Organisation de résistance de l'armée
Encyclopedia
The Organisation de résistance de l'armée, O.R.A. (Fr: resistance organisation of the army) was a French paramilitary resistance organisation during the Second World War. It was created on the 31 January 1943 following the November 1942 German invasion of the zone libre
as a self-styled apolitical organisation bringing together former French military personnel in pursuit of active resistance against the German occupiers, but rejecting Charles de Gaulle
.
The ORA was founded by General Aubert Frère, president of the tribunal which had condemned de Gaulle to death in August 1940; Frère arrested in 1943, and was deported and died in Struthof on 13 June 1944. The ORA's subsequent leader was General Jean-Edouard Verneau, who was arrested on 23 October 1943 and died while being deported to Buchenwald on 14 September 1944. The leadership was then assumed by General Georges Revers, whose second was General Pierre Brisac.
The ORA grew quickly in the southern zone, which was not handed over to the Germans, thanks to its officers and armaments acquired from the Vichy army. In 1944 it amalgamated with the Armée secrète
(AS) and the Francs-tireurs et partisans to form the French Forces of the Interior
, although it retained its autonomy.
Colonel Rivet, chief of the 2 Bureau gathered his allies and said to them that the mission against Germany and Italy would continue.
Zone libre
The zone libre was a partition of the French metropolitan territory during the Second World War, established at the Second Armistice at Compiègne on June 22, 1940. It lay to the south of the demarcation line and was administered by the French government of Marshal Philippe Pétain based in Vichy,...
as a self-styled apolitical organisation bringing together former French military personnel in pursuit of active resistance against the German occupiers, but rejecting 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....
.
The ORA was founded by General Aubert Frère, president of the tribunal which had condemned de Gaulle to death in August 1940; Frère arrested in 1943, and was deported and died in Struthof on 13 June 1944. The ORA's subsequent leader was General Jean-Edouard Verneau, who was arrested on 23 October 1943 and died while being deported to Buchenwald on 14 September 1944. The leadership was then assumed by General Georges Revers, whose second was General Pierre Brisac.
The ORA grew quickly in the southern zone, which was not handed over to the Germans, thanks to its officers and armaments acquired from the Vichy army. In 1944 it amalgamated with the Armée secrète
Armée secrète
The Armée secrète, created in 1943, was an organisation of French resistance fighters during World War II set up by Jean Moulin. It resulted from an amalgamation of three smaller resistance groups:*Combat*Libération-Sud*Franc-Tireur...
(AS) and the Francs-tireurs et partisans to form 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...
, although it retained its autonomy.
The initial stages of resistance in the army
On the day after the defeat and the signature of the armistice in 1940, a certain number of French army officers, reduced to a body of 100,000 men, considered that all was not lost. The forces across the French empire were still intact, and the reconquest of france with the help of the allies remained possible. From July, certain services considered preparing the counterstrike.Colonel Rivet, chief of the 2 Bureau gathered his allies and said to them that the mission against Germany and Italy would continue.