1940)
From Operation Catapult to Lend-Lease
Starting with Operation Catapult on 3 July 1940, the British started a policy of Free French vessel captures. These battleships and merchant ships were docked in British harbours of the English Channel (PlymouthPlymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
), Mediterranean (Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
) and Canada. Seized by force, by armed sailors and soldiers, the captured Free French ships were taken over and distributed to the Allied navies being British or Polish.
Later, with the recognition of Charles de Gaulle's legitimacy over France, the Allied stopped their captures and instead supplied the fighting French through Lend-Lease.
British capture
Famous Allied predations over the Free French navy include the British capture of the Surcouf submarine at Plymouth in July 1940 which resulted on four deaths (3 British, 1 French) and the capture of the merchant MV Charles Plumier at Gibraltar in November 1940, which became Command Ship .Some captured ships were eventually handed over to the Free French Navy and later the British would lend their own ships to the Free French Navy.
US capture
The British were not the only ones to seize French ships. The seizure of the ocean liner SS NormandieSS Normandie
SS Normandie was an ocean liner built in Saint-Nazaire, France for the French Line Compagnie Générale Transatlantique. She entered service in 1935 as the largest and fastest passenger ship afloat; she is still the most powerful steam turbo-electric-propelled passenger ship ever built.Her novel...
at New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in 1940, which later became troopship , ended as a complete diplomatic fiasco.
However, the US Navy eventually supported the Free French Navy and Free French Army of Africa by lending vessels - among other matériel- starting in 1942.
Allied Lend-Lease (1941-1945)
In 1941, following the Japanese attack on Pearl HarborAttack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
, the United States eventually entered the war on the Allied side. This act was linked to a logistics support toward General Charles de Gaulle's London-based Free French Forces, then Algiers-based General Henri Giraud's Army of Africa.
British support
The British loaned Spitfires to the Free French pilots fighting in the Royal Air ForceRoyal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
squadrons and British navy ships were also lent to the Free French navy. Besides materiel, the British formed and trained some Free French pilots and airborne commandos such as the 3rd SAS (French) and 4th SAS (French) and the C.L.I.: the latter were trained in Ceylon and created after the British Chindits
Chindits
The Chindits were a British India "Special Force" that served in Burma and India in 1943 and 1944 during the Burma Campaign in World War II. They were formed into long range penetration groups trained to operate deep behind Japanese lines...
.
US support
Free French Forces used several versions of the M4 medium tank. Tanks were provided by the U.S. under Lend-Lease. French armored divisions were organized and equipped the same as U.S. Army, light armored divisions. In 1943, the French decided to create their new army in North Africa, and had an agreement with the Americans to be equipped with US modern weapons. The French 2nd Armored Division entered the Battle of NormandyOperation Overlord
Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...
fully equipped with M4A2s. The 1st and 5th DB, which entered S. France as part of the First French Army were equipped with a mixture of M4A2 and M4A4 medium tanks. The 3rd DB, which served as a training and reserve organization for the three operational armored divisions was equipped with roughly 200 medium and light tanks. Of these, 120 were later turned in to the U.S. Army's Delta Base Section for reissue. Subsequent combat losses for the 1st, 2nd, and 5th Armored Divisions were replaced with standard-issue tanks from U.S. Army stocks.
Beside tanks, the US Army supplied the Free Free forces and Army of Africa with US-built aircraft and equipment such as helmets, uniforms and firearms.
Soviet support
Normandie-NiemenNormandie-Niemen
The Normandie-Niemen Regiment was a fighter squadron, later regiment of the French Air Force. It served on the Eastern Front of the European Theatre of World War II with the 1st Air Army...
Free French fighters who fought on the Russian front
Eastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...
with the Soviet air force were awarded their Yakovlev
Yakovlev
The Yak Aircraft Corporation is a Russian aircraft designer and manufacturer...
Soviet-built fighters, offered by Stalin in counterpart of their contribution against the German forces.
Phoney War (1939)
The invasion of PolandInvasion of Poland (1939)
The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...
on 1 September 1939 was a resounding success for German forces. France declared war to Germany on 3 September 1939 and invaded its western territory, Saarland
Saarland
Saarland is one of the sixteen states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population, it is the smallest state in Germany other than the city-states...
, with the Saar Offensive
Saar Offensive
The Saar Offensive was a French operation into Saarland on the German 1st Army defence sector in the early stages of World War II. The purpose of the attack was to assist Poland, which was then under attack...
led by general Louis Faury
Louis Faury
Louis Faury was a French military commander. In the 1920s he acted as a chief of General Staff Academy in Poland. Well known to his Polish students under nickname Papa Faury. He was made General Officer commanding the 3rd Division in 1936...
. This attempt was led by France's military obligation to help Poland per the Franco-Polish Military Alliance
Franco-Polish Military Alliance
The Franco-Polish alliance was the military alliance between Poland and France that was active between 1921 and 1940.-Background:Already during the France-Habsburg rivalry that started in the 16th century, France had tried to find allies to the east of Austria, namely hoping to ally with Poland...
, and was the following of the French Military Mission to Poland
French Military Mission to Poland
The French Military Mission to Poland was an effort by France to aid the nascent Second Polish Republic after it achieved its independence in November, 1918, at the end of the First World War. The aim was to provide aid during the Polish-Soviet War , and to create a strong Polish military to serve...
headed by the same commanding officer.
Although tactically successful, as the advance in German territory reached 8 km, the Saar operation was abandoned on 12 September when the Anglo French Supreme War Council
Anglo French Supreme War Council
The Anglo-French Supreme War Council, sometimes known as the Supreme War Council , was established to oversee joint military strategy at the start of the Second World War. Most of its deliberations took place during the period of the Phoney War, with its first meeting at Abbeville on 12 September...
decided that all offensive actions were to be halted immediately. This SWC was composed of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
Neville Chamberlain
Arthur Neville Chamberlain FRS was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. Chamberlain is best known for his appeasement foreign policy, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the...
and Lord Chatfield as the British delegation while Prime Minister Édouard Daladier
Édouard Daladier
Édouard Daladier was a French Radical politician and the Prime Minister of France at the start of the Second World War.-Career:Daladier was born in Carpentras, Vaucluse. Later, he would become known to many as "the bull of Vaucluse" because of his thick neck and large shoulders and determined...
and General Maurice Gamelin
Maurice Gamelin
Maurice Gustave Gamelin was a French general. Gamelin is best remembered for his unsuccessful command of the French military in 1940 during the Battle of France and his steadfast defense of republican values....
formed the French delegation. As a result of the deliberations, General Gamelin ordered the French troops to withdraw to the Maginot Line
Maginot Line
The Maginot Line , named after the French Minister of War André Maginot, was a line of concrete fortifications, tank obstacles, artillery casemates, machine gun posts, and other defences, which France constructed along its borders with Germany and Italy, in light of its experience in World War I,...
in France, leaving Poland to its own fate facing the Germans and Soviets all alone; the latter entering Poland on 17 September. On 16 October, German general Erwin von Witzleben
Erwin von Witzleben
Job-Wilhelm Georg Erdmann Erwin von Witzleben was a German army officer and in the Second World War an Army commander and a conspirator in the July 20 Plot.-Early years:...
started a counter-offensive against France entering its territory a few kilometers and the last covering French forces left Germany the following day to defend their country.
Norwegian CampaignNorwegian CampaignThe Norwegian Campaign was a military campaign that was fought in Norway during the Second World War between the Allies and Germany, after the latter's invasion of the country. In April 1940, the United Kingdom and France came to Norway's aid with an expeditionary force...
(1940)
The resulting Phoney War, in which there were no major conflicts in Continental Europe, was broken by the German invasion of Denmark and NorwayOperation Weserübung
Operation Weserübung was the code name for Germany's assault on Denmark and Norway during the Second World War and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign...
in April 1940. The French fought back the Germans while defending Norway.
Battle of Belgium (May 10–28, 1940)
The unsuccessful defence of Belgium by French general Maurice GamelinMaurice Gamelin
Maurice Gustave Gamelin was a French general. Gamelin is best remembered for his unsuccessful command of the French military in 1940 during the Battle of France and his steadfast defense of republican values....
and the surrender of King Leopold III of Belgium
Leopold III of Belgium
Leopold III reigned as King of the Belgians from 1934 until 1951, when he abdicated in favour of the Heir Apparent,...
on 28 May spurred the creation of the Free Belgian Forces
Free Belgian Forces
The Free Belgian Forces were members of the Belgian armed forces in World War II who continued fighting against the Axis after the surrender of Belgium and its subsequent occupation by the Germans...
.
Battle of the Netherlands (May 10–14, 1940)
The French 7th ArmySeventh Army (France)
The Seventh Army was a field army of the French Army during World War I and World War II.-World War I:*General Putz *General de Maud’Huy...
under General Henri Giraud
Henri Giraud
Henri Honoré Giraud was a French general who fought in World War I and World War II. Captured in both wars, he escaped each time....
fought the Germans in support to its allies of the Netherlands.
Prelude
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
victory, relying on a new form of mobile warfare
Blitzkrieg
For other uses of the word, see: Blitzkrieg Blitzkrieg is an anglicized word describing all-motorised force concentration of tanks, infantry, artillery, combat engineers and air power, concentrating overwhelming force at high speed to break through enemy lines, and, once the lines are broken,...
, disturbed some generals in London and Paris. However, the Allies still expected they would be able to contain the Germans, anticipating a war reasonably like the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, so they believed that even without an Eastern Front
Eastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...
the Germans could be defeated by blockade
Blockade
A blockade is an effort to cut off food, supplies, war material or communications from a particular area by force, either in part or totally. A blockade should not be confused with an embargo or sanctions, which are legal barriers to trade, and is distinct from a siege in that a blockade is usually...
, as in the previous conflict. This feeling was more widely shared in London than in Paris, which had suffered more severely during the First World War. The Prime Minister of France
Prime Minister of France
The Prime Minister of France in the Fifth Republic is the head of government and of the Council of Ministers of France. The head of state is the President of the French Republic...
Édouard Daladier
Édouard Daladier
Édouard Daladier was a French Radical politician and the Prime Minister of France at the start of the Second World War.-Career:Daladier was born in Carpentras, Vaucluse. Later, he would become known to many as "the bull of Vaucluse" because of his thick neck and large shoulders and determined...
, also respected the large gap between France's human and economic resources as compared to those of Germany.
The commander of France's army, Maurice Gamelin
Maurice Gamelin
Maurice Gustave Gamelin was a French general. Gamelin is best remembered for his unsuccessful command of the French military in 1940 during the Battle of France and his steadfast defense of republican values....
, like the rest of the French government, was expecting a campaign from the Germans that in the strategic sense would mirror the First World War. The Schlieffen Plan
Schlieffen Plan
The Schlieffen Plan was the German General Staff's early 20th century overall strategic plan for victory in a possible future war in which the German Empire might find itself fighting on two fronts: France to the west and Russia to the east...
, Gamelin believed, would be repeated with a reasonably close degree of accuracy. Even though important parts of the French army in the 1930s had been designed to wage offensive warfare, Gamelin reasoned it would be preferable to confront a German threat defensively, as the French military staff believed its country was not, for the moment, equipped militarily or economically to launch a decisive offensive. It would be better to wait until 1941 when the combined allied economic superiority over Germany could be fully exploited. To confront the expected German plan - which rested on a move into the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
, outflanking the fortified Maginot Line
Maginot Line
The Maginot Line , named after the French Minister of War André Maginot, was a line of concrete fortifications, tank obstacles, artillery casemates, machine gun posts, and other defences, which France constructed along its borders with Germany and Italy, in light of its experience in World War I,...
- Gamelin intended to send the best units of the French army along with the British Expeditionary Force
British Expeditionary Force (World War II)
The British Expeditionary Force was the British force in Europe from 1939–1940 during the Second World War. Commanded by General Lord Gort, the BEF constituted one-tenth of the defending Allied force....
(BEF) north to halt the Germans in the area of the river Dyle, east of Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, until a decisive victory could be achieved with the support of the united British, Belgian, French and Dutch armies. The original German plan closely resembled Gamelin's expectations.
The crash in Belgium of a light plane carrying two German officers with a copy of the then-current invasion plan forced Hitler to scrap the plan and search for an alternative. The final plan for Fall Gelb (Case Yellow) had been suggested by General Erich von Manstein
Erich von Manstein
Erich von Manstein was a field marshal in World War II. He became one of the most prominent commanders of Germany's World War II armed forces...
, then serving as Chief of Staff to Gerd von Rundstedt
Gerd von Rundstedt
Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt was a Generalfeldmarschall of the German Army during World War II. He held some of the highest field commands in all phases of the war....
, but had been initially rejected by the German General Staff. It proposed a deep penetration further south of the original route which would take advantage of the speed of the unified Panzer divisions to separate and encircle the opposing forces. It had the virtue of being unlikely (from a defensive point of view), as the Ardennes
Ardennes
The Ardennes is a region of extensive forests, rolling hills and ridges formed within the Givetian Ardennes mountain range, primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretching into France , and geologically into the Eifel...
was heavily wooded and implausible as a route for a mechanized invasion. It also had the considerable virtue of not having been intercepted by the Allies (for no copies were being carried about), and of being dramatic, which seems to have appealed to Hitler.
Manstein's aggressive plan was to break through the weak Allied centre with overwhelming force, trap the forces to the north in a pocket, and drive on to Paris. The plan would benefit from an Allied response close to how they would have responded in the original case; namely, that a large part of French and British strength would be drawn north to defend Belgium and Picardy
Picardy
This article is about the historical French province. For other uses, see Picardy .Picardy is a historical province of France, in the north of France...
. To help ensure this result, German Army Group B
Army Group B
Army Group B was the name of three different German Army Groups that saw action during World War II.-Battle for France:The first was involved in the Western Campaign in 1940 in Belgium and the Netherlands which was to be aimed to conquer the Maas bridges after the German airborne actions in Rotterdam...
would still attack Belgium and the Netherlands
Battle of the Netherlands
The Battle of the Netherlands was part of Case Yellow , the German invasion of the Low Countries and France during World War II. The battle lasted from 10 May 1940 until 14 May 1940 when the main Dutch forces surrendered...
in order to draw Allied forces eastward into the developing encirclement. The attack would also enable the Germans to secure bases for a later attack on Britain.
The Allied general staff and key statesmen, after capturing the original invasion plans, were initially jubilant that they had potentially won a key victory in the war before the campaign was even fought. Contrarily, General Gamelin and Lord Gort
John Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort
Field Marshal John Standish Surtees Prendergast Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort, VC, GCB, CBE, DSO & Two Bars, MVO, MC , was a British and Anglo-Irish soldier. As a young officer in World War I he won the Victoria Cross at the Battle of the Canal du Nord. During the 1930s he served as Chief of the...
, the commander of the BEF, were shaken into realizing that whatever the Germans came up with instead would not be what they had initially expected. More and more Gamelin became convinced that the Germans would try to attempt a breakthrough by concentrating their mechanized forces. They could hardly hope to break the Maginot Line
Maginot Line
The Maginot Line , named after the French Minister of War André Maginot, was a line of concrete fortifications, tank obstacles, artillery casemates, machine gun posts, and other defences, which France constructed along its borders with Germany and Italy, in light of its experience in World War I,...
on his right flank or to overcome the allied concentration of forces on the left flank. That only left the centre. But most of the centre was covered by the river Meuse
Meuse
Meuse is a department in northeast France, named after the River Meuse.-History:Meuse is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
. Tanks were useless in defeating fortified river positions. However at Namur
Namur (city)
Namur is a city and municipality in Wallonia, in southern Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia....
the river made a sharp turn to the east, creating a gap between itself and the river Dyle. This Gembloux Gap, ideal for mechanized warfare, was a very dangerous weak spot. Gamelin decided to concentrate half of his armoured reserves there. Of course the Germans might try to overcome the Meuse position by using infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
. But that could only be achieved by massive artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
support, the build-up of which would give Gamelin ample warning.
Campaign in the Low Countries and northern France
Germany launched its offensive, Fall Gelb, on the night prior to and principally on the morning of 10 May. During the night, German forces occupied LuxembourgLuxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
and, in the morning, German Army Group B (Bock) launched a feint offensive into the Netherlands and Belgium. German Fallschirmjäger from the 7th Flieger and 22nd Air Landing divisions under Kurt Student executed surprise landings at The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
, on the road to Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
and against the Belgian Fort Eben-Emael on its opening day with the goal of facilitating Army Group B's advance.
The Allied command reacted immediately, sending forces north to combat a plan that, for all the Allies could expect, resembled the earlier Schlieffen plan. This move north committed their best forces, diminished their fighting power through loss of readiness and their mobility through loss of fuel. That evening French troops crossed the Dutch border.
The French and British air command was less effective than their generals had anticipated, and the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
quickly obtained air superiority, depriving the Allies of key reconnaissance abilities and disrupting Allied communication and coordination.
While the German invaders secured all the strategically vital bridges in and toward Rotterdam, which penetrated "Fortress Holland" and bypassed the Water Line, an attempt to seize the Dutch seat of government, The Hague, ended in complete failure, which later led the Germans to skip paratrooper attacks. The airfields surrounding the city (Ypenburg, Ockenburg, and Valkenburg) were taken with heavy casualties on 10 May, only to be lost on the very same day to furious counter attacks launched by the two Dutch reserve infantry divisions.
The French marched north to establish a connection with the Dutch army, which came under attack from German paratroopers, but simply not understanding German intentions they failed to block German armoured reinforcements of the 9th Panzer Division from reaching Rotterdam on May 13. The Dutch, their poorly-equipped army largely intact, surrendered on 14 May after the Germans bombed Rotterdam. However the Dutch troops in Zeeland
Zeeland
Zeeland , also called Zealand in English, is the westernmost province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the south-west of the country, consists of a number of islands and a strip bordering Belgium. Its capital is Middelburg. With a population of about 380,000, its area is about...
and the colonies continued the fight while Queen Wilhelmina established a government-in-exile in Britain.
The centre of the Belgian defensive line, Fort Eben-Emael
Fort Eben-Emael
Fort Eben-Emael is an inactive Belgian fortress located between Liège and Maastricht, on the Belgian-Dutch border, near the Albert Canal, and designed to defend Belgium from a German attack across the narrow belt of Dutch territory in the region. Constructed in 1931–1935, it was reputed to be...
, had been seized by German paratroopers using gliders on May 10, allowing their forces to cross the bridges over the Albert Canal, although the arrival of the British Expeditionary Force managed to save the Belgians for a time. Gamelin's plan in the north was achieved when the British army reached the Dyle; then the expected major tank battle took place in the Gembloux Gap between the French 2nd and 3rd Divisions Légères mécaniques, (Mechanized Light Divisions), and the German 3rd and 4th Panzer divisions of Erich Hoepner's XVI Panzer Corps,, costing both sides about 100 vehicles; the German offensive in Belgium seemed stalled for a moment. But this was a feint.
German breakthrough
Meuse River
The Maas or Meuse is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea...
near Sedan
Sedan, France
Sedan is a commune in France, a sub-prefecture of the Ardennes department in northern France.-Geography:The historic centre is built on a peninsula formed by an arc of the Meuse River. It is around from the Belgian border.-History:...
the night of May 12/13. On May 13, the Germans forced three crossing near Sedan. Instead of slowly massing artillery as the French expected, the Germans replaced the need for traditional artillery by using the full might of their bomber force to punch a hole in a narrow sector of the French lines by carpet bombing
Carpet bombing
Carpet bombing is a large aerial bombing done in a progressive manner to inflict damage in every part of a selected area of land. The phrase invokes the image of explosions completely covering an area, in the same way that a carpet covers a floor. Carpet bombing is usually achieved by dropping many...
(punctuated by dive bombing
Dive bomber
A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target reduces the distance the bomb has to fall, which is the primary factor in determining the accuracy of the drop...
). Sedan was held by the 55th French Infantry Division (55e DI), a grade "B" reserve division. The forward elements of the 55e DI held their positions through most of the 13th, initially repulsing three of the six German crossing attempts; however, the German air attacks had disrupted the French supporting artillery batteries and created an impression among the troops of the 55e DI that they were isolated and abandoned. The combination of the psychological impact of the bombing, the generally slowly expanding German lodgements, deep penetrations by some small German infantry units and the lack of air or artillery support eventually broke down the 55e DI's resistance and much of the unit went into rout by the evening of May 13/14. The German aerial attack of May 13, with 1215 bomber sorties, the heaviest air bombardment the world had yet witnessed, is considered to have been very effective and key to the successful German river crossing. It was the most effective use of tactical air power yet demonstrated in warfare. The disorder begun at Sedan was spread down the French line by groups of haggard and retreating soldiers. During the night, some units in the last prepared defence line at Bulson
Bulson
Bulson is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France.-Population:...
panicked by the false rumour German tanks were already behind their positions. On May 14, two French tank battalions and supporting infantry from the 71st North African Infantry Division (71e NADI) counter-attacked the German bridgehead without success. The attack was partially repulsed by the first German armour and anti-tank units which had been rushed across the river as quickly as possible at 7:20 A.M. on pontoon bridges. On May 14, every available Allied light bomber was employed in an attempt to destroy the German pontoon bridges; but, despite incurring the highest single day action losses in the entire history of the British and French air forces, failed to destroy these targets. Despite the failure of numerous quickly planned counter attacks to collapse the German bridgehead, the French Army was successful in re-establishing a continuous defensive position further south; on the west flank of the bridgehead, however, French resistance began to crumble.
The commander of the French Second Army, General Huntzinger, immediately took effective measures to prevent a further weakening of his position. An armoured division (3rd Division Cuirassée de réserve) and a motorized division blocked further German advances around his flank. However the commander of XIX Panzer Corps, Heinz Guderian
Heinz Guderian
Heinz Wilhelm Guderian was a German general during World War II. He was a pioneer in the development of armored warfare, and was the leading proponent of tanks and mechanization in the Wehrmacht . Germany's panzer forces were raised and organized under his direction as Chief of Mobile Forces...
, wasn't interested in Huntzinger's flank. Leaving for the moment 10th Panzer Division
German 10th Panzer Division
The 10th Panzer Division was a formation of the German Wehrmacht during World War II.It was formed in Prague in March 1939, and served in the Army Group North reserve during the invasion of Poland of the same year. The division participated in the Battle of France in 1940, where it captured Calais,...
at the bridgehead to protect it from attacks by 3rd DCR, he moved his 1st
German 1st Panzer Division
The German 1st Panzer Division was an elite armoured division in the German Army during World War II. Its divisional insignia was a white oakleaf emblem.-History:...
and 2nd
German 2nd Panzer Division
The 2nd Panzer Division was created in 1935, and stationed in Austria after the Anschluss. It participated in the campaigns in Poland and France , and then returned to Poland for occupation duties . It took part in the Balkans campaign and then transferred to the Russian Front in September 1941...
Panzer divisions sharply to the west on the 15th, undercutting the flank of the French Ninth Army
Ninth Army (France)
The Ninth Army was a Field army of the French Army during World War I and World War II. It initially was the only part of the French army that faced the Germans directly as they came unexpectedley through the Ardennes during the early stages of the Fall of France.-World War I:*General Ferdinand...
by 40 km and forcing the 102nd Fortress Division to leave its positions that had blocked XVI Panzer Corps at Monthermé
Monthermé
Monthermé is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France.-Population:-References:*...
. While the French Second Army had been seriously mauled and had rendered itself impotent, now Ninth Army began to disintegrate completely, for in Belgium also its divisions, not having had the time to fortify, had been pushed back from the river by the unrelenting pressure of German infantry, allowing the impetuous Erwin Rommel
Erwin Rommel
Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel , popularly known as the Desert Fox , was a German Field Marshal of World War II. He won the respect of both his own troops and the enemies he fought....
to break free with his 7th Panzer Division
German 7th Panzer Division
The 7th Panzer Division was a German elite armored formation which participated in the Battle of France. General Erwin Rommel commanded the division, which was nicknamed the "Ghost Division" because of its speed and independent movement, which even the German High Command had difficulty following...
. A French armoured division (1st DCR) was sent to block him but advancing unexpectedly fast he surprised it while refuelling on the 15th and dispersed it, despite some losses caused by the heavy French tanks.
On the 16th, both Guderian and Rommel disobeyed their explicit direct orders to halt in an act of open insubordination against their superiors and moved their divisions many kilometres to the west, as fast as they could push them. Guderian reached Marle
Marle, Aisne
Marle is a commune in the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France.-Population:...
, 80 kilometres from Sedan, Rommel crossed the river Sambre
Sambre
The Sambre is a river in northern France and Wallonia, southern Belgium, left tributary of the Meuse River. The ancient Romans called the river Sabis.-Course:...
at Le Cateau, a hundred kilometres from his bridgehead, Dinant
Dinant
Dinant is a Walloon city and municipality located on the River Meuse in the Belgian province of Namur, Belgium. The Dinant municipality includes the old communes of Anseremme, Bouvignes-sur-Meuse, Dréhance, Falmagne, Falmignoul, Foy-Notre-Dame, Furfooz, Lisogne, Sorinnes, and Thynes.-Origins to...
. While nobody knew the whereabouts of Rommel (he had advanced so quickly that he was out of range for radio contact, earning his 7th Panzer Division the nickname Gespenster-Division, "Ghost Division"), an enraged von Kleist flew to Guderian on the morning of the 17 and after a heated argument relieved him of all duties. However, von Rundstedt would have none of it and refused to confirm the order.
Allied reaction
The Panzer Corps now slowed their advance considerably but had put themselves in a very vulnerable position. They were stretched out, exhausted and low on fuel; many tanks had broken down. There now was a dangerous gap between them and the infantry. A determined attack by a fresh large mechanized force could have cut them off and wiped them out.The French high command, however, was reeling from the shock of the sudden offensive and was stung by a sense of defeatism. On the morning of May 15, French Prime Minister 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...
telephoned newly minted Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
and said "We have been defeated. We are beaten; we have lost the battle." Churchill, attempting to console Reynaud reminded the Prime Minister of the times the Germans had broken through allied lines in World War I only to be stopped. However, Reynaud was inconsolable.
Churchill flew to Paris on May 16. He immediately recognized the gravity of the situation when he observed that the French government was already burning its archives and preparing for an evacuation of the capital. In a sombre meeting with the French commanders, Churchill asked General Gamelin, "Where is the strategic reserve?" which had saved Paris in the First World War. "There is none", Gamelin replied. Later, Churchill described hearing this as the single most shocking moment in his life. Churchill asked Gamelin when and where the general proposed to launch a counter attack against the flanks of the German bulge. Gamelin simply replied "inferiority of numbers, inferiority of equipment, inferiority of methods".
Gamelin was right; most reserve divisions had by now been committed. The only armoured division still in reserve, 2nd DCR, attacked on the 16th. However the French armoured divisions of the Infantry, the Divisions Cuirassées de Réserve, were despite their name very specialized breakthrough units, optimized for attacking fortified positions. They could be quite useful for defence, if dug in, but had very limited utility for an encounter fight: they could not execute combined infantry-tank tactics as they simply had no important motorized infantry component; they had poor tactical mobility as the heavy Char B1 bis, their main tank in which half of the French tank budget had been invested, had to refuel twice a day. So 2nd DCR divided itself in a covering screen, the small subunits of which fought bravely - but without having any strategic effect.
Of course, some of the best units in the north had yet seen little fighting. Had they been kept in reserve they could have been used for a decisive counter strike. But now they had lost much fighting power simply by moving to the north; hurrying south again would cost them even more. The most powerful allied division, the 1st DLM (Division Légère Mécanique, "light" in this case meaning "mobile"), deployed near Dunkirk on the 10th, had moved its forward units 220 kilometres to the northeast, beyond the Dutch city of 's-Hertogenbosch, in 32 hours. Finding that the Dutch had already retreated to the north, it had withdrawn and was now moving to the south. When it would reach the Germans again, of its original 80 SOMUA S 35 tanks only three would be operational, mostly as a result of break down.
Nevertheless, a radical decision to retreat to the south, avoiding contact, could probably have saved most of the mechanized and motorized divisions, including the BEF. However, that would have meant leaving about thirty infantry divisions to their fate. The loss of Belgium alone would be an enormous political blow. Besides, the Allies were uncertain about German intentions. They threatened in four directions: to the north, to attack the allied main force directly; to the west, to cut it off; to the south, to occupy Paris and even to the east, to move behind the Maginot Line. The French decided to create a new reserve, among which a reconstituted 7th Army, under General Touchon, using every unit they could safely pull out of the Maginot Line to block the way to Paris.
Colonel Charles de Gaulle, in command of France's hastily formed 4th Armoured Division, attempted to launch an attack from the south and achieved a measure of success that would later accord him considerable fame and a promotion to Brigadier General. However, de Gaulle's attacks on the 17th and 19th did not significantly alter the overall situation.
Channel attacks, battle of Dunkirk, and the Weygand Plan (May 17–28)
Cambrai
Cambrai is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.Cambrai is the seat of an archdiocese whose jurisdiction was immense during the Middle Ages. The territory of the Bishopric of Cambrai, roughly coinciding with the shire of Brabant, included...
by merely feinting an armoured attack.
On the 19th, German High Command grew very confident. The Allies seemed incapable of coping with events. There appeared to be no serious threat from the south - indeed General Franz Halder
Franz Halder
Franz Halder was a German General and the head of the Army General Staff from 1938 until September, 1942, when he was dismissed after frequent disagreements with Adolf Hitler.-Early life:...
, Chief of Army General Staff
Oberkommando des Heeres
The Oberkommando des Heeres was Nazi Germany's High Command of the Army from 1936 to 1945. The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht commanded OKH only in theory...
, toyed with the idea of attacking Paris immediately to knock France out of the war in one blow. The Allied troops in the north were retreating to the river Scheldt
Scheldt
The Scheldt is a 350 km long river in northern France, western Belgium and the southwestern part of the Netherlands...
, their right flank giving way to the 3rd and 4th Panzer Divisions. It would be foolish to remain inactive any longer, allowing them to reorganize their defence or escape. Now it was time to bring them into even more serious trouble by cutting them off. The next day the Panzer Corps started moving again, smashed through the weak British 18th and 23rd Territorial Divisions, occupied Amiens
Amiens
Amiens is a city and commune in northern France, north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in Picardy...
and secured the westernmost bridge over the river Somme at Abbeville
Abbeville
Abbeville is a commune in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.-Location:Abbeville is located on the Somme River, from its modern mouth in the English Channel, and northwest of Amiens...
isolating the British, French, Dutch, and Belgian forces in the north. In the evening of the 20th a reconnaissance unit from 2nd Panzer Division reached Noyelles, a hundred kilometres to the west. There they could see the estuary of the Somme flowing into The Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
.
On May 20 also, French Prime Minister 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...
dismissed Maurice Gamelin
Maurice Gamelin
Maurice Gustave Gamelin was a French general. Gamelin is best remembered for his unsuccessful command of the French military in 1940 during the Battle of France and his steadfast defense of republican values....
for his failure to contain the German offensive, and replaced him with Maxime Weygand
Maxime Weygand
Maxime Weygand was a French military commander in World War I and World War II.Weygand initially fought against the Germans during the invasion of France in 1940, but then surrendered to and collaborated with the Germans as part of the Vichy France regime.-Early years:Weygand was born in Brussels...
, who immediately attempted to devise new tactics to contain the Germans. More pressing, however, was his strategic task: he formed the Weygand Plan, ordering to pinch off the German armoured spearhead by combined attacks from the north and the south. On the map, this seemed a feasible mission: the corridor through which von Kleist's
Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist
Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist was a leading German field marshal during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords...
two Panzer Corps had moved to the coast was a mere 40 kilometres wide. On paper, Weygand had sufficient forces to execute it: in the north,the three DLM and the BEF; in the south, de Gaulle's 4th DCR. These units had an organic strength of about 1200 tanks and the Panzer divisions were very vulnerable again, the mechanical condition of their tanks rapidly deteriorating. But the condition of the Allied divisions was far worse. Both in the south and the north they could in reality muster but a handful of tanks. Nevertheless, Weygand flew to Ypres
Ypres
Ypres is a Belgian municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Ypres and the villages of Boezinge, Brielen, Dikkebus, Elverdinge, Hollebeke, Sint-Jan, Vlamertinge, Voormezele, Zillebeke, and Zuidschote...
on the 21st trying to convince the Belgians and the BEF of the soundness of his plan.
That same day, May 21, a detachment of the British Expeditionary Force under Major-General Harold Edward Franklyn had already attempted to at least delay the German offensive and, perhaps, to cut the leading edge of the German army off. The resulting Battle of Arras
Battle of Arras (1940)
The Battle of Arras took place during the Battle of France, in the early stages of World War II. It was an Allied counterattack against the flank of the German army, that took place near the town of Arras, in north-eastern France. The German forces were pushing north toward the channel coast, in...
demonstrated the ability of the heavily armoured British Matilda tank
Matilda tank
The Infantry Tank Mark II known as the Matilda II was a British infantry tank of the Second World War. It was also identified from its General Staff Specification A12....
s (the German 37 mm anti-tank guns proved ineffective against them) and the limited raid overran two German regiments. The panic that resulted (the German commander at Arras, Erwin Rommel
Erwin Rommel
Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel , popularly known as the Desert Fox , was a German Field Marshal of World War II. He won the respect of both his own troops and the enemies he fought....
, reported being attacked by 'hundreds' of tanks, though there were only 58 at the battle) temporarily delayed the German offensive. German reinforcements pressed the British back to Vimy Ridge the following day.
Although this attack wasn't part of any coordinated attempt to destroy the Panzer Corps, the German High Command panicked a lot more than Rommel. For a moment they feared to have been ambushed, that a thousand Allied tanks were about to smash their elite forces. But the next day they had regained confidence and ordered Guderian's XIX Panzer Corps to press north and push on to the Channel ports of Boulogne
Boulogne-sur-Mer
-Road:* Metropolitan bus services are operated by the TCRB* Coach services to Calais and Dunkerque* A16 motorway-Rail:* The main railway station is Gare de Boulogne-Ville and located in the south of the city....
and Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
, in the back of the British and Allied forces to the north.
That same day, the 22nd, the French tried to attack south to the east of Arras, with some infantry and tanks, but by now the German infantry had begun to catch up and the attack was, with some difficulty, stopped by the 32nd Infantry Division.
Only on the 24th the first attack from the south could be launched when 7th DIC, supported by a handful of tanks, failed to retake Amiens. This was a rather weak effort; however, on May 27, the British 1st Armoured Division, hastily brought over from England, attacked Abbeville in force but was beaten back with crippling losses. The next day de Gaulle tried again with the same result. But by now even complete success couldn't have saved the forces in the north.
In the early hours of the 23rd, Gort ordered a retreat from Arras. He had no faith in the Weygand plan nor in the proposal of the latter to at least try to hold a pocket on the Flemish coast, a Réduit de Flandres. The ports needed to supply such a foothold were already threatened. That day, the 2nd Panzer Division assaulted Boulogne and 10th Panzer assaulted Calais. The British garrison in Boulogne surrendered on the 25th, although 4,368 troops were evacuated. Calais, though strengthened by the arrival of 3rd Royal Tank Regiment
Royal Tank Regiment
The Royal Tank Regiment is an armoured regiment of the British Army. It was formerly known as the Tank Corps and the Royal Tank Corps. It is part of the Royal Armoured Corps and is made up of two operational regiments, the 1st Royal Tank Regiment and the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment...
equipped with cruiser tanks and 30th Motor Brigade, fell to the Germans on the 27th.
While the 1st Panzer Division was ready to attack Dunkirk on the 25th, Hitler ordered it to halt on the 24th. This remains one of the most controversial decisions of the entire war. Hermann Göring
Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring, was a German politician, military leader, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. He was a veteran of World War I as an ace fighter pilot, and a recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite, also known as "The Blue Max"...
had convinced Hitler the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
could prevent an evacuation; von Rundstedt had warned him that any further effort by the armoured divisions would lead to a much prolonged refitting period. Attacking cities wasn't part of the normal task for armoured units under any operational doctrine.
Allied evacuations (May 26-June 25)
Encircled, the British, Belgian and French launched Operation DynamoOperation Dynamo
The Dunkirk evacuation, commonly known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, code-named Operation Dynamo by the British, was the evacuation of Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, France, between 26 May and the early hours of 3 June 1940, because the British, French and Belgian troops were...
(May 26-June 4) and later Operation Ariel
Operation Ariel
Operation Ariel was the name given to the World War II evacuation of Allied forces from ports in western France, from 15–25 June 1940, due to the military collapse in the Battle of France against Nazi Germany...
(June 14–25), evacuating Allied forces from the northern pocket in Belgium and Pas-de-Calais, beginning on May 26. (see Battle of Dunkirk
Battle of Dunkirk
The Battle of Dunkirk was a battle in the Second World War between the Allies and Germany. A part of the Battle of France on the Western Front, the Battle of Dunkirk was the defence and evacuation of British and allied forces in Europe from 26 May–4 June 1940.After the Phoney War, the Battle of...
) The Allied position was complicated by King Léopold III of Belgium
Leopold III of Belgium
Leopold III reigned as King of the Belgians from 1934 until 1951, when he abdicated in favour of the Heir Apparent,...
's surrender the following day, which was postponed till the 28th.
Confusion still reigned however, as after the evacuation at Dunkirk and while Paris was enduring its short-lived siege, the First Canadian Division and a Scottish division were sent to Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
and penetrated 200 miles inland toward Paris before they heard that Paris had fallen and France had capitulated. They retreated and re-embarked for England.
At the same time as the Canadian 1st division landed in Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
, the Canadian 242 Squadron of the RAF flew their Hawker Hurricane
Hawker Hurricane
The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force...
s to Nantes
Nantes
Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....
(100 miles south-east) and set up there to provide air cover.
British retreat, French defeat (June 5–10, 1940)
The best and most modern French armies had been sent north and lost in the resulting encirclement; the French had lost their best heavy weaponry and their best armoured formations. Weygand was faced with a haemorrhage in the front stretching from Sedan to the English ChannelEnglish Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
, and the French government had begun to lose heart that the Germans could still be defeated, particularly as the remaining British forces were retreating from the battlefield returning to Great Britain, a particularly symbolic event for French morale, intensified by the German anti-British propaganda slogan "The British will fight to the last Frenchman".
The Germans renewed their offensive on June 5 on the Somme. A panzer-led attack on Paris broke the scarce reserves that Weygand had put between the Germans and the capital, and on June 10 the French government fled to Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
, declaring Paris an open city
Open city
In war, in the event of the imminent capture of a city, the government/military structure of the nation that controls the city will sometimes declare it an open city, thus announcing that they have abandoned all defensive efforts....
.
Italy's declaration of war, French-Italian air battles, UK ends French support (June 10–11, 1940)
Regia Aeronautica
The Italian Royal Air Force was the name of the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as a service independent of the Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946...
) started its bomb raids over France. On June 13, French ace pilot Pierre Le Gloan
Pierre Le Gloan
Pierre Le Gloan , French pilot of World War II.He was born in Brittany, France. At the age of eighteen he joined the French Air Force. At the outbreak of the war he served in the GC III/6 fighter squadron, flying the Morane-Saulnier MS.406...
shot down two Fiat BR.20
Fiat BR.20
The Fiat BR.20 Cicogna was a low-wing twin-engine medium bomber produced from mid-1930s until the end of World War II by the Turin firm. When it entered service in 1936 it was the first all-metal Italian bomber and it was regarded as one of the most modern medium bomber of the world...
bombers with his Dewoitine D.520
Dewoitine D.520
The Dewoitine D.520 was a French fighter aircraft that entered service in early 1940, shortly after the opening of World War II. Unlike the Morane-Saulnier M.S.406, which was at that time the Armée de l'Airs most numerous fighter, the Dewoitine D.520 came close to being a match for the latest...
fighter. On June 15, Le Gloan, along with another pilot, attacked a group of twelve Italian Fiat CR.42
Fiat CR.42
The Fiat CR.42 Falco was a single-seat sesquiplane fighter which served primarily in Italy's Regia Aeronautica before and during World War II. The aircraft was produced by the Turin firm, and entered service, in smaller numbers, with the air forces of Belgium, Sweden and Hungary...
fighters, and shot down three of them, while Cpt. Assolent shot down another. While returning to the airfield, Le Gloan shot down another CR.42 and another BR.20 bomber. For this achievement of destroying five aircraft in one flight, he was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant.
The following week, an Italian army crossed the Alps and fought with the French Chasseurs Alpins (Alpine Hunters), the Regia Aeronautica carried out 716 bombing missions in support of the invasion of France by the Italian Royal Army (Regio Esercito). Italian aircraft dropped a total of 276 tons of bombs.
Churchill returned to France on June 11, meeting the French War Council in Briare
Briare
Briare is a commune in the Loiret department in north-central France.Briare, the Brivodorum of the Romans, is situated at the extremity of the Briare Canal, which unites the Loire and its lateral canal with the Loing and so with the Seine. The lateral canal of the Loire crosses the Loire near...
. The French, clearly in a panic, wanted Churchill to give every available fighter to the air battle over France; with only 25 squadrons remaining, Churchill refused to further help his ally, believing that the decisive battle would be fought over Britain (the Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
started on July 10). British support ended and France was left to its own fate facing the Germans and Italians all alone. Concerned about an upcoming German invasion of his own country, Churchill, at the meeting, obtained promises from French admiral François Darlan
François Darlan
Jean Louis Xavier François Darlan was a French naval officer. His great-grandfather was killed at the Battle of Trafalgar...
that the French Navy
French Navy
The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...
's fleet would not fall into German hands.
French-German negotiations, Pétain's appeal (June 16–17)
Paul ReynaudPaul 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...
, France's Prime Minister, resigned because he believed a majority of his government favoured an armistice. He was succeeded by a patriarcal figure, 84-years old World War I veteran Maréchal Philippe Pétain. On June 16, the new French President of the Council, Philippe Pétain (the President of the Republic office was vacant from July 11, 1940 until 16 January 1947), began negotiations with Axis
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
officials. On June 17, 1940, Marshal Pétain delivered a famous appeal to the French people via radio ordering them « it is necessary to cease to fight » (« il faut cesser le combat »).
French-German and French-Italian armistices (June 22, 1940)
On June 21, Italian troops crossed the borderItalian invasion of France
The Italian invasion of France in June 1940 was a small-scale invasion that started near the end of the Battle of France during World War II. The goal of the Italian offensive was to take control of the Alps mountain range and the region around Nice, and to win the colonies in North Africa...
in three places. Roughly thirty-two Italian divisions faced just four French divisions. Fighting continued in the east until General Pretelat, commanding the French Second Army group, was forced to surrender on June 22 by the armistice. France formally surrendered
Armistice with France (Second Compiègne)
The Second Armistice at Compiègne was signed at 18:50 on 22 June 1940 near Compiègne, in the department of Oise, between Nazi Germany and France...
to the German armed forces on June 22 in the same railroad car at Compiègne
Compiègne
Compiègne is a city in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune within the département of Oise.The city is located along the Oise River...
in which Germany had been forced to surrender
Armistice with Germany (Compiègne)
The armistice between the Allies and Germany was an agreement that ended the fighting in the First World War. It was signed in a railway carriage in Compiègne Forest on 11 November 1918 and marked a victory for the Allies and a complete defeat for Germany, although not technically a surrender...
in 1918. This railway car was lost in allied air raids on the German capital of Berlin later in the war.
German occupation, formation of Vichy France and Armistice army
Metropolitan France
Metropolitan France is the part of France located in Europe. It can also be described as mainland France or as the French mainland and the island of Corsica...
was divided into a German occupation zone in the north and west and an unoccupied zone in the south. Pétain set up a collaborationist
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,...
government in the spa town of Vichy
Vichy
Vichy is a commune in the department of Allier in Auvergne in central France. It belongs to the historic province of Bourbonnais.It is known as a spa and resort town and was the de facto capital of Vichy France during the World War II Nazi German occupation from 1940 to 1944.The town's inhabitants...
and the authoritarian regime French State
French state
The French state may refer to:*The Republic of France *Vichy France, 'French state' was the official name of the regime first directed by Philippe Pétain, explicitly opposed to the French Republic...
, replacing the abolished French Republic, came to be known as Vichy France
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
.
The formation of Free France and French Resistance
Charles de Gaulle, who had been made an Undersecretary of National Defense by Paul Reynaud, was in London at the time of the surrender: having made his Appeal of 18 June as an answer to Pétain's appeal of 17 June, he refused to recognize the Vichy government as legitimate - the President of France function was vacant - and began the task of organizing the Free French forces. A number of French colonies like French Equatorial AfricaFrench Equatorial Africa
French Equatorial Africa or the AEF was the federation of French colonial possessions in Middle Africa, extending northwards from the Congo River to the Sahara Desert.-History:...
joined de Gaulle's fight, while others like French Indochina
French Indochina
French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....
were soon attacked by the Japanese or remained loyal to the Vichy government. Italy occupied a small area, essentially the Alpes-Maritimes
Alpes-Maritimes
Alpes-Maritimes is a department in the extreme southeast corner of France.- History : was created by Octavian as a Roman military district in 14 BC, and became a full Roman province in the middle of the 1st century with its capital first at Cemenelum and subsequently at Embrun...
, and Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
.
Free French airmen in RAF (June 1940-1945)
The first Free French pilots flew from Bordeaux to rally de Gaulle in England on June 17, 1940. These individuals served in British squadrons until there were sufficient pilots to create All-Free French RAF flights.Free French pilots in the battle of Britain (July 10–October 31, 1940)
At least thirteen Free French pilots (from France) fought the battle of BritainBattle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
against the German Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
. Among these men were Adjutant Émile Fayolle, son of an Admiral and grandson of French Marshal Marie Émile Fayolle
Marie Émile Fayolle
Marie Émile Fayolle was a Marshal of France.Fayolle studied at the École polytechnique, where he graduated with the class of 1873. During his career he served in the artillery. From 1897 to 1908 he taught artillery at the École supérieure de Guerre...
. When the Armistice was signed on June 22, 1940 Fayolle was at the Fighter School at Oran
Oran
Oran is a major city on the northwestern Mediterranean coast of Algeria, and the second largest city of the country.It is the capital of the Oran Province . The city has a population of 759,645 , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately 1,500,000, making it the second largest...
, French Algeria
French Algeria
French Algeria lasted from 1830 to 1962, under a variety of governmental systems. From 1848 until independence, the whole Mediterranean region of Algeria was administered as an integral part of France, much like Corsica and Réunion are to this day. The vast arid interior of Algeria, like the rest...
. On June 30, he and a comrade flew to the British base at Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
and from there sailed to Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
where they arrived on July 13 and joined the RAF. On November 1941 Fayolle went to Turnhouse to join 340 Squadron, the first all-French fighter unit. Another pilot with a similar course was Adjutant René Mouchotte, eleven Free French pilots were posted to No.1 School of Army Co-operation, Old Sarum
Old Sarum
Old Sarum is the site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury, in England. The site contains evidence of human habitation as early as 3000 BC. Old Sarum is mentioned in some of the earliest records in the country...
on July 29. Mouchotte was posted to Turnhouse as Deputy 'A' Flight Commander with 340 Squadron on November 10. On January 18, 1943, Captain Mouchotte returned to Turnhouse to form and command the 341 Free French Squadron.
All-Free French RAF Squadrons (1941-1945)
In summer of 1941, the British commander of fhe Fighter Command accepted the creation of the No.340 Free French (Fighter) SquadronNo. 340 Squadron RAF
340 Squadron RAF was formed at RAF Turnhouse in Scotland on 7 November 1941 as part of Le Groupe de Chasse IV/2 "Ile de France"...
(also known as Groupe de chasse 2 "Île-de-France", a Free French unit attached to the No. 13 Group RAF
No. 13 Group RAF
No. 13 Group was a group in the Royal Air Force for various periods in the 20th century. It is most famous for having the responsibility for defending the North of Great Britain during the Battle of Britain-World War I:...
, equipped with Spitfire aircrafts and born in Turnhouse
Turnhouse
Turnhouse is a suburb in the west of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland.The area is east of Edinburgh International Airport, and Turnhouse is also the name for the former Royal Air Force base, now closed, which dates back to the First World War and was the origin of the current civilian airport...
, Scotland. Other notable All-Free French RAF flights were the No. 327 Squadron RAF and No. 341 Squadron RAF
No. 341 Squadron RAF
The No. 341 Squadron also known in French as Groupe de Chasse n° 3/2 "Alsace", was a Free French squadron in the RAF during World War II.-History:No...
.
Legion of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism (1941-1943)
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
along the German Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
on the Russian front. This volunteers unit, including old men and 15-year children as evidenced by Nazi propaganda archives, took part in the German invasion of Soviet Union called Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
.
The L.V.F.'s German designation was 638.Infanterie-Regiment 638 ("638th Infantry Regiment") and it served under Field Marshal
Field Marshal
Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
Günther von Kluge
Günther von Kluge
Günther Adolf Ferdinand “Hans” von Kluge was a German military leader. He was born in Posen into a Prussian military family. Kluge rose to the rank of Field Marshal in the Wehrmacht. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords...
, commander of the Fourth Army.
Battle of Diut'kovo (1941-1942)
The L.V.F. 638th Infantry Regiment fought the Battle of Diut'kovo (maybe Dyatkovo
Dyatkovo
Dyatkovo is a town and the administrative center of Dyatkovsky District of Bryansk Oblast, Russia. Population: -History:It was first mentioned in 1626. In 1938, it was granted town status....
), which is part of the Battle of Moscow
Battle of Moscow
The Battle of Moscow is the name given by Soviet historians to two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between October 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive effort frustrated Hitler's attack on Moscow, capital of...
.
Battle of Berezina (1942-1943)
The L.V.F. 638th Infantry Regiment fought the Battle of Berezina as hinted by its flag.
Vichy French Sturmbataillon Charlemagne last defenders of Berlin (April–May 1945)
The Vichy French SS battalion Charlemagne (remains of the French SS Division Charlemagne33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne (1st French)
The 33. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS Charlemagne and Charlemagne Regiment are collective names used for units of French volunteers in the Wehrmacht and later Waffen-SS during World War II...
) under Hauptsturmführer
Hauptsturmführer
Hauptsturmführer was a Nazi rank of the SS which was used between the years of 1934 and 1945. The rank of Hauptsturmführer was a mid-grade company level officer and was the equivalent of a Captain in the German Army and also the equivalent of captain in foreign armies...
(Captain) Henri Fenet
Henri Joseph Fenet
Henri Joseph Fenet was a soldier during World War II who was awarded both the Croix de Guerre by France, and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross by Germany.-French service:...
was among the last defenders of the Nazi German capital, fighting against Soviet forces during the Battle of Berlin
Battle of Berlin
The Battle of Berlin, designated the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, was the final major offensive of the European Theatre of World War II....
in April–May 1945.
Creation of Normandie-Niemen (1942)
At de Gaulle's initiative, the Free French Air Force
Free French Air Force
The Free French Air Force was the air arm of the Free French Forces during the Second World War.-Fighting for Free France — the FAFL in French North Africa :...
Groupe de Chasse 3 "Normandie"
Normandie-Niemen
The Normandie-Niemen Regiment was a fighter squadron, later regiment of the French Air Force. It served on the Eastern Front of the European Theatre of World War II with the 1st Air Army...
was formed on September 1, 1942, for service on the Eastern Front
Eastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...
along the Soviet 1st Air Army
1st Air Army
The 1st Air Army was an Air Army in the Soviet Air Force which served during World War II. It was formed on May 10, 1942 within the Soviet Western Front, and renamed the 26th Air Army on January 10, 1949 in the Belorussian Military District....
. It served with distinction on board soviet aircrafts and was awarded the supplementary title Niemen
Neman River
Neman or Niemen or Nemunas, is a major Eastern European river rising in Belarus and flowing through Lithuania before draining into the Curonian Lagoon and then into the Baltic Sea at Klaipėda. It is the northern border between Lithuania and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast in its lower reaches...
(from the Belaruss river) by Stalin. Its first commander was Jean Tulasne who was KIA (history of Normandie-Niemen).
The group Normandie-Niemen evolved from a single squadron called "Normandie" to a full regiment called Normandie-Niemen
Normandie-Niemen
The Normandie-Niemen Regiment was a fighter squadron, later regiment of the French Air Force. It served on the Eastern Front of the European Theatre of World War II with the 1st Air Army...
which included Squadron Caen
Caen
Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region. It is located inland from the English Channel....
, Squadron Le Havre
Le Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...
and Squadron Rouen
Rouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
.
First campaign (March–November 1943)
Their battle honor is Oryol
Oryol
Oryol or Orel is a city and the administrative center of Oryol Oblast, Russia, located on the Oka River, approximately south-southwest of Moscow...
1943 and Smolensk
Smolensk
Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River. Situated west-southwest of Moscow, this walled city was destroyed several times throughout its long history since it was on the invasion routes of both Napoleon and Hitler. Today, Smolensk...
1943.
Second campaign (May–December 1944)
Battle honor is Orche 1944, Berezina 1944 and Niemen 1944.
Third campaign (December 1944-June 1945)
Battle honor is Chernyakhovsk
Chernyakhovsk
Chernyakhovsk is a town and the administrative center of Chernyakhovsky District of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Instruch and the Angrapa Rivers, forming the Pregolya...
1945 and Baltiysk
Baltiysk
Baltiysk , prior to 1945 known by its German name Pillau , is a seaport town and the administrative center of Baltiysky District of Kaliningrad Oblast, located on the northern part of the Vistula Spit, on the shore of the Strait of Baltiysk separating the Vistula Bay from the Gdańsk Bay. Baltiysk...
1945.
Return of the Normandie-Niemen (June 1945)
On May 31, 1945, Normandie-Niemen squadrons were directed to Moscow by the Soviet authorities who decided to allow them to return in France with their handed over aircrafts as a reward. By the end of World War II, the Free French unit counted 273 certified victories, 37 non-certified victories and 45 damaged aircrafts with 869 fights and 42 dead.
They arrived at Elbląg
Elblag
Elbląg is a city in northern Poland with 127,892 inhabitants . It is the capital of Elbląg County and has been assigned to the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship since 1999. Before then it was the capital of Elbląg Voivodeship and a county seat in Gdańsk Voivodeship...
, Poland on June 15, 1945 and in Paris Le Bourget
Le Bourget
Le Bourget is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.A very small part of Le Bourget airport lies on the territory of the commune of Le Bourget, which nonetheless gave its name to the airport. Most of the airport lies on the territory of the...
, through Posen
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
, Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
and Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
, on June 21 (their arrival at Stuttgart and parade at Le Bourget were taped).
Italian campaign (1943-1944)
Ist Army renamed French Expeditionary Force
During the Italian campaignItalian Campaign (World War II)
The Italian Campaign of World War II was the name of Allied operations in and around Italy, from 1943 to the end of the war in Europe. Joint Allied Forces Headquarters AFHQ was operationally responsible for all Allied land forces in the Mediterranean theatre, and it planned and commanded the...
of 1943, 130,000 Free French soldiers fought on the Allied side.
The 1st group, Ist Landing Corps (1er groupement du Ier corps de débarquement), later redesignated by as the French Expeditionary Corps (Corps Expéditionnaire Français, CEF) participated in the Italian Campaign
Italian Campaign (World War II)
The Italian Campaign of World War II was the name of Allied operations in and around Italy, from 1943 to the end of the war in Europe. Joint Allied Forces Headquarters AFHQ was operationally responsible for all Allied land forces in the Mediterranean theatre, and it planned and commanded the...
with two divisions and two separate brigades from late 1943 to July 23, 1944.
Battle of Monte Cassino (17 January–18 May 1944)
In 1944, this corps was reinforced by two additional divisions and played an essential role in the Battle of Monte CassinoBattle of Monte Cassino
The Battle of Monte Cassino was a costly series of four battles during World War II, fought by the Allies against Germans and Italians with the intention of breaking through the Winter Line and seizing Rome.In the beginning of 1944, the western half of the Winter Line was being anchored by Germans...
. After the Allied capture of Rome the Corps was gradually withdrawn from Italy and incorporated into the B Army
French First Army
The First Army was a field army of France that fought during World War I and World War II. It was also active during the Cold War.-First World War:...
(Armée B) for the invasion of Southern France.
Operation Diadem (May 1944)
Operation DiademOperation Diadem
Operation Diadem, also referred to as the Fourth Battle of Monte Cassino was an offensive operation undertaken by the Allies in May 1944, as part of the Italian Campaign. It was launched at 2300 Hours on 11 May 1944 to break the German defenses on the western half of the Winter Line and open up...
was a successful Allied assault, including Free French, on German Gustav Line defences in Italy.
Operation Brassard (June 17–18, 1944)
Special forces
Special forces, or special operations forces are terms used to describe elite military tactical teams trained to perform high-risk dangerous missions that conventional units cannot perform...
) battalions of I Corps assaulted and seized the heavily fortified island, defended by German fortress infantry and coastal artillery troops. Combat on the island was characterized by close-in fighting, use of flamethrower
Flamethrower
A flamethrower is a mechanical device designed to project a long controllable stream of fire.Some flamethrowers project a stream of ignited flammable liquid; some project a long gas flame. Most military flamethrowers use liquids, but commercial flamethrowers tend to use high-pressure propane and...
s, well-ranged German artillery, and the liberal use of mines.
Battle of Vercors (January–July)
Battle of Mont Gargan (July 18–24)
FTP forces (Francs-tireurs partisans) under Georges GuingouinGeorges Guingouin
Georges Guingouin was a French Communist Party militant who played a leading role in the French resistance as head of the Maquis du Limousin...
fought the Wehrmacht General Curt von Jesser
Curt von Jesser
Curt von Jesser was a highly decorated Generalmajor in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership...
's brigade.
Campaign of France (1944-1945)
By the time of the Normandy Invasion, the Free French forces numbered 500,000 regulars and more than 100,000 FFI. The Free French 2nd Armoured Division, under General Philippe Leclerc, landed at Utah BeachUtah Beach
Utah Beach was the code name for the right flank, or westernmost, of the Allied landing beaches during the D-Day invasion of Normandy, as part of Operation Overlord on 6 June 1944...
in Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
on August 2 and eventually led the drive towards Paris later that month. The FFI (French Resistance) began to seriously harass the German forces, cutting roads, railways, making ambushes as well as fighting battles alongside their allies.
Operation Dingson (June 5–18)
Free French airborne under Colonel Pierre-Louis Bourgoin dropped behin German lines in Brittany.
French contribution on D-Day
A reduced number of French infantry was involved in the June 6, 1944 Allied landing operations
Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...
. Its number is 209 which include 177 commandos and 32 airborne troopers. Additional personnel include a hundred French air force fighter and bomber pilots and hundreds sailors from the French navy.
The first to touch the ground of France
Free French infantry fighting in the Normandy beaches on June 6 is limited to the 1er Bataillon de Fusiliers Marins Commandos
1er Bataillon de Fusiliers Marins Commandos
1er Bataillon de Fusiliers Marins Commandos was a Fusiliers Marins commando unit of the Free French Navy which served during the Second World War...
(1er BFMC) under Free French Navy Major Philippe Kieffer
Philippe Kieffer
Philippe Kieffer , capitaine de frégate in the French Navy, was a French officer and political personality, and a hero of the Free French Forces.- Life and career :...
.
The Free French Navy's 1er BFMC comprised 177 commandos and had been created at Achnacarry
Achnacarry
Achnacarry is a small hamlet, private estate, and a castle in the Lochaber region of Highland, Scotland. It occupies a strategic position on an isthmus between Loch Lochy to the east, and Loch Arkaig to the west....
, Scotland after the British Commandos
British Commandos
The British Commandos were formed during the Second World War in June 1940, following a request from the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, for a force that could carry out raids against German-occupied Europe...
. This All-French unit, including many Bretons
Breton people
The Bretons are an ethnic group located in the region of Brittany in France. They trace much of their heritage to groups of Brythonic speakers who emigrated from southwestern Great Britain in waves from the 3rd to 6th century into the Armorican peninsula, subsequently named Brittany after them.The...
as Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
was close to England, was attached to the British No. 4 Commando
No. 4 Commando
No. 4 Commando was a battalion-sized British Army commando unit, formed in 1940 early in the Second World War. Although it was raised to conduct small-scale raids and harass garrisons along the coast of German-occupied France, it was mainly employed as a highly-trained infantry assault unit.The...
under Lieutenant-Colonel Dawson. It was the very first infantry unit to touch the sand of Ouistreham
Ouistreham
Ouistreham is a commune in the Calvados department' in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.Ouistreham is a small port with fishing boats, leisure craft and a ferry-harbour. It serves as the port of the city of Caen. The town is about the mouth of the Canal de Caen à la...
, (Normandy) in the landing full-scale operation Operation Overlord; preceding the 3rd British Infantry Division. This honor was a courtesy of 1st Special Service Brigade
1st Special Service Brigade
The 1st Special Service Brigade was a brigade of the British Army. Formed during World War II, it consisted of elements of the army and the Royal Marines. The brigade's component units saw action individually in Norway and the Dieppe Raid , before being combined under one commander for service in...
(S.S.B.) commander Scottish Brigadier Simon Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat
Simon Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat
Brigadier Simon Christopher Joseph Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat and 4th Baron Lovat DSO, MC, TD was the 25th Chief of the Clan Fraser and a prominent British Commando during the Second World War...
who slowed down the British commandos landing crafts to let pass the French LCI
Landing Craft Infantry
The Landing craft, Infantry or LCI were several classes of sea-going amphibious assault ships of the Second World War utilized to land large numbers of infantry directly onto beaches. They were developed in response to a British request for a vessel capable of carrying and landing substantially...
527 (Troop 1) and LCI 528 (Troop 8). The 1er BFMC's Normandy campaign lasted 83 days, casualty rate was high, from the 117 Kieffer commandos of June 6, only 24 survived.
Free French naval operations (June 3–16)
The Free French Navy under Admiral Ramsay took part in Operation Neptune
Operation Neptune
The Normandy landings, codenamed Operation Neptune, were the landing operations of the Allied invasion of Normandy, in Operation Overlord, during World War II. The landings commenced on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 , beginning at 6:30 AM British Double Summer Time...
which was the naval part of Operation Overlord, a series of missions were fulfilled on June 6:
- Juno BeachJuno BeachJuno or Juno Beach was one of five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during the Second World War. The sector spanned from Saint-Aubin, a village just east of the British Gold sector, to Courseulles, just west of the British Sword sector...
, French destroyer La CombattanteFrench destroyer La CombattanteThe Combattante was a destroyer of the Forces navales françaises libres . A British-built Hunt class destroyer, she was offered to the Free French in 1942.-History:...
under Commander André Patou shelled the German fortifications of Courseulles-sur-MerCourseulles-sur-MerCourseulles-sur-Mer is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.It is a popular tourist destination not only with locals but also with international visitors who come to tour the Normandy landing beaches...
while frigate La Découverte and corvette Commandant-d'Estienne-d'Orves escorted the Canadian infantry landing crafts. - Gold BeachGold BeachGold Beach was the code name of one of the D-Day landing beaches that Allied forces used to invade German-occupied France on 6 June 1944, during World War II....
, the frigate La Surprise protected the British landing operation. - Utah BeachUtah BeachUtah Beach was the code name for the right flank, or westernmost, of the Allied landing beaches during the D-Day invasion of Normandy, as part of Operation Overlord on 6 June 1944...
, the corvettes L'Aconit and La Renoncule were in charge of patrolling against U-BootU-bootU-boot can refer to:* U-boats, military submarines operated by Germany during World War I and World War II* Das U-Boot, also known simply as U-Boot, a computer software which serves as a bootstrap loader in many embedded systems....
. - Omaha BeachOmaha BeachOmaha Beach is the code name for one of the five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during World War II...
, in Vierville-sur-MerVierville-sur-Mer-External links:* *...
, Saint-Laurent-sur-MerSaint-Laurent-sur-MerSaint-Laurent-sur-Mer is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.-Population:-References:*...
and Colleville-sur-MerColleville-sur-MerColleville-sur-Mer is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.The beach next to the coastal village was one of the principal beachheads during the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, designated Omaha beach....
sectors, the frigates Escarmouche, Aventure and the corvette Roselys escorted the US V Corps's landing crafts - English Channel, eight fast patrol boats of the 23rd Flottila patrolled for incoming German navy forces or seamines.
Another French mission from June 3 to 16, consisted in the bombing of Omaha Beach
Omaha Beach
Omaha Beach is the code name for one of the five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during World War II...
's defense by a fleet under Admiral Jaujard which comprised the 7,500 tons cruisers Georges-Leygues and Montcalm, with their 10,000 tons tanker, and the cruiser Duquesne. The three battleships fired thousands of shells in four days.
Defense operations were also performed by the corvettes and frigates establishing a shuttle between English harbours and the French coast. They escorted the logistics maneuvers involving infantry landing crafts, medical evacuations from the battlefield and sought for any Kriegsmarine menace.
On June 9, the obsolete French cuirassé Courbet was disarmed and saborded - together with other ships - in the Hermanville-sur-Mer
Hermanville-sur-Mer
Hermanville-sur-Mer is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.-Population:-Sights:* 13th century church* Commonwealth war cemetery* Old village center...
area to be used as artificial breakwaters
Breakwater (structure)
Breakwaters are structures constructed on coasts as part of coastal defence or to protect an anchorage from the effects of weather and longshore drift.-Purposes of breakwaters:...
.
All-Free French air force operations
Light bomber Boston equipped bomb group No. 342 Squadron RAF
No. 342 Squadron RAF
The No. 342 Squadron also known in French as Groupe de Bombardement n° 1/20 "Lorraine", was a Free French squadron in the RAF during World War II.-History:No...
(GB 1/20 Lorraine), commanded by Michel Fouquet, supported the Omaha Beach invasion with a smoke screen campaign blinding and isolating the German defenders.
Heavy bombers of bomb groups GB 1/15 Touraine and No. 347 Squadron RAF (GB 1/25 Tunisie) and fighters of No. 329 Squadron RAF
No. 329 Squadron RAF
No. 329 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force fighter squadron founded upon the personnel and traditions of the French 1/2 fighter squadron Storks , having markings “5A” 1944-1945.-RAF service:During the period of the Second World War, a large number of the squadrons of RAF were manned by...
(GC 1/2 Cigognes), No. 345 Squadron RAF (GC 2/2 Berry), No. 341 Squadron RAF
No. 341 Squadron RAF
The No. 341 Squadron also known in French as Groupe de Chasse n° 3/2 "Alsace", was a Free French squadron in the RAF during World War II.-History:No...
(GC 3/2 Alsace) and No. 340 Squadron RAF
No. 340 Squadron RAF
340 Squadron RAF was formed at RAF Turnhouse in Scotland on 7 November 1941 as part of Le Groupe de Chasse IV/2 "Ile de France"...
(GC 4/2 Île de France) serviced under Air Marshal Leigh-Mallory.
The Free French airmen were part of the first casualties of Day-D. These include the flying crew Boissieux-Canut-Henson from bomb group No. 342 Squadron RAF (GB 1/20 Lorraine) which left its base at dawn and was KIA when its Boston was shot down.
Leclerc's 2nd Armoured Division (August 1944-January 1945)
The 2nd Division landed at Utah Beach (Normandy), on August 1, 1944, about two months after the D-Day landingsD-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
, and served under General Patton's Third Army.
Battle for Normandy (July 1944)
The 2nd division played a critical role in Operation Cobra
Operation Cobra
Operation Cobra was the codename for an offensive launched by the First United States Army seven weeks after the D-Day landings, during the Normandy Campaign of World War II...
, the Allied breakthrough from Normandy, when it served as a link between American and Canadian armies and made rapid progress against German forces. They all but destroyed the 9th Panzer Division
German 9th Panzer Division
The 9th Panzer Division was a panzer division of the Wehrmacht Heer. The division was only active during World War II, and came into existence after 4th Light Division was reorganized in January 1940...
and defeated several other German units. During the Battle for Normandy, the 2nd Division lost 133 men killed, 648 wounded, and 85 missing. Division material losses included 76 armored vehicles, 7 cannons, 27 halftracks, and 133 other vehicles. In the same period, the 2nd Division inflicted losses on the Germans of 4,500 killed and 8,800 taken prisoner, while the Germans' material losses in combat against the 2nd Division during the same period were 117 tanks, 79 cannons, and 750 wheeled vehicles.
Liberation of Paris (August 24–25, 1944)
Liberation of Paris
The Liberation of Paris took place during World War II from 19 August 1944 until the surrender of the occupying German garrison on August 25th. It could be regarded by some as the last battle in the Battle for Normandy, though that really ended with the crushing of the Wehrmacht forces between the...
. Allied strategy emphasized destroying German forces retreating towards the Rhine, but when the French Resistance under Colonel Rol-Tanguy
Henri Rol-Tanguy
Henri Rol-Tanguy was a French communist and a leader in the French Resistance during World War II.-Biography:...
staged an uprising in the city, Charles de Gaulle pleaded with Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
to send help. Eisenhower agreed and Leclerc's forces headed for Paris. After hard fighting that cost the 2nd Division 35 tanks, 6 self-propelled guns, and 111 vehicles, von Choltitz
Dietrich von Choltitz
General der Infanterie Dietrich von Choltitz was the German military governor of Paris during the closing days of the German occupation of that city during World War II...
, the military governor of Paris, surrendered the city at the Hôtel Meurice
Hotel Meurice
Le Meurice is a 5-star hotel in Paris, located opposite the Tuileries Garden, between Place de la Concorde and the Musée du Louvre. This hotel is owned and managed by the Dorchester Collection...
. Jubilant crowds greeted French forces, and de Gaulle conducted a famous parade through the city.
Lorraine Campaign, Liberation of Strasbourg (1944-January 1945)
Lorraine (région)
Lorraine is one of the 27 régions of France. The administrative region has two cities of equal importance, Metz and Nancy. Metz is considered to be the official capital since that is where the regional parliament is situated...
, spearheading the U.S. Seventh Army drive through the northern Vosges Mountains
Vosges mountains
For the department of France of the same name, see Vosges.The Vosges are a range of low mountains in eastern France, near its border with Germany. They extend along the west side of the Rhine valley in a northnortheast direction, mainly from Belfort to Saverne...
and forcing the Saverne
Saverne
Saverne is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. It is situated on the Rhine-Marne canal at the foot of a pass over the Vosges Mountains, and 45 km N.W...
Gap. Eventually, after liberating Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
in November 1944, defending against the German Nordwind
Operation Nordwind
Operation North Wind was the last major German offensive of World War II on the Western Front. It began on 1 January 1945 in Alsace and Lorraine in northeastern France, and it ended on 25 January.-Objectives:...
counter-offensive in Alsace
Alsace
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...
in January 1945, and conducting operations against the Royan
Royan
Royan is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department, along the Atlantic Ocean, in southwestern France.A seaside resort, Royan is in the heart of an urban area estimated at 38,638 inhabitants, which makes it the fourth-largest conurbation in the department, after La Rochelle, Rochefort and Saintes...
Pocket on the Atlantic coast of France.
Operation Jedburgh (June)
Operation Dragoon
Operation Dragoon was the Allied invasion of southern France on August 15, 1944, during World War II. The invasion was initiated via a parachute drop by the 1st Airborne Task Force, followed by an amphibious assault by elements of the U.S. Seventh Army, followed a day later by a force made up...
) and prepare the French Resistance. This Allied operation was in conjunction with the Free French intelligence service Bureau Central de Renseignements et d'Action
Bureau Central de Renseignements et d'Action
The Bureau Central de Renseignements et d'Action , commonly referred as the BCRA was the World War II-era forerunner of the SDECE, the French intelligence service...
(BCRA); famous French Jedburghs are Jean Sassi
Jean Sassi
Jean Sassi was a French Army colonel and intelligence service officer, former "Jedburgh" of France and Far East. Commando chief of the SDECE's 11th Shock Parachutist Regiment...
and Paul Aussaresses
Paul Aussaresses
Paul Aussaresses is a retired French Army general, who fought during World War II, the First Indochina War and Algerian War...
.
Battle for Provence (August)
Operation Dragoon
Operation Dragoon was the Allied invasion of southern France on August 15, 1944, during World War II. The invasion was initiated via a parachute drop by the 1st Airborne Task Force, followed by an amphibious assault by elements of the U.S. Seventh Army, followed a day later by a force made up...
was the Allied
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
invasion of southern France, on August 15, 1944, as part of World War II. The invasion took place between Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
and Cannes
Cannes
Cannes is one of the best-known cities of the French Riviera, a busy tourist destination and host of the annual Cannes Film Festival. It is a Commune of France in the Alpes-Maritimes department....
. During the planning stages, the operation was known as Anvil, to complement Operation Hammer, which was at that time the codename for the invasion of Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
. Subsequently, both plans were renamed, the latter becoming Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...
, the former becoming Operation Dragoon; a name supposedly picked by Winston Churchill, who was opposed to the plan, and claimed to having been "dragooned" into accepting it.
The plan originally envisaged a mixture of Free French
Free French Forces
The Free French Forces were French partisans in World War II who decided to continue fighting against the forces of the Axis powers after the surrender of France and subsequent German occupation and, in the case of Vichy France, collaboration with the Germans.-Definition:In many sources, Free...
and American troops taking Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
and later Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , 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...
, with subsequent revisions encompassing Saint Tropez. The plan was revised throughout 1944, however, with conflict developing between British military staff — who were opposed to the landings, arguing that the troops and equipment should be either retained in Italy or sent there — and American military staff, who were in favour of the assault. This was part of a larger Anglo-American strategic disagreement.
The balance was tipped in favour of Dragoon by two events: the eventual fall of Rome in early June, plus the success of Operation Cobra
Operation Cobra
Operation Cobra was the codename for an offensive launched by the First United States Army seven weeks after the D-Day landings, during the Normandy Campaign of World War II...
, the breakout from the Normandy
Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...
pocket, at the end of the month. Operation Dragoon's D-Day
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
was set for August 15, 1944. The final go-ahead was given at short notice.
The U.S. 6th Army Group
U.S. 6th Army Group
The Sixth United States Army Group was an Army Group of the Allies during World War II, and as contained armies from both the United States Army and the French Army it is also referred to as the Southern Group of Armies.-History:...
, also known as the Southern Group of Armies, commanded by Lieutenant General Jacob L. Devers
Jacob L. Devers
General Jacob "Jake" Loucks Devers , commander of the 6th Army Group in Europe during World War II. He was the first United States military officer to reach the Rhine after D-Day.-Biography:...
was created in Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
and activated on August 1, 1944 to consolidate the combined French and American forces that were planning to invade southern France in Operation Dragoon. At first it was subordinate to AFHQ (Allied Forces Headquarters) under the command of Field Marshal Sir Henry Maitland Wilson who was the supreme commander of the Mediterranean Theater
Mediterranean Theatre of World War II
The African, Mediterranean and Middle East theatres encompassed the naval, land, and air campaigns fought between the Allied and Axis forces in the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and Africa...
. One month after the invasion, command was handed over to SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Forces) under U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
, the supreme commander of Allied forces on the Western Front
Western Front (World War II)
The Western Front of the European Theatre of World War II encompassed, Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and West Germany. The Western Front was marked by two phases of large-scale ground combat operations...
.
The assault troops were formed of three American divisions of the VI Corps, reinforced by a French armoured division. The 3rd Infantry Division landed on the left at Alpha Beach (Cavalaire-sur-Mer
Cavalaire-sur-Mer
Cavalaire-sur-Mer is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.-History:During World War II, on August 16, 1944, it was one of the sites of a beach landing in Operation Dragoon, the Allied invasion of southern FranceCavalaire-sur-Mer is probably...
), the 45th Infantry Division landed in the centre at Delta Beach (Saint-Tropez
Saint-Tropez
Saint-Tropez is a town, 104 km to the east of Marseille, in the Var department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. It is also the principal town in the canton of Saint-Tropez....
), and the 36th Infantry Division landed on the right at Camel Beach (Saint-Raphaël
Saint-Raphaël, Var
Saint-Raphaël is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.Immediately to the west of Saint-Raphaël lies another, older, town called Fréjus, and together they form an urban agglomeration known as Fréjus Saint-Raphaël...
). These were supported by French commando groups landing on both flanks, and by Rugby Force, a parachute assault in the Le Muy-Le Luc area by the 1st Airborne Task Force: British 2nd Parachute Brigade
British 2nd Parachute Brigade
The 2nd Parachute Brigade was an airborne forces brigade formed by the British Army during the Second World War.The 2nd Parachute Brigade was the second parachute brigade to be formed by the British Army in 1942; it was initially part of the 1st Airborne Division but in 1943, after the...
, the U.S. 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team
517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team
The 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team , one of the U.S. Army's first elite combat units, began its existence in March 1943, training at Camp Toccoa in the backwoods of Georgia...
, and a composite U.S. airborne glider regimental combat team formed from the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion, the 550th Glider Infantry Battalion, and the 1st Battalion, 551st Parachute Infantry regiment. The 1st Special Service Force took two offshore islands to protect the beachhead.
Naval gunfire from Allied ships, including battleships Lorraine
French battleship Lorraine
The Lorraine was a French Navy battleship of the Bretagne class named in honour of the region of Lorraine in France.- Construction :...
, , , and and a fleet of over 50 cruisers and destroyers supported the landings. Seven Allied escort carriers provided air cover.
Over ninety-four thousand troops and eleven thousand vehicles were landed on the first day. A number of German troops had been diverted to fight the Allied forces in Northern France after Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...
and a major attack by French resistance
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...
fighters, coordinated by Captain Aaron Bank
Aaron Bank
Colonel Aaron Bank was an officer of the United States Army, and the founder of the US Army Special Forces, commonly called "Green Berets". He is also famous for his exploits as an OSS officer during World War II, parachuting into France to coordinate and activate the French Resistance and...
of the OSS
Office of Strategic Services
The 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...
, helped drive the remaining German forces back from the beachhead in advance of the landing. As a result, the Allied forces met little resistance as they moved inland. The quick success of this invasion, with a twenty-mile penetration in twenty-four hours, sparked a major uprising by resistance fighters in Paris.
Follow-up formations included US VI Corps HQ, US Seventh Army HQ, French Army B
French First Army
The First Army was a field army of France that fought during World War I and World War II. It was also active during the Cold War.-First World War:...
(later redesignated the French First Army) and French I and II Corps.
The Dragoon force met up with southern thrusts from Overlord in mid-September, near Dijon
Dijon
Dijon is a city in eastern France, the capital of the Côte-d'Or département and of the Burgundy region.Dijon is the historical capital of the region of Burgundy. Population : 151,576 within the city limits; 250,516 for the greater Dijon area....
.
Operation Dragoon included a glider landing (Operation Dove
Operation Dove
In World War II, Mission Dove was the glider-borne assault conducted as part of the invasion of southern France on 15 August 1944. Over three hundred gliders carried three thousand soldiers and critical equipment to reinforce paratroopers who had already landed....
) and a deception (Operation Span
Operation Span
During World War II, Operation Span was an Allied deception operation in support of the 1944 landings in southern France .After the Dragoon landings, landing craft and other amphibious vessels were used to approach likely landing areas elsewhere in southern France coast and along the Italian coast...
).
A planned benefit of Dragoon was the usefulness of the port of Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , 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...
. The rapid Allied advance after Operation Cobra
Operation Cobra
Operation Cobra was the codename for an offensive launched by the First United States Army seven weeks after the D-Day landings, during the Normandy Campaign of World War II...
and Dragoon slowed almost to a halt in September 1944 due to a critical lack of supplies, as thousands of tons of supplies were shunted to NW France to compensate for the inadequacies of port facilities and land transport in northern Europe. Marseille and the southern French railways were brought back into service despite heavy damage to the Port of Marseille and its railroad trunk lines. They became a significant supply route for the Allied advance into Germany, providing about a third of the Allied needs.
Operation Romeo (August 15, 1944)
French commandos assaulted German artillery position at Cap Nègre. 300 German soldiers were killed and 700 were taken prisoner. The French commandos suffered 11 men killed and 50 wounded.
Liberation of Toulon and Marseilles
From: Southern France
The French First Army under Jean de Lattre de Tassigny
Jean de Lattre de Tassigny
Jean Joseph Marie Gabriel de Lattre de Tassigny, GCB, MC was a French military hero of World War II and commander in the First Indochina War.-Early life:...
performed spectacularly in the capture of Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
and Marseilles.
"The original plan intended to attack the two ports in succession. The accelerated landings of de Lattre's French forces, however, and the general situation allowed concurrent operations against both. De Lattre ordered Lt. Gen. Edgard de Larminat
Edgard de Larminat
Edgard de Larminat was a French general, who fought in two World Wars. He was one of the most important military figures who rejoined the Free French forces in 1940...
to move west against Toulon along the coast, with two infantry divisions supported by tanks and commandos. Simultaneously, a second force, under Maj. Gen. Goislard de Monsabert
Joseph de Goislard de Monsabert
Joseph de Goislard de Monsabert , was a French general who served during the Second World War....
and consisting of one infantry division and similar supporting forces, would advance in a more northwesterly direction, encircling the naval port from the north and west and probing toward Marseille. De Lattre knew that the German garrisons at the ports were substantial: some 18,000 troops of all types at Toulon and another 13,000, mostly army, at Marseille. However, Resistance sources also told him that the defenders had not yet put much effort into protecting the landward approaches to the ports, and he was convinced that a quick strike by experienced combat troops might well crack their defenses before they had a chance to coalesce. Speed was essential.
On the morning of August 20, with the German command in Toulon still in a state of confusion and the Nineteenth Army more concerned with Truscott's westward progress well north of the port, de Larminat attacked from the east while Monsabert circled around to the north, quickly outflanking Toulon's hasty defenses along the coast. By the 21st Monsabert had cut the Toulon-Marseille road, and several of his units had entered Toulon from the west, penetrating to within two miles of the main waterfront. Between 21 and 23 August, the French slowly squeezed the Germans back into the inner city in a series of almost continuous street fights. As the German defense lost coherence, isolated groups began to surrender, with the last organized resistance ending on the 26th and the formal German surrender occurring on 28 August. The battle cost de Lattre about 2,700 casualties, but the French claimed 17,000 prisoners, indicating that few Germans had followed the Fuehrer's "stand and die" order.
Even as French forces occupied Toulon, Monsabert began the attack on Marseille, generally screening German defenses along the coast and striking from the northeastern and northern approaches. Early gains on the 22d put French troops within five to eight miles of the city's center, while a major Resistance uprising within the port encouraged French soldiers to strike deeper.
Although de Lattre urged caution, concerned over the dispersion of his forces and the shortage of fuel for his tanks and trucks, Monsabert's infantry plunged into the heart of Marseille in the early hours of 23 August. Their initiative decided the issue, and the fighting soon became a matter of battling from street to street and from house to house, as in Toulon. On the evening of the 27th, the German commander parleyed with Monsabert to arrange terms and a formal surrender became effective on the 28th, the same day as the capitulation of Toulon. At Marseille, the French took over 1,800 casualties and acquired roughly 11,000 more prisoners. Equally important, both ports, although badly damaged by German demolitions, were in Allied hands many weeks ahead of schedule."
Liberation of north-eastern France (September 1944-March 1945)
Moving north, the French First Army liberated 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....
on 2 September 1944 and moved into the southern Vosges Mountains
Vosges mountains
For the department of France of the same name, see Vosges.The Vosges are a range of low mountains in eastern France, near its border with Germany. They extend along the west side of the Rhine valley in a northnortheast direction, mainly from Belfort to Saverne...
, capturing Belfort
Belfort
Belfort is a commune in the Territoire de Belfort department in Franche-Comté in northeastern France and is the prefecture of the department. It is located on the Savoureuse, on the strategically important natural route between the Rhine and the Rhône – the Belfort Gap or Burgundian Gate .-...
and forcing the Belfort Gap at the close of November 1944. Following the capture of the Belfort Gap, French operations in the area of Burnhaupt destroyed the German IV Luftwaffe Korps. In February 1945, with the assistance of the U.S. XXI Corps
XXI Corps (United States)
Initially constituted on 2 December 1943 in the Army of the United States, the XXI Corps was activated on 6 December 1943 at Camp Polk, Louisiana. XXI Corps fought for 116 days in the European Theater of Operations, fighting from Alsace through southern Germany and into Austria. The corps was...
, the First Army collapsed the Colmar Pocket
Colmar Pocket
The Colmar Pocket ; in Alsace, France, was the site of an operation during the Second World War, between 20 January and 9 February 1945, where the French First Army and the U.S...
and cleared the west bank of the Rhine River of Germans in the area south of Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
.
First French Army in west Germany (March–April 1945)
In March 1945, the First Army fought through the Siegfried LineSiegfried Line
The original Siegfried line was a line of defensive forts and tank defences built by Germany as a section of the Hindenburg Line 1916–1917 in northern France during World War I...
fortifications in the Bienwald
Bienwald
The Bienwald is a large forested area in the southern Pfalz region of Germany near the towns of Kandel and Wörth am Rhein. The western edge defines the eastern extent of the Wissembourg Gap, a corridor of open terrain between the Bienwald and the hills of the Pfälzer Wald. In the northwest, the...
Forest near Lauterbourg
Lauterbourg
Lauterbourg is a commune and Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. Situated on the German border and not far from the German city of Karlsruhe, it is the easternmost commune in Metropolitan France...
. Subsequently, the First Army crossed the Rhine near Speyer
Speyer
Speyer is a city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located beside the river Rhine, Speyer is 25 km south of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim. Founded by the Romans, it is one of Germany's oldest cities...
and captured Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe
The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
and Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
. Operations by the First Army in April 1945 encircled and captured the German XVIII. S.S.-Armeekorps in the Black Forest
Black Forest
The Black Forest is a wooded mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Rhine valley to the west and south. The highest peak is the Feldberg with an elevation of 1,493 metres ....
and cleared southwestern Germany.
Normandie-Niemen air raids over Königsberg (April 1945)
Free French Normandie-NiemenNormandie-Niemen
The Normandie-Niemen Regiment was a fighter squadron, later regiment of the French Air Force. It served on the Eastern Front of the European Theatre of World War II with the 1st Air Army...
squadron's flag features Battle of Königsberg
Battle of Königsberg
The Battle of Königsberg , was one of the last operations of the East Prussian Offensive during World War II. In four days of violent urban warfare, Soviet forces of the 1st Baltic Front and the 3rd Belorussian Front captured the city of Königsberg...
1945 as battle honor and the unit was awarded the "Take of the Königsberg Fortress" medal.
Free French Division Leclerc at Berchtesgaden (May 4, 1945)
General Leclerc's 2nd Division finished its campaigning at the Nazi resort town of BerchtesgadenBerchtesgaden
Berchtesgaden is a municipality in the German Bavarian Alps. It is located in the south district of Berchtesgadener Land in Bavaria, near the border with Austria, some 30 km south of Salzburg and 180 km southeast of Munich...
, in southeastern Germany, where Hitler's mountain residence, the Berghof, was located. Leclerc's armoured unit was along the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division.
French Army of Africa's 7e RCA at Württemberg (1945)
The 7th Africa Chasers Regiment's (7e Régiment de chasseurs d'Afrique) battleflag hints this Army of Africa Free French unit fought at WürttembergWürttemberg
Württemberg , formerly known as Wirtemberg or Wurtemberg, is an area and a former state in southwestern Germany, including parts of the regions Swabia and Franconia....
during the Allied invasion of Germany in 1945.
German defeat, French occupation of Germany
German Instrument of Surrender, 1945
The German Instrument of Surrender was the legal instrument that established the armistice ending World War II in Europe. It was signed by representatives of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht and the Allied Expeditionary Force together with the Soviet High Command, French representative signing as...
at Rheims, France, officially ending the war in Europe. The United States and Great Britain ceded both a part of their occupation area in western Germany to France.
French SAS Operation Amherst (April 7–8, 1945)
The operation began with the drop of 700 Special Air ServiceSpecial Air Service
Special Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
troopers of 3rd and 4th French SAS on the night of 7 April 1945. The teams spread out to capture and protect key facilities from the Germans. Advancing Canadian troops of the 8th Reconnaissance Regiment relieved the isolated French SAS.
Battle of the Bulge (1944-1945)
Two French Light Infantry Battalions (J. Lawton CollinsJ. Lawton Collins
Joseph "Lightning Joe" Lawton Collins was a General in the United States Army. During World War II, he served in both the Pacific and European Theaters of Operations. His elder brother, James Lawton Collins, was also in the army as a Major General...
's VII Corps (United States)) and six French Light Infantry Battalions from Metz region (Troy H. Middleton
Troy H. Middleton
Lieutenant General Troy Houston Middleton was a distinguished soldier-educator who served as a corps commander in Europe during World War II and later as President of Louisiana State University...
's VIII Corps (United States)
VIII Corps (United States)
The U.S. VIII Corps was a corps of the United States Army that saw service during various times over a fifty-year period during the twentieth century. The VIII Corps was organized 26–29 November 1918 in the Regular Army in France and demobilized on 20 April 1919. The VIII Corps was soon...
) fought the Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
. The 3rd SAS French 1st Airborne Marine Infantry Regiment battle honor bears the Battle of Bulge ("Ardennes Belges 1945").
"British treachery" over Free French navy (July 3-August 31, 1940)
On July 3, 1940, Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered the capture of French ships by the British as Operation Catapult. Not only this included the enemy Vichy French ships in the Mediterranean (see Battle of Mers-el-Kebir) but also the ally Free French ships docked in Britain after the Dunkirk evacuation. The capture by force of docked ships led to fighting between Free French sailors and, said "ally", outnumbering armed British Marines, sailors and soldiers in the English harbours (similar operation was set in Canada). The British assault on the then world largest submarine Surcouf (NN3) resulted in three dead British (2 Royal Navy officers and 1 British seaman) and one dead Free French (warrant officer mechanic Yves Daniel).Hijacked Free French vessels include Free which was captured by the British at Plymouth. Because of the complexity of her handling and of the need to support the Free France, Triomphant was handed to the FNFL, on 28 August 1940, and put under the command of captain Pierre Gilly. Her aft gun was replaced by a British model. was on repair at Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
after the Dunkirk evacuation when it was captured by the British. It was handed over to the Free French Naval Forces
Free French Naval Forces
Les Forces Navales Françaises Libres were the naval arm of the Free French Forces during the Second World War. They were commanded by Admiral Emile Muselier.- History :...
on 31 August. French battleship Paris
French battleship Paris
Paris was the third ship of the s, the first dreadnoughts built for the French Navy. She was completed before World War I as part of the 1911 naval building programme. She spent the war in the Mediterranean, spending most of 1914 providing gunfire support for the Montenegrin Army until her sister...
also on repair at Plymouth, along with its sister-ship Courbet
French battleship Courbet (1911)
Courbet was the lead ship of her class, the first dreadnoughts built for the French Navy. She was completed before World War I and named in honour of Admiral Amédée Courbet. She spent the war in the Mediterranean, helping to sink the Austro-Hungarian protected cruiser in August 1914...
, eight torpedo boats, five submarines and a number of other ships of lesser importance. After its hijack, the British planned to transfer her to the Polish Navy
Polish Navy
The Marynarka Wojenna Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej - MW RP Polish Navy, is the branch of Republic of Poland Armed Forces responsible for naval operations...
. The ceremony was to be held on July 15, 1940 and it was planned to rename the ship to OF Paris (OF - Okręt Francuski - "French ship") but due to lack of personnel the ship was never handed over to the Polish Navy and was used by the British as an accommodation ship in Devonport
HMNB Devonport
Her Majesty's Naval Base Devonport , is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy . HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England...
.
British captured French destroyer Ouragan was not returned to the Free French and instead was transferred to the Free Polish Navy
Polish Navy
The Marynarka Wojenna Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej - MW RP Polish Navy, is the branch of Republic of Poland Armed Forces responsible for naval operations...
on 17 July 1940. Until 30 April 1941 she sailed under the Polish ensign (using pennant number H16) but as OF Ouragan (OF - Okręt Francuski - "French ship"), instead of the usual ORP
Ship prefix
A ship prefix is a combination of letters, usually abbreviations, used in front of the name of a civilian or naval ship.Prefixes for civilian vessels may either identify the type of propulsion, such as "SS" for steamship, or purpose, such as "RV" for research vessel. Civilian prefixes are often...
prefix. It was only after 287 days that Ouragan was returned to its owner, on 30 April 1941.
After the capture of allied ships, the British attempted to repatriate the captured Free French sailors. The British hospital ship that was carrying them back to metropolitan France was sunk by the Germans, and many of the French blamed the British for the deaths.
The Operation Catapult was called « treachery
Betrayal
Betrayal is the breaking or violation of a presumptive contract, trust, or confidence that produces moral and psychological conflict within a relationship amongst individuals, between organizations or between individuals and organizations...
» by both the Vichy and Free French; the French State exploited this series of events in its anti-British propaganda which has a long running history back to the Perfidious Albion
Perfidious Albion
'Perfidious Albion' is a pejorative phrase used within the context of international relations and diplomacy to refer to acts of duplicity, treachery and hence infidelity by monarchs or governments of Britain in their pursuit of self-interest and the requirements of...
myth.
Atlantic theatre of World War II
Battle of the Atlantic (1939–1945)
The French Navy took part in the naval Battle of the Atlantic from 1939 to 1940. After the armistice of June 1940, Free French Naval ForcesFree French Naval Forces
Les Forces Navales Françaises Libres were the naval arm of the Free French Forces during the Second World War. They were commanded by Admiral Emile Muselier.- History :...
, headed by admiral Émile Muselier
Émile Muselier
Emile Henry Muselier was a French admiral who led the Free French Naval Forces during World War II. He was responsible for the idea of distinguishing his fleet from that of Vichy France by adopting the Cross of Lorraine, which later became the emblem of all of the Free French...
, were created and pursued the war on the Allies side.
Last battle of the battleship Bismarck (May 26–27, 1941)
The Free French Navy's submarine Minerve was involved in the Allied battle against the Allied battle against the Bismarck.Free French rescue of British Convoy HG-75 (October 24, 1941)
On October 24, 1941 a British merchant ship convoy comprising SS CarsbreckSS Carsbreck
The SS Carsbreck was a British steam merchant ship. She was sunk while carrying supplies to the UK during the Second World War.-Early years and convoy SC-7:...
sailing from Mediterranean sea to the Atlantic from Almería
Almería
Almería is a city in Andalusia, Spain, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is the capital of the province of the same name.-Toponym:Tradition says that the name Almería stems from the Arabic المرية Al-Mariyya: "The Mirror", comparing it to "The Mirror of the Sea"...
, Spain to Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness is an industrial town and seaport which forms about half the territory of the wider Borough of Barrow-in-Furness in the county of Cumbria, England. It lies north of Liverpool, northwest of Manchester and southwest from the county town of Carlisle...
, England was sunk by a Kriegsmarine U-Boot
U-boot
U-boot can refer to:* U-boats, military submarines operated by Germany during World War I and World War II* Das U-Boot, also known simply as U-Boot, a computer software which serves as a bootstrap loader in many embedded systems....
(U-564) which fired five torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
es at the convoy. Three ships had been hit and were sunk. These were the Carsbreck, the Ariosto and the Alhama. Twenty-four of the Carsbrecks crew, nineteen crew members and four gunners and the master, were lost. Sixteen crew members and two gunners survived to be picked up by the Free French Naval Forces
Free French Naval Forces
Les Forces Navales Françaises Libres were the naval arm of the Free French Forces during the Second World War. They were commanded by Admiral Emile Muselier.- History :...
sloop Commandant Duboc (F743).
Laconia incident (12 September 1942)
Vichy French ships were involved with the Laconia incidentLaconia incident
The Laconia incident was an abortive naval rescue attempt in the Atlantic Ocean during World War II. On 12 September 1942, , carrying some 80 civilians, 268 British Army soldiers, about 1,800 Italian prisoners of war, and 160 Polish soldiers , was struck and sunk by a torpedo from Kriegsmarine...
.
Mediterranean theatre of World War II
Naval battle of the Mediterranean (1940-1945)
Both the Vichy French Navy and Free French Navy fought the Battle of the MediterraneanBattle of the Mediterranean
The Battle of the Mediterranean was the name given to the naval campaign fought in the Mediterranean Sea during World War II, from 10 June 1940-2 May 1945....
sea.
Naval battle of Mers El Kébir (July 3, 1940)
The British began to doubt Admiral Darlan's promise to Churchill to not allow the French fleet at Toulon to fall into German hands by the wording of the armistice conditions. In the end, the British attacked French naval forces in Africa and EuropeDestruction of the French Fleet at Mers-el-Kebir
The Attack on Mers-el-Kébir, part of Operation Catapult and also known as the Battle of Mers-el-Kébir, was a naval engagement fought at Mers-el-Kébir on the coast of what was then French Algeria on 3 July 1940...
killing 1000 French soldiers at Mers El Kebir alone. This action led to feelings of animosity and mistrust between the Vichy French and their former British allies. During the course of the war, Vichy France forces lost 2,653 soldiers and Free France lost 20,000.
In German and Italian hands, the French fleet would have been a grave threat to Britain and the British Government was unable to take this risk. In order to neutralise the threat, Winston Churchill ordered that the French ships should rejoin the Allies, agree to be put out of use in a British, French or neutral port or, as a last resort, be destroyed by British attack (Operation Catapult
Destruction of the French Fleet at Mers-el-Kebir
The Attack on Mers-el-Kébir, part of Operation Catapult and also known as the Battle of Mers-el-Kébir, was a naval engagement fought at Mers-el-Kébir on the coast of what was then French Algeria on 3 July 1940...
). The Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
attempted to persuade the French Navy to agree to these terms, but when that failed they attacked the French Navy at Mers El Kébir and Dakar
Dakar
Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...
(see http://www.combinedops.com/mers%20el%20kabir.htm), on July 3, 1940. This caused bitterness and division in France, particularly in the Navy, and discouraged many French soldiers from joining the Free French forces in Britain and elsewhere. Also, the attempt to persuade Vichy French forces in Dakar
Dakar
Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...
to join De Gaulle failed. (See West African campaign
West Africa Campaign (World War II)
The name West African campaign refers to two battles during World War II: the Battle of Dakar and the Battle of Gabon, both of which took place in late 1940...
and Operation Menace
Battle of Dakar
The Battle of Dakar, also known as Operation Menace, was an unsuccessful attempt in September 1940 by the Allies to capture the strategic port of Dakar in French West Africa , which was under Vichy French control, and to install the Free French under General Charles de Gaulle there.-Background:At...
).
Sabotage operation in Greece (June 12–13, 1942)
In June 1942, British SAS C.O. David StirlingDavid Stirling
Colonel Sir Archibald David Stirling, DSO, DFC, OBE was a Scottish laird, mountaineer, World War II British Army officer, and the founder of the Special Air Service.-Life before the war:...
gave British captains George Jellicoe
George Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe
George Patrick John Rushworth Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe, KBE, DSO, MC, PC, FRS was a British politician and statesman, diplomat and businessman....
and Free French Georges Bergé
Georges Bergé
Georges Roger Pierre Bergé was a French Army general who served during World War II. He enlisted in the Free French Forces, where he took command of the 1re compagnie de chasseurs parachutistes . He is mentioned by David Stirling as one of the co-founders of the Special Air Service...
a mission in the Greek island of Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
called Operation Heraklion. Bergé chose three Free French commandos Jacques Mouhot, Pierre Léostic and Jack Sibard, while Lieutenant Kostis Petrakis a local from Crete's special service joined them as civilian.
They managed to destroy 22 Junkers Ju 88
Junkers Ju 88
The Junkers Ju 88 was a World War II German Luftwaffe twin-engine, multi-role aircraft. Designed by Hugo Junkers' company through the services of two American aviation engineers in the mid-1930s, it suffered from a number of technical problems during the later stages of its development and early...
German bombers at the Candia-Heraklion
Heraklion
Heraklion, or Heraclion is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete, Greece. It is the 4th largest city in Greece....
airfield. However their retreat was betrayed and 17-year old Pierre Léostic refused to surrender and was killed while the other three Free French were caught and transferred in Germany; the British and Cretian commandos escaped and were evacuated to Egypt.
Jacques Mouhot failed to escape three times, he eventually succeeded the fourth time. He subsequently crossed Germany, Belgium, France and Spain to arrive in London on August 22, 1943.
Scuttling of the French fleet in Toulon (November 27, 1942)
The Vichy French navy did sabotage on its docked fleet at ToulonToulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
in southern France. This act's purpose was to prevent the German Kriegsmarine to seize the Vichy French ships and to be able to use its firepower against the Allies and Free French.
Allied invasion of Sicily (July 9–August 17, 1943)
Licata
Licata is a city and comune located on the south coast of Sicily, at the mouth of the Salso River , about midway between Agrigento and Gela...
) from U.S. 7th Army, No. II/5 "LaFayette" French Squadron with Curtiss P-40
Curtiss P-40
The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk was an American single-engine, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and enabled a rapid entry into production and operational...
s and No. II/7 "Nice" French Squadron with Spitfires both from No. 242 Group RAF
No. 242 Group RAF
No. 242 Group was a group of the British Royal Air Force formed on 24 August 1942. Its first commander was Air Commodore George Lawson.-History:...
), II/33 Groupe "Savoie" with P-38 Lightning
P-38 Lightning
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was a World War II American fighter aircraft built by Lockheed. Developed to a United States Army Air Corps requirement, the P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a single, central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament...
from the Northwest African Photographic Reconnaissance Wing
Northwest African Photographic Reconnaissance Wing
The Northwest African Photographic Reconnaissance Wing was an Allied photo-reconnaissance wing which operated in North Africa during World War II until the end of 1943.- History :...
and 131st RCC with Renault R35 tanks.
Liberation of Corsica (September–October 1943)
In September–October 1943, an ad hocAd hoc
Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning "for this". It generally signifies a solution designed for a specific problem or task, non-generalizable, and not intended to be able to be adapted to other purposes. Compare A priori....
force (ca. 6,000 troops) of the French Ist Corps
I Corps (France)
The I Corps was first formed before World War I. During World War II it fought in the Campaign for France in 1940, on the Mediterranean islands of Corsica and Elba in 1943 - 1944, and in the campaigns to liberate France in 1944 and invade Germany in 1945....
liberated Corsica, defended by the German 90th Panzergrenadier Division and the Sturmbrigade Reichsführer-SS
16th SS Panzergrenadier Division Reichsführer-SS
The 16th SS Panzergrenadier Division Reichsführer-SS was a Panzergrenadier formation of the Waffen-SS during World War II.-History:Formed in November 1943 when Volksdeutsche recruits were added to the Sturmbrigade Reichsführer SS, which was used as the cadre in the formation of the new division...
(ca. 30,000 troops) (45,000 Italians were also present, but at least part of that force joined the Allies). Thereby Corsica became the first French metropolitan department liberated in World War II; the first liberated département was Algiers in November 1942.
African theatre of World War II
North African campaignNorth African campaignDuring the Second World War, the North African Campaign took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and in Morocco and Algeria and Tunisia .The campaign was fought between the Allies and Axis powers, many of whom had...
& Desert WarWestern Desert CampaignThe Western Desert Campaign, also known as the Desert War, was the initial stage of the North African Campaign during the Second World War. The campaign was heavily influenced by the availability of supplies and transport. The ability of the Allied forces, operating from besieged Malta, to...
Operation Torch
Operation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign, started on 8 November 1942....
. Naval and airbornes landings opposed American and British troops to Vichy French forces. The French Resistance interfered in the Allied side by setting a coup d'état against both Vichy French governors, one failed the other succeeded.
Operation Torch had an important aftermath on the French military rallying the Army of Africa to the Free French cause and in the same time infuriated Hitler who ordered the occupation of metropolitan France's southern, said free, zone as well as air raids against French Algeria cities by the Libya based Luftwaffe.
North African Free French Air Force (July 1940–1945)
Free French Flight
Free French Flight refers to three specific fledgling units in the Free French Air Force which were created in the Middle East on 8 July 1940....
(FAFL) units based in Middle-Eastern French colonies. They were initially equipped with a mixture of British, French and American aircraft. From a strength of 500 on July 1940, the ranks of the Forces Aériennes Françaises Libres (FAFL) grew to 900 by 1941, including 200 fliers.
Besides the FAFL air force existed the Free French Naval Air Service
Free French Naval Air Service
The Free French Naval Air Service was the air arm of Free French Naval Forces during the Second World War....
. On August 3, 1943, de Gaulle's Free French forces merged with Giraud's Army of Africa.
Coup of Casablanca (November 7)
On the night of 7 November − the eve of Operation Torch
Operation Torch
Operation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign, started on 8 November 1942....
− pro-Allied French General Antoine Béthouart
Antoine Béthouart
Marie Émile Antoine Béthouart was a French Army general who served during World War I and World War II....
attempted a coup d'état against the Vichy French command in Morocco, so that he could surrender to the Allies the next day. His forces surrounded the villa of General Charles Noguès, the Vichy-loyal high commissioner. However, Noguès telephoned loyal forces, who stopped the coup. In addition, the coup attempt alerted Noguès to the impending Allied invasion, and he immediately bolstered French coastal defenses.
Coup of Algiers
As agreed at Cherchell
Cherchell
Cherchell is a seaport town in the Province of Tipaza, Algeria, 55 miles west of Algiers. It is the district seat of Cherchell District. As of 1998, it had a population of 24,400.-Ancient history:...
, starting at midnight and continuing through the early hours of 8 November, as the invasion troops were approaching the shore, a group of 400 French resistance under the command of Henri d'Astier de la Vigerie
Henri d'Astier de la Vigerie
Henri d'Astier de La Vigerie was a French soldier, Résistance member, and conservative politician.-Life:Henri d'Astier was born in Villedieu-sur-Indre, a small village in the Indre département of central France...
and José Aboulker
José Aboulker
José Aboulker was a member of the anti-Nazi resistance who co-founded a resistance network in Algiers in World War II and emerged as one of the main leaders of the resistance movement in North Africa...
staged a coup in the city of Algiers. They seized key targets, including the telephone exchange, radio station, governor's house and the headquarters of 19th Corps.
Robert Murphy
Robert Daniel Murphy
Robert Daniel Murphy was an American diplomat.Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Murphy had begun his diplomatic career in 1917 as a member of the American Legation in Bern, Switzerland. Among the several posts he held were Vice-Consul in Zurich and Munich, American Consul in Paris from 1930 to 1936,...
then drove to the residence of General Alphonse Juin
Alphonse Juin
- Early years :Juin was born at Bône in French Algeria, and enlisted in the French Army, graduating from the École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr in 1912.- Career :...
, the senior French Army officer in North Africa, with some resistance fighters. While the resistance surrounded the house, making Juin effectively a prisoner, Murphy attempted to persuade him to side with the Allies. However, he was treated to a surprise: Admiral François Darlan
François Darlan
Jean Louis Xavier François Darlan was a French naval officer. His great-grandfather was killed at the Battle of Trafalgar...
, the commander of all French forces, was in Algiers on a private visit. Juin insisted on contacting Darlan, and Murphy was unable to persuade either to side with the Allies. In the early morning, the Gendarmerie arrived and released Juin and Darlan.
French Tunisia campaign (1942-1943)
Giraud's Army of Africa fought in Tunisia (late North African CampaignNorth African campaign
During the Second World War, the North African Campaign took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and in Morocco and Algeria and Tunisia .The campaign was fought between the Allies and Axis powers, many of whom had...
) alongside de Gaulle's Free French Forces, the British 1st Army and the US II Corps for six months until April, 1943. Using antiquated equipment, they took heavy casualties - 16,000 - against modern armour of the German enemy.
Operation Pugilist (March 16–27, 1943)
The Operation Pugilist
Operation Pugilist
Operation Pugilist was an Allied operation in Tunisia during the Second World War. In his General Plan, General Bernard Montgomery stated "...the object of operation Pugilist is to destroy the enemy now opposing Eighth Army in the Mareth position, and to advance and capture Sfax." Pugilist itself...
involves the Free French Flying Column (X Corps (United Kingdom)
X Corps (United Kingdom)
The X Corps was a British Army formation in the First World War and was later reformed in 1942 during the North African campaign of the Second World War as part of the Eighth Army.- First World War :...
, British Eighth Army under General Sir Bernard Montgomery) and Leclerc's Force (2nd Division (New Zealand)).
Battle of Kufra (January 31-March 1, 1941)
France had fallen, her empire in tatters, but her flag still flew from the isolated but strategically important ex-Italian fort of El Tag which dominated the Kufra oasis in Southern Libya. Free France had struck a blow, a beginning in the campaign to recapture France and defeat the Axis
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
.
Colonel Leclerc and the intrepid Lt Col d'Ornano (commander of French Forces in Chad
Chad
Chad , officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west...
), on the orders of de Gaulle in London, were tasked with attacking Italian positions in Libya with the motley forces at their disposal in Chad which had declared for Free France. Kufra was the obvious target. The task of striking at the heavily defended oasis at Kufra was made all the more difficult by the use of inadequate transport to cross sand dunes and the rocky Fech Fech
Fech Fech
Fech fech is a very fine powder caused by the erosion of clay-limestone terrain. This pulverized soil is common under a thin crust in deserts. It is not determinable from the surface and can therefore pose a significant transportation hazard acting as a surprise "trap" as the ground collapses...
, considered to be impassable to vehicles.
Fortunately for the French, assistance was received from Major Clayton
Pat Clayton
Patrick Andrew Clayton DSO MBE was a British surveyor and soldier. He was the basis for the character of Peter Madox in The English Patient....
of the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG), who was keen to join with the Free French to test the Italians. Clayton had under his command G (Guards) and T (New Zealand) patrols, a total of seventy-six men in twenty-six vehicles.
In order to assist in the attack against Kufra, a raid was mounted against the airfield at the oasis of Murzuk
Murzuk
Murzuk is an oasis town and the capital of the Murzuq District in the Fezzan region of southwest Libya. Murzuk lies on the northern edge of the Murzuq Desert, a desert of ergs or great sand dunes, and section of the Sahara Desert.-History:...
, capital of the Fezzan
Fezzan
Fezzan is a south western region of modern Libya. It is largely desert but broken by mountains, uplands, and dry river valleys in the north, where oases enable ancient towns and villages to survive deep in the otherwise inhospitable Sahara.-Name:...
region of Libya. Ten Free French (three officers, two sergeants and five native soldiers) under d'Ornano met with Clayton's LRDG patrols on January 6, 1941 at Kayouge. The combined force reached Murzuk on January 11. In a daring daylight raid, they surprised the sentries and swept through the oasis, devastating the base. The majority of the force attacked the main fort, while a troop from T patrol under Lieutenant Ballantyne engaged the airfield defences, destroying three Caproni
Caproni
thumb|right|300px|[[Caproni Ca.316]] seaplane at its moorings.Caproni was an Italian aircraft manufacturer founded in 1908 by Giovanni Battista "Gianni" Caproni....
aircraft and capturing a number of prisoners.
The success of the raid was tempered by the loss of a T patrol member and the intrepid d'Ornano. Another wounded French officer cauterised his leg wound with his own cigarette, much to the admiration of the LRDG. A diversionary raid by mounted Mehariste
Mehariste
Méhariste is a French word that roughly translates to camel cavalry. The word is most commonly used as a designation of military units.-Origins of French Camel Corps:...
s Colonial
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
Cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
failed after it was betrayed by local guides, prompting Leclerc to relegate these troops to recon duties only.
After the success of the Murzuk raid, Leclerc, who had assumed overall command, marshalled his forces to take on Kufra itself. Intelligence indicated that the Oasis was defended by two defensive lines based around the El Tag fort which included barbed wire, trenches, machine guns and light AA defences. The garrison was thought to comprise a battalion of Askaris (Colonial Infantry) under Colonel Leo, plus supporting troops.
In addition to the static defences, the oasis was defended by La Compania Sahariana de Cufra, a specialist mobile force and the forerunner of the famous "Sahariana" companies of the mid war period. The company was composed of desert veterans crewing various Fiat
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
and Lancia
Lancia
Lancia Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian automobile manufacturer founded in 1906 by Vincenzo Lancia and which became part of the Fiat Group in 1969. The company has a long history of producing distinctive cars and also has a strong rally heritage. Some modern Lancias are seen as presenting a more...
trucks equipped with HMGs and 20 mm AA weapons, together with some armoured cars. The company also had the support of its own air arm to assist in long range reconnaissance and ground attack.
Leclerc could not pinpoint the Saharianas, so he tasked the LRDG with the job of hunting them down and robbing the defenders of their mobile reserve.
Unfortunately for the LRDG, a radio intercept unit at Kufra picked up their radio traffic and they were spotted from the air. The defenders had been on their guard since Murzuk.
G patrol had been kept in reserve and Major Clayton was leading T patrol, 30 men in 11 trucks.
The patrol was at Bishara
Bishara
Bishara or Bechara is a common name in the Middle East and among the Middle Eastern diaspora.* Azmi Bishara , an Arab citizen of Israel and politician* Roberto Bishara , a Palestinian citizen of Chile footballer...
on the morning of January 31 when an Italian aircraft appeared overhead.
The trucks scattered and made for some hills, and the plane flew away without attacking them. The patrol took cover among some rocks in a small wadi
Wadi
Wadi is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some cases, it may refer to a dry riverbed that contains water only during times of heavy rain or simply an intermittent stream.-Variant names:...
at Gebel Sherif
Gebel Sherif
Jebel Sherif is a mountain in southeastern Libya, about 130 km southwest of Kufra. It was the site of an action during the Battle of Kufra.-References:*http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/WH2-1Epi-fig-WH2-1Epi-e017a.html...
and camouflaged the trucks, before preparing to have lunch. The plane returned and circled over the wadi, where it directed a patrol of the Auto-Saharan Company to intercept the Long Range Desert Group
Long Range Desert Group
The Long Range Desert Group was a reconnaissance and raiding unit of the British Army during the Second World War. The commander of the German Afrika Corps, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, admitted that the LRDG "caused us more damage than any other British unit of equal strength".Originally called...
(LRDG).
During fierce fighting, the LRDG patrol came off second best to superior Italian fire power and constant air attack. After severe losses, the surviving seven trucks of the patrol were forced to withdraw, leaving behind their commanding officer, who was captured along with several others. Other survivors embarked on epic journeys to seek safety. After this reverse, the LRDG force was forced to withdraw and refit, leaving Leclerc the services of one LRDG vehicle from T patrol crucially equipped for desert navigation.
Leclerc pressed on with his attack, in spite of losing a copy of his plan to the enemy with the capture of Major Clayton. After conducting further reconnaissance
Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
, Leclerc reorganized his forces on February 16. He abandoned his two armoured cars and took with him the remaining serviceable artillery piece, a crucial decision.
On the 17th, Leclerc's forces brushed with the Saharianas and despite a disparity in fire power were able to drive them off, as the Kufra garrison failed to intervene.
Following this, El Tag was surrounded, despite a further attack from the Saharan's and harassment from the air, the French laid siege to the fort. The lone 75 mm gun was placed 3000m from the fort, beyond range of the defences and accurately delivered 20 shells per day at regular intervals.
Despite having superior numbers, Italian resolve faltered. Negotiations to surrender began on February 28 and finally on March 1, 1941 the Free French captured El Tag and with it, the oasis at Kufra.
Battle of Bir Hakeim (May 26-June 11, 1942)
The Battle of Bir Hakeim was fought between the Afrika Korps
Afrika Korps
The German Africa Corps , or the Afrika Korps as it was popularly called, was the German expeditionary force in Libya and Tunisia during the North African Campaign of World War II...
and the Free French
1st Free French Division
The 1st Free French Division was one of the principal units of the Free French Forces during World War II, and the first Free French unit of divisional size.-World War II:...
Brigade, with support from the British 7th Armoured Division
British 7th Armoured Division
The 7th Armoured Division was a British armoured division which saw service during the Second World War where its exploits made it famous as the Desert Rats....
. The German commander was Generaloberst Erwin Rommel
Erwin Rommel
Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel , popularly known as the Desert Fox , was a German Field Marshal of World War II. He won the respect of both his own troops and the enemies he fought....
and the French commander was General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Marie Pierre Koenig
Marie Pierre Koenig
Marie Pierre Kœnig was a French army officer and politician. He commanded a Free French Brigade at the Battle of Bir Hakeim in North Africa in 1942....
. The outnumbered Free French Brigade heroically resisted for sixteen days. It allowed the Allied Forces to regroup and prepare for the battle of El Alamein
El Alamein
El Alamein is a town in the northern Matrouh Governorate of Egypt. Located on the Mediterranean Sea, it lies west of Alexandria and northwest of Cairo. As of 2007, it has a local population of 7,397 inhabitants.- Climate :...
.
The Germans attacked Bir Hakeim on May 26, 1942. Over the next two weeks, the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
flew 1,400 sorties against the defences, whilst 4 German/Italian divisions attacked. On June 2, 3, and 5, the German forces requested that Koenig surrender, he refused and launched counter attacks with his Bren gun carriers
Universal Carrier
The Universal Carrier, also known as the Bren Gun Carrier is a common name describing a family of light armoured tracked vehicles built by Vickers-Armstrong. Produced between 1934 and 1960, the vehicle was used widely by British Commonwealth forces during the Second World War...
. Despite the explosion of the defences 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...
dump, the French continued to fight using ammunition brought in by British armoured cars during the night. Meanwhile, the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
dropped water and other supplies.
On June 9, the British Eighth Army authorized a retreat and during the night of June 10/June 11 the defenders of Bir Hakeim escaped.
Subordinate units of the defending 1st Free French Brigade were:
- 2nd and 3rd battalions of the 13th half-brigade13th Foreign Legion Demi-BrigadeThe 13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade is a mechanized infantry demi-brigade in the French Foreign Legion. It is the only permanent demi-brigade in the French Army, and is a unit of particular notoriety and reputation within the Legion...
of the Foreign LegionFrench Foreign LegionThe French Foreign Legion is a unique military service wing of the French Army established in 1831. The foreign legion was exclusively created for foreign nationals willing to serve in the French Armed Forces... - 1st battalion of naval fusiliers
- 1st battalion of marine infantryTroupes de marineThe or Infanterie de marine, formerly Troupes coloniales, are an arm of the French Army with a colonial heritage. The Troupes de marine have a dedicated overseas service role. Despite their title they have been a part of the Army since 1958...
- the Pacific battalion
- 2nd march battalionMarch battalionA march battalion is a battalion-sized military unit formed of all the rear-echelon units of an infantry regiment. It usually includes all the tabors, field kitchen staff, reserve soldiers, military police, commander's reserves, guards, aides, and raw recruits who did not arrive at the...
of Oubangui-ChariOubangui-ChariOubangui-Chari, or Ubangi-Shari, was a French territory in central Africa which later became the independent Central African Republic . French activity in the area began in 1889 with the establishment of an outpost at Bangui, now the capital of CAR. The territory was named in 1894.In 1903, French... - 1st Artillery Regiment
- 22nd North African company (6 sections)
- 1st company (engineers)
- signals company
- 101st transport company (trains/automobiles)
- a light medical ambulance
Fezzan-Tripolitania campaign (December 1942-February 1943)
Italian invasion of British Egypt (September 9–16, 1940)
Second Battle of El Alamein (October 23,–November 5, 1942)
Battle of Dakar (September 23–25, 1940)
Battle of Dakar
The Battle of Dakar, also known as Operation Menace, was an unsuccessful attempt in September 1940 by the Allies to capture the strategic port of Dakar in French West Africa , which was under Vichy French control, and to install the Free French under General Charles de Gaulle there.-Background:At...
, also known as Operation Menace, was an unsuccessful attempt by the Allies
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
to capture the strategic port of Dakar
Dakar
Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...
in French West Africa
French West Africa
French West Africa was a federation of eight French colonial territories in Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan , French Guinea , Côte d'Ivoire , Upper Volta , Dahomey and Niger...
(modern-day Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
), which was under Vichy French control, and to install the Free French under General Charles de Gaulle there.
De Gaulle believed that he could persuade the Vichy French forces in Dakar to join the Allied cause. There were several advantages to this; not only the political consequences if another Vichy French colonies changed sides, but also more practical advantages, such as the fact that the gold reserves of the Banque de France
Banque de France
The Banque de France is the central bank of France; it is linked to the European Central Bank . Its main charge is to implement the interest rate policy of the European System of Central Banks...
and the Polish government in exile
Polish government in Exile
The Polish government-in-exile, formally known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in Exile , was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Poland of September 1939, and the subsequent occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, which...
were stored in Dakar and, militarily, the better location of the port of Dakar for protecting the convoys sailing around Africa than Freetown
Freetown
Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean located in the Western Area of the country, and had a city proper population of 772,873 at the 2004 census. The city is the economic, financial, and cultural center of...
, the base the Allies were using.
It was decided to send a naval force of an aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
, two battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
s (of World War I vintage), four cruiser
Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
s and ten destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
s to Dakar. Several transports, would transport the 8,000 troops. Their orders were first to try and negotiate with the Vichy French governor, but if this was unsuccessful, to take the city by force.
The Vichy French forces present at Dakar were led by a battleship, the Richelieu, one of the most advanced in the French fleet. It had left Brest on the June 18 before the Germans reached it. Richelieu was then only about 95% complete. Before the establishment of the Vichy government, , an aircraft carrier, had been operating with the French forces in Dakar. Once the Vichy regime was in power, Hermes left port but remained on watch, and was joined by the Australian heavy cruiser
Heavy cruiser
The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range, high speed and an armament of naval guns roughly 203mm calibre . The heavy cruiser can be seen as a lineage of ship design from 1915 until 1945, although the term 'heavy cruiser' only came into formal use in 1930...
. Planes from Hermes had attacked the Richelieu, and had struck it once with a torpedo. The French ship was immobilised but was able to function as a floating gun battery. Three Vichy submarines and several lighter ships were also at Dakar. A force of three cruisers (Gloire, Georges Leygues, and Montcalm) and three destroyers had left Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
for Dakar just a few days earlier. The Gloire was slowed by mechanical troubles, and was intercepted by Australia and ordered to sail for Casablanca. The other two cruisers and the destroyers outran the pursuing Allied cruisers and had reached Dakar safely.
On September 23, the Fleet Air Arm
Fleet Air Arm
The Fleet Air Arm is the branch of the British Royal Navy responsible for the operation of naval aircraft. The Fleet Air Arm currently operates the AgustaWestland Merlin, Westland Sea King and Westland Lynx helicopters...
dropped propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
leaflets on the city. Free French aircraft flew off from Ark Royal and landed at the airport, but the crews were taken prisoner. A boat with representatives of de Gaulle entered the port but were fired upon. At 10:00, Vichy French ships trying to leave the port were given warning shots from Australia. The ships returned to port but the coastal forts opened fire on Australia. This led to an engagement between the battleships and cruisers and the forts. In the afternoon, Australia intercepted and fired on the Vichy destroyer L'Audacieux, setting it on fire and causing it to be beached.
In the afternoon, an attempt was made to set Free French troops ashore on a beach at Rufisque
Rufisque
Rufisque is a city in the Dakar region of western Senegal, at the base of the Cap-Vert Peninsula. It has a population of 179,797 . In the past it was an important port city in its own right, but is now a suburb of Dakar....
, to the north east of Dakar, but they came under heavy fire from strong points defending the beach. De Gaulle declared he did not want to "shed the blood of Frenchmen for Frenchmen" and the attack was called off.
During the next two days, the Allied fleet attacked the coastal defences, as the Vichy French tried to prevent them. Two Vichy French submarines were sunk, and a destroyer damaged. After the Allied fleet also took heavy damage (both battleships and two cruisers were damaged), they withdrew, leaving Dakar and French West Africa in Vichy French hands.
The effects of the Allied failure were mostly political. De Gaulle had believed that he would be able to persuade the Vichy French at Dakar to change sides, but this turned out not to be the case, which damaged his standing with the Allies.
Battle of Gabon (November 8–10, 1940)
The Battle of GabonBattle of Gabon
The Battle of Gabon or the Battle of Libreville was part of the West African Campaign of World War II fought in November 1940. The battle resulted in the Free French forces under General Charles de Gaulle taking Libreville, Gabon, and taking all of French Equatorial Africa from Vichy French...
, in November 1940, was a successful attempt to rally the French african colony.
Eithrea-Ethiopia campaign (1941)
Free French colonial forces from the Brigade of the East (Brigade d'Orient) under Colonel Monclar, including the 14th Battalion Légion Etrangère (13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade) and the 3rd Battalion de Marche (from ChadChad
Chad , officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west...
), fought Italian troops in their colonies of Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
and Eritrea
Eritrea
Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...
, and Vichy French Forces of French Somaliland
French Somaliland
French Somaliland was a French colony in the Horn of Africa. Established after the French signed various treaties between 1883 and 1887 with the then ruling Somali Sultans, the colony lasted from 1896 until 1946, when it became an overseas territory of France....
.
Middle East theatre of World War II
French Syria-Lebanon campaign (1941)
Free French forces faced Vichy Army of the LevantArmy of the Levant
The Army of the Levant identifies the armed forces of France and then Vichy France which occupied, and were in part recruited from, a portion of the "Levant" during the interwar period and early World War II.-Origins:...
under General Henri Dentz
Henri Dentz
Henri Fernand Dentz was an officer in the French Army and, after France surrendered during World War II, he served with the Vichy French Army.-Syria-Lebanon campaign:...
during the Allied campaign set in French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon.
Allied invasion of French Madagascar (May 5–November 8, 1942)
Vichy French and Japanese miniature submarines defended the French colony of MadagascarMadagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
during Allied Operation Ironclad. The Madagascar governor surrender on November 1942.
Limited Allied support to French Indochina (1943-1945)
The FEFEO was created on paper by General de Gaulle in October 1943, however the actual composition of a full scale expeditionary force -the C.L.I./Gaur were small specialized units- dedicated to liberate French Indohina from the outnumbering Japanese forces was delayed as the European theatre of operations, and the liberation of metropolitan France, became a top priority for deployment of the limited French forces.The United States Chief of Staff also formally restricted the Allied support to French Indochina, 14th USAAF Commander Claire Lee Chennault
Claire Lee Chennault
Lieutenant General Claire Lee Chennault , was an American military aviator. A contentious officer, he was a fierce advocate of "pursuit" or fight-interceptor aircraft during the 1930s when the U.S. Army Air Corps was focused primarily on high-altitude bombardment...
(a French-American) wrote in his memoirs the now famous statement: « I carried out my orders to the letter but I did not relish the idea of leaving Frenchmen to be slaughtered in the jungle while I was forced officially to ignore their plight ». Ten years later Chennault supplied the bessieged French garrison fighting the outnumbering communist Viet-Minh at the Siege of Dien Bien Phu through his CIA-owned Civil Air Transport
Civil Air Transport
Civil Air Transport was a Chinese airline, later owned by the CIA, that supported United States covert operations throughout East and Southeast Asia...
; at the cost of the first American casualty in Vietnam.
In contrast, the British, who trained the first C.L.I./Gaurs supported French Indochina through its Force 136
Force 136
Force 136 was the general cover name for a branch of the British World War II organization, the Special Operations Executive . The organisation was established to encourage and supply resistance movements in enemy-occupied territory, and occasionally mount clandestine sabotage operations...
, flew aerial supply missions for the airborne commandos, delivering tommy gun
Tommy Gun
Tommy Gun may refer to:*Thompson submachine gun or Tommy gun, a submachine gun*"Tommy Gun" , a song by The Clash...
s, mortar
Mortar (weapon)
A mortar is an indirect fire weapon that fires explosive projectiles known as bombs at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It is typically muzzle-loading and has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....
and grenades all the way from their Calcutta base.
SOE's French Indo-China Section (1943-1945)
The FEFEO French expeditionary corps's C.L.I.s (or "gaurs") were dropped by the British Force 136Force 136
Force 136 was the general cover name for a branch of the British World War II organization, the Special Operations Executive . The organisation was established to encourage and supply resistance movements in enemy-occupied territory, and occasionally mount clandestine sabotage operations...
and fought the Japanese troops occupying the French colonies of Indochina (Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
, Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
). The Gaur Polaire ("polar") codename of Captain Ayrolles's commando unit dropped in the Traninh in order to prepare the arrival of the C.L.I., however they were taken by surprise by the Japanese coup de force of March 9, 1945 and Cpt. Ayrolles changed the original plan to a sabotage operation. The Gaur Polaire blowed eight bridges on the RC 7 (route coloniale 7), assaulted Japanese detachments and convoys, blowed airstrip holds and storages of the Khan Kai camp and also destructed a fuel and vehicles storage. A Japanese battalion was sent after them, without success. The results of this operation was the Japanese entry in Luang Prabang
Luang Prabang
Luang Prabang, or Louangphrabang , is a city located in north central Laos, where the Nam Khan river meets the Mekong River about north of Vientiane. It is the capital of Luang Prabang Province...
was delayed for around three weeks.
On March 17, 1945, Captain Cortadellas's Gaur K is dropped at Dien Bien Phu
Dien Bien Phu
Điện Biên Phủ is a city in northwestern Vietnam. It is the capital of Dien Bien province, and is known for the events there during the First Indochina War, the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, during which the region was a breadbasket for the Việt Minh.-Population:...
(area of the famous siege
Battle of Dien Bien Phu
The Battle of Dien Bien Phu was the climactic confrontation of the First Indochina War between the French Union's French Far East Expeditionary Corps and Viet Minh communist revolutionaries. The battle occurred between March and May 1954 and culminated in a comprehensive French defeat that...
in the Indochina War (1946–1954). At French Commander Marcel Alessandri's request, Gaur K, supported by 80 remaining legionnaires from the 3/5th REI (Régiment Étranger d'Infanterie), was sent to the arrière-garde of the Alessandri column retreating to China for hundreds kilometers of tracks in the high region. Battles ensued on April 11 at Houei Houn, April 15 at Muong Koua, April 21 at Boun Tai and April 22 at Muong Yo.
On October 9, 1945, Gaur Détachement C infiltrates Cambodia, restored French colonial administration and staged a discrete coup d'état to resume the King of Cambodia's rule.
Gaurs roles were guerrilla warfare and the creation and training of Mèo
Meo
Mayo or Meo or Mewati is a prominent Muslim Rajput tribe from North-Western India. A considerable number of Meos migrated to Pakistan after independence in 1947 and now they are estimated to be over 12 million. In Pakistan, Meos have lost their distinct group identity and cultural traditions and...
and Thai
Thai people
The Thai people, or Siamese, are the main ethnic group of Thailand and are part of the larger Tai ethnolinguistic peoples found in Thailand and adjacent countries in Southeast Asia as well as southern China. Their language is the Thai language, which is classified as part of the Kradai family of...
local commandos. Following World War II, the GCMA
Groupement de Commandos Mixtes Aéroportés
The Groupement de Commandos Mixtes Aéroportés commonly referred as just GCMA, was the "Action Service" of the SDECE French counter-intelligence service active during the Cold War...
French airborne commandos, servicing in the Indochina War, were created after the gaurs (C.L.I.) which were themselves created after the British Chindits
Chindits
The Chindits were a British India "Special Force" that served in Burma and India in 1943 and 1944 during the Burma Campaign in World War II. They were formed into long range penetration groups trained to operate deep behind Japanese lines...
special forces.
Another French special operations force secretly fought the Japanese in French Indochina. These were forty former French Jedburgh
Operation Jedburgh
Operation Jedburgh was a clandestine operation during World War II, in which personnel of the British Special Operations Executive, the U.S...
volunteers who embarked at Glascow with layover at Port Said
Port Said
Port Said is a city that lies in north east Egypt extending about 30 km along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal, with an approximate population of 603,787...
, Bombay and Colombo
Colombo
Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...
, and gathered in a camp at Ceylon on November 1944. Notable Force 136 members dropped in Laos during 1945 are French Colonels Jean Deuve (January 22), Jean Le Morillon (February 28) and Jean Sassi
Jean Sassi
Jean Sassi was a French Army colonel and intelligence service officer, former "Jedburgh" of France and Far East. Commando chief of the SDECE's 11th Shock Parachutist Regiment...
(June 4).
Local resistance was headed by General Eugène Mordant.
Japanese coup d'état in French Indochina (March 9–August 26, 1945)
Article sources
- Chronology 1941 - 1945, U.S. Army in World War II, Mary H. Williams (compiler), Washington: Government Printing Office, 1994.
- Les Grandes Unités Françaises (GUF)Grandes Unités FrançaisesGrandes Unités Françaises is a monumental six-volume World War II order of battle and military unit history reference compiled by the historical service of the chief of staff of the French Army...
, Volume V, Part 2, Service Historique de l'Armée de Terre, Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1975. - Riviera to the Rhine, U.S. Army in World War II, Jeffrey J. Clarke and Robert Ross Smith, United States Army Center of Military History, 1993.
- The Last Offensive, U.S. Army in World War II, Charles B. MacDonald, Washington:United States Army Center of Military History, 1993.