1.
Maquis (World War II)
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The Maquis were rural guerrilla bands of French Resistance fighters, called maquisards, during the Occupation of France in World War II. Initially, they were composed of men who had escaped into the mountains to avoid conscription into Vichy Frances Service du travail obligatoire to provide forced labor for Germany, to avert capture and deportation to Germany, they became increasingly organized into active resistance groups. Originally the word came from the kind of terrain in which the resistance groups hid. Although strictly meaning thicket, maquis could be translated as the bush. The term established the image of a ‘maquisard’ as a “committed and voluntary fighter, members of those bands were called maquisards. The term became an honorific that meant armed resistance fighter, the Maquis have come to symbolize the French Resistance. Most maquisards operated in the remote or mountainous areas of Brittany and southern France, especially in the Alps and they relied on guerrilla tactics to harass the Milice and German occupation troops. The Maquis also aided the escape of downed Allied airmen, Jews and others pursued by the Vichy, Maquisards usually relied on some degree of sympathy or cooperation from the local populace. In March 1944, the German Army began a campaign throughout France. This included reprisals against civilians living in areas where the French Resistance was active, the Maquisards were later to take their revenge in the épuration sauvage that took place after the wars end. Most of the Maquis cells—like the Maquis du Limousin or the Maquis du Vercors—took names after the area they were operating in, the size of these cells varied from tens to thousands of men and women. They were supplied by airlifts of the British Force 136, politically, the Maquis were very diverse—including right-wing nationalists, socialists, communists, and anarchists. Some Maquis bands that operated in southwest France, were composed entirely of left-wing Spanish veterans of the Spanish Civil War, Spanish Civil War veteran Colonel Romero Giménez was a center-democratic liberal, operating from Bordeaux. When Germany began a forced draft in France at the beginning of 1943. The British Special Operations Executive helped the Maquis with supplies and agents, the American Office of Strategic Services also began to send its own agents to France in cooperation with the SOE and the French BCRA agents, as part of Operation Jedburgh. The British government provided supplies and support to assist Charles de Gaulle to unify the Free French resistance movement, prior to the inception of the maquis, small resistance groups were created in the occupied and unoccupied zones of France. Some of these also took the first steps at hiding weapons. The connection between the Vichy government and armed resistance paved the way for the formation of the Maquis
2.
Free France
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It was set up in London in June 1940 and also organised and supported the Resistance in occupied France. On 27 October 1940, the Empire Defense Council was constituted to organise the rule of the territories in central Africa and it was replaced on 24 September 1941 by the French National Committee. After the reconquest of North Africa, this was in turn merged with de Gaulles rival general Henri Girauds command in Algiers to form the French Committee of National Liberation. Exile officially ended with the capture of Paris by the 2nd Armoured Free French Division and Resistance forces on 25 August 1944, the Free French fought Axis and Vichy regime troops and served on battlefronts everywhere from the Middle East to Indochina and North Africa. The Free French Navy operated as a force to the Royal Navy and, in the North Atlantic. Free French units also served in the Royal Air Force, Soviet Air Force, the French Army of Africa switched allegiance to Free France, and this caused the Axis to occupy Vichy in reaction. On 1 August 1943, LArmée dAfrique was formally united with the Free French Forces to form LArmée française de la Liberation. By mid-1944, the forces of this army numbered more than 400,000, and they participated in the Normandy landings, the Free French government re-established a provisional republic after the liberation, preparing the ground for the Fourth Republic in 1946. Historically, an individual became Free French by enlisting in the military units organised by the CFN or by employment by the arm of the Committee. In many sources, Free French describes any French individual or unit that fought against Axis forces after the June 1940 armistice, postwar, to settle disputes over the Free French heritage, the French government issued an official definition of the term. Under this ministerial instruction of July 1953, only those who served with the Allies after the Franco-German armistice in 1940, between 27 May and 4 June, around 200,000 British soldiers and 140,000 French troops were evacuated from the beaches to safety in England. General Charles de Gaulle was a minister in the French cabinet during the Battle of France, as France was overwhelmed by the stunning German victory, he found himself part of a small group of politicians who argued against a negotiated surrender to Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. That same day, the new French President of the Council, former First World War Marshal Philippe Pétain, De Gaulle briefly travelled to Bordeaux to continue the fight but, realising that Pétain would surrender, he returned to London on 17 June. On 18 June, General de Gaulle spoke to the French people via BBC radio, urging French soldiers, sailors and airmen to join in the fight against the Nazis and she has a great empire behind her. Together with the British Empire, she can form a bloc that controls the seas and she may, like England, draw upon the limitless industrial resources of the United States. In Vichys case those reasons were compounded with ideas of a Révolution nationale about stamping out Frances republican heritage. On 22 June 1940, Marshall Pétain signed an armistice with Germany, followed by a one with Italy on 24 June. After a parliamentary vote on 10 July, Pétain became leader of the newly established authoritarian regime known as Vichy France, despite de Gaulles call to continue the struggle, few French forces, at least initially, pledged their support
3.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
4.
Battle of Dakar
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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. After the defeat of France and the conclusion of the armistice between France and Nazi Germany in June 1940, there was confusion as to the allegiance of the various French colonies. Some, like Cameroon and French Equatorial Africa, joined the Free French, the possibility that the French fleet might come under German control led the British to attack the French Fleet at Mers-el-Kebir on 3 July 1940. While the British had eliminated a potential threat, the attack discouraged other units from joining the Free French, de Gaulle believed that he could persuade the French forces in Dakar to join the Allied cause. Much would be gained by this, another Vichy French colony changing sides would have great political impact. Thus the Allies decided to send a force to Dakar. Their orders were to negotiate with the French governor for a peaceful occupation, the Vichy forces present at Dakar included the unfinished battleship Richelieu, one of the most advanced warships in the French fleet, then about 95% complete. She had left Brest, France on 18 June, just before the Germans reached the port, before the establishment of the Vichy government, HMS Hermes, a British aircraft carrier, had been operating with the French forces in Dakar. Once the Vichy regime was in power, however, Hermes left port but remained on watch, aircraft from Hermes attacked Richelieu and had struck her once with a torpedo. The French ship was immobilized but was able to function as a floating gun battery. A force of three cruisers comprising and three destroyers had left Toulon in southern France for Dakar just a few days earlier, gloire was slowed by mechanical troubles and was intercepted by Australia which ordered the French cruiser to sail for Casablanca. The other two cruisers and the destroyers outran the pursuing Allied cruisers and reached Dakar safely, three Vichy submarines and several lighter ships were also at Dakar. On 23 September, the Fleet Air Arm dropped propaganda leaflets on the city of Dakar, then Free French aircraft flew off Ark Royal and landed at the airport, but their crews were immediately taken prisoner. A boat with representatives of de Gaulle entered the port, but was fired upon, at 10,00, Vichy ships trying to leave the port were given warning shots from Australia. As the ships returned to port the coastal batteries opened fire on Australia and this led to an engagement between the British fleet and the batteries. In the afternoon Australia intercepted and fired on the Vichy destroyer LAudacieux, setting her on fire, also in the afternoon, an attempt was made to set Free French troops ashore on a beach at Rufisque, to the south-east of Dakar. The attack failed due to fog and heavy fire from defending the beach. General de Gaulle declared he did not want to shed the blood of Frenchmen for Frenchmen, during the next two days, the Allied fleet continued to attack the coastal defences and the Vichy forces continued to defend them
5.
Battle of Gabon
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The Battle of Gabon, also called the Gabon Campaign or the Battle of Libreville, occurred in November 1940 during World War II. The battle resulted in the Free French Forces taking the colony of Gabon and its capital, Libreville, on the evening of 28 August,1940, Governor Georges Masson pledged Gabons allegiance to Free France. He met immediate opposition from much of Librevilles French population and from Gabons influential bishop, Louis Tardy, facing pressure, Masson was forced to rescind his pledge. Free French sympathizers were arrested by the administration and imprisoned on board the auxiliary cruiser Cap des Palmes. On 8 October 1940, General de Gaulle arrived in Douala, on 12 October, he authorised plans for the invasion of French Equatorial Africa. De Gaulle also wanted to use French Equatorial Africa as a base to launch attacks into Axis-controlled Libya, for this reason, he personally headed northward to survey the situation in Chad, located on the southern border of Libya. On 27 October, Free French forces crossed into French Equatorial Africa, on 5 November, the Vichy garrison at Lambaréné capitulated. Meanwhile, the main Free French forces under General Philippe Leclerc and Battalion Chief Marie Pierre Koenig departed from Douala and their goal was to take Libreville, French Equatorial Africa. The British expressed doubt in De Gaulles ability to control over the Vichy territory. On 7 November 1940, the Shoreham-class sloop HMS Milford discovered the Vichy Redoutable-class submarine Poncelet shadowing the Anglo-French task force, the sloop was too slow to intercept the submarine, so Admiral Cunningham ordered his flagship, HMS Devonshire, to launch its Supermarine Walrus biplane. Piloted by David Corkhill, the aircraft straddled the submarine with two salvos of 100 lb depth charges as it attempted to dive, damaging it and it was then scuttled off Port-Gentil. Koenigs forces landed at Pointe La Mondah on the night of 8 November and his forces included French Legionnaires, Senegalese and Cameroonian troops. On 9 November, Free French Westland Lysander aircraft operating out of Douala bombed Libreville aerodrome, the aerodrome was eventually captured, despite stiff resistance met by Koenigs force in its approach. De Brazza attacked and sank her sister ship, the Vichy French Bougainville, Libreville was captured on 10 November. On 12 November, the final Vichy forces at Port Gentil surrendered without a fight, Governor Masson — despairing of his actions — committed suicide. On 15 November, de Gaulle made an appeal that failed to persuade most of the captured Vichy soldiers — including General Marcel Tetu — to join the Free French. As a result, they were interned as prisoners of war in Brazzaville, with their control consolidated in Equatorial Africa, the Free French began focusing on the campaign in Italian Libya. De Gaulle relieved General Leclerc of his station in Cameroon and sent him to Fort Lamy, the conflict in Gabon triggered a mass migration of Gabonese to Spanish Guinea
6.
Battle of Keren
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The Battle of Keren was fought as part of the East African Campaign during the Second World War. The battle was fought from 5 February to 1 April 1941 between a mixed Italian army of regular and colonial troops and the attacking British and Free French forces. The town of Keren, in the colony of Italian Eritrea, was of importance to both the Italian and the British forces in 1941. The road and railway through Keren were the routes to Asmara. Colonised by the Italians in 1885, Eritrea was used as a ground for Italian invasions of Ethiopia in the First. The second invasion began in 1935 and Ethiopia fell in 1936, Ethiopia, Italian Somaliland and Eritrea were combined to form Africa Orientale Italiana, part of the Italian Empire. Following the Italian declaration of war on 10 June 1940, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini ordered his troops to capture the British Somaliland and border towns in the Sudan and Kenya. The British responded by building up a force of more than two divisions in Sudan and three in Kenya by early February 1941, from there the Italians ventured no further into Sudan, owing to lack of fuel. They proceeded to fortify Kassala with anti-tank defences, machine-gun posts and strong-points, the Italians were disappointed to find no strong anti-British sentiment among the native population. The narrow Dongolaas Gorge at 15°45′34″N 38°25′16. 9″N 38°25′30. 6″E, the other side of the gorge was commanded by the mass of Mount Sanchil with a saddle of secondary summits, Brigs Peak, Hogs Back and Flat Top stretching north westwards toward Mount Sammana. In front of the Sanchil feature on its western side was a secondary ridge, feature 1616, which became known as Cameron Ridge, overlooking the Ascidera Valley. Gazelle Force was formed on 16 October, as a unit to raid Italian territory. Late on 30 January, Gazelle Force was ordered to make pursuit of the enemy retreating down the road to Keren, 42nd Brigade had reached Keren from Agordat almost intact, and the 2nd Brigade—which had suffered greater casualties there—was reforming. Meanwhile, the 6th Brigade—having relinquished its responsibilities at Metemma—was also making its way to Keren. At 08,00 on 1 February 1941, Gazelle Force was held up in crossing the Baraka River about 40 mi from Keren, where the Ponte Mussolini had been blown and the approaches to the river mined. The 11th Indian Infantry Brigade, arrived on 3 February, reconnoitred the next day, the ridge was overlooked in front by Sanchil, to the left by Mount Sammana and from behind by other mountains along the Ascidera Valley. The Cameron Highlanders and Rajputana Rifles clung on, despite frequent attacks and having to carry food, water and ammunition up hill for 1,500 ft, across exposed terrain. On the night of 7 February, a company of the 4th /6th Rajputana Rifles took the col until 4,30 a. m. when they ran out of ammunition and were back to a lower feature
7.
Capture of Kufra
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The Capture of Kufra/Prise de Koufra was part of the Allied Western Desert Campaign during the Second World War. Kufra is a basin and oasis group in the Kufra District of south-eastern Cyrenaica in the Libyan Desert, in 1940, it was part of the colony of Libia Italiana. Libia Italiana was part of Africa Settentrionale Italiana, which was established in 1934, the battle, resulted in the capture of Kufra by Free French Forces and the British Long Range Desert Group from the Italian and Libyan garrison. Kufra, in the Libyan Desert subregion of the Sahara, was an important trade and travel centre for the desert peoples of the region, including Berbers. The Senussi made the oasis their capital at one point in response to British, Italian, in 1931, the Kingdom of Italy captured Kufra and incorporated it into the Italian North Africa colonization of the Maghreb. The Italian post at Kufra included the Buma airfield and radio station, used for air supply and communications with Italian East Africa and a fort at the nearby village of El Tag. After the defeat of France in 1940, the colony of French Equatorial Africa declared its allegiance to Free France, Chad, the northern part of FEA, borders Libya. De Gaulle ordered the Free French in Chad to attack Italian positions in Libya, the Free French commander in Chad, Lieutenant Colonel Jean Colonna dOrnano. Attacking Kufra would be difficult for this motley force. The Free French had very little motor transport and needed to cross 400 km of desert, much of which was sand dunes or the fine, the area was considered by some to be impassable to vehicles. Major Pat Clayton of LRDG was keen to join with the Free French to test the Italians, Clayton commanded G Guard and T Patrol of LRDG, a total of 76 men in 26 vehicles. To prepare for the attack on Kufra, the LRDG and Free French first raided the Italian airfield at Murzuk, dOrnano and ten Free French met Clayton′s LRDG patrols on 6 January 1941 at Kayouge. The combined force reached Murzuk on 11 January and in a daylight raid, surprised the sentries. A French officer cauterized his leg wound with a cigarette, much to the admiration of the LRDG, a diversionary raid by French camel cavalry failed after it was betrayed by local guides. These troops were relegated to reconnaissance duties only, Colonel Philippe Leclerc assumed command in place of dOrnano. After the success of the Murzuk raid, Leclerc marshalled his forces to take on Kufra, the attacking column included about 400 men in 60 trucks, two Laffly S15 TOE armoured cars, four Laffly S15 all-terrain carriers and two 75 mm mountain guns. Kufra was protected by two lines around the El Tag fort with barbed wire, trenches, machine-guns and light anti-aircraft guns. The Regio Esercito forces in the fort were the 59th and 60th Machine-gun companies, with a total of 280 askari colonial infantry and an Auto-Saharan Company, the Compagnia Sahariana di Cufra
8.
Battle of Bir Hakeim
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The Battle of Bir Hakeim took place at Bir Hakeim, an oasis in the Libyan desert south and west of Tobruk, during the Battle of Gazala. The 1st Free French Brigade defended the position from 26 May –11 June against much larger Axis forces of Panzerarmee Afrika. Rommel continued to advance and invaded Egypt, slowed by British delaying actions until the First Battle of El Alamein in July, where the Axis advance was stopped. Both sides used the battle for propaganda, Winston Churchill renamed the Free French as the Fighting French and Hitler called the French the second best fighters after the Germans. Both sides accumulated supplies for an offensive to forestall their opponent and General Claude Auchinleck, Commander in Chief of Middle East Command, hoped for the Eighth Army to be ready by May. British code-breakers tracked the dispatch of convoys to Libya as the British anti-shipping offensive from Malta was neutralised by Axis bombing, as the Eighth Army was not ready to take the offensive, Ritchie planned to fight a defensive battle on the Gazala line. Auchinleck saw the former as more likely while Ritchie favoured the latter, Auchinleck suggested that British armour be concentrated near El Adem, where it would be well placed to meet either threat. H and J and the Panzer IV at 600–800 m, the frontal armour of the Grant was thick enough to withstand the 50 mm Pak 38 anti-tank gun at 900 m and the short-barrelled 50 mm KwK38 gun carried by the Panzer III at 250 m. The first 112 × 6-pounder anti-tank guns had arrived and been allotted to the brigades of the armoured divisions. At the meeting of Axis leaders at Berchtesgaden on 1 May, the Panzerarmee was to pause at the Egyptian border, while the Axis captured Malta in Operation Herkules and then Rommel was to invade Egypt. The Panzerarmee had finished converting to the up-armoured Panzer III Ausf, H and received nineteen Panzer III Ausf. J with a long-barrelled 50 mm KwK39 gun, G with long-barrelled 7.5 cm KwK40 guns had also arrived. The Abwehr had broken some British military codes and in late 1941 penetrated Black, the used by Bonner Fellers. The British divulged much tactical information to Fellers, who reported it to the Axis as well as Washington. The 1,400 km advance to Gazala succeeded, because the port of Benghazi was open, the capture of Malta would not alter the constraints of port capacity and distance, protecting convoys and the use of a large port close to the front would still be necessary. Unternehmen Venezia, the Axis plan of attack, was for tanks to make an advance around the Bir Hacheim box at the southern extremity of the Gazala line. On the left side of the manoeuvre, the Italian 132nd Armoured Division Ariete would neutralise the Bir Hacheim box. The Axis tanks would be in a next day to thrust westwards against the Eighth Army defensive boxes between Gazala and Alem Hamza, meeting the eastwards attack by the Italian X and XXI corps
9.
Run for Tunis
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The Run for Tunis was part of the Tunisia Campaign which took place during November and December 1942 during the Second World War. The planners of Operation Torch had assumed that Vichy would oppose the landings, at Algiers the disembarkation of mobile forces for an advance did not commence until 12 November, making an advance eastwards possible only by 15 November. An attempt to reach Bizerta and Tunis overland before the Axis could establish themselves, was a gamble which depended on the ability of the navy, although the Allies planned for determined Vichy opposition to the Torch landings they underestimated the speed with which the Axis could reinforce Tunisia. At the end of November, naval Force K was reformed in Malta, No Axis ships sailing to Tunis were sunk in November but the Allied navies sank seven Axis transports in early December. The success was too late because the tanks of the 10th Panzer Division had arrived, Axis convoys began to sail in daylight when they could be protected by aircraft. Night convoys resumed on completion of the extension of Axis minefields which severely restricted Force K, by the end of the month, three German divisions, including the 10th Panzer Division and two Italian infantry divisions had arrived. On 12 November, Walther Nehring was appointed to the new XC Corps, the French commander in Tunisia, General Barré, moved the Vichy troops into the mountains and formed a defensive line from Tebersouk through Majaz al Bab, with orders to resist an attempt to cross. By 10 November, French opposition to the Torch landings had ceased, on 9 November, Lieutenant-General Kenneth Anderson took command of the Eastern Task Force in Algiers, which was renamed the British First Army. Anderson ordered troops eastward to seize the ports of Bougie, Philippeville and Bône, Allied planners had ruled out an assault landing in Tunisia, because of a lack of troops and the threat from the air, the Allies needed to advance before the Axis could reinforce Tunis. On 11 November, the British 36th Infantry Brigade had landed unopposed at Bougie, Bône airfield was occupied following a parachute drop by 3rd Parachute Battalion and this was followed up on 12 November by No.6 Commando seizing the port. Advanced guards of 36th Brigade reached Tebarka on 15 November and Djebel Abiod on 18 November where they made first contact with opposition forces, on 19 November, General Nehring demanded passage for his forces across the bridge at Medjez and was refused by Barré. The Germans attacked twice and were repulsed but the French defence was costly and lacking armour and artillery, despite some Vichy French forces siding with the Allies, the position of most Vichy forces was uncertain. There were two roads eastwards into Tunisia from Algeria, the Allied plan was to advance along the two roads and take Bizerte and Tunis. Once Bizerte was taken Torch would come to an end, the two Allied columns advanced towards Djebel Abiod and Beja, under attack from the Luftwaffe, which had local air superiority, because Allied aircraft had to fly from distant bases in Algeria. On the northern road, the elements of the 36th Brigade made rapid progress until 17 November. The British knocked out eleven tanks but having no support, were held up for nine days. The Allied columns concentrated at Djebel Abiod and Beja, preparing for an assault on 24 November. The 36th Brigade was to advance from Djebel Abiod towards Mateur and 11th Brigade was to move down the valley of the river Merjerda, to take Majaz al Bab and thence to Tebourba, Djedeida and Tunis
10.
Operation Torch
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Operation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa during the North African Campaign of the Second World War which started on 8 November 1942. The Soviet Union had pressed the United States and United Kingdom to start operations in Europe, while the American commanders favored Operation Sledgehammer, landing in Occupied Europe as soon as possible, the British commanders believed that such a course would end in disaster. The U. S. President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, suspected the African operation would rule out an invasion of Europe in 1943 but agreed to support the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The Allies planned an Anglo-American invasion of north-western Africa — Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, with much of North Africa already under Allied control, this would allow the Allies to carry out a pincer operation against Axis forces in North Africa. These forces included 60,000 troops in Morocco,15,000 in Tunisia, in addition, there were 10 or so warships and 11 submarines at Casablanca. The Allies believed that the Vichy French forces would not fight, the French were former Allies of the U. S. and the American troops were instructed not to fire unless they were fired upon. However, they harbored suspicions that the Vichy French navy would bear a grudge over the British action at Mers-el-Kebir in 1940, an assessment of the sympathies of the French forces in North Africa was essential, and plans were made to secure their cooperation, rather than resistance. German support for the Vichy French came in the shape of air support, several Luftwaffe bomber wings undertook anti-shipping strikes against Allied ports in Algiers and along the North African coast. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was given command of the operation, the Allied Naval Commander of the Expeditionary Force would be Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham, his deputy was Vice-Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, who would plan the amphibious landings. Planners identified Oran and also Algiers and Casablanca as key targets, ideally there would also be a landing at Tunis to secure Tunisia and facilitate the rapid interdiction of supplies travelling via Tripoli to Rommels forces in Libya. However, Tunis was much too close to the Axis airfields in Sicily, a compromise would be to land at Bône, some 300 miles closer to Tunis than Algiers. They therefore chose the Casablanca option as the less risky since the forces in Algeria and Tunisia could be supplied overland from Casablanca in the event of closure of the straits. In July 1941, Mieczysław Słowikowski set up Agency Africa, one of the Second World Wars most successful intelligence organizations and his Polish allies in these endeavors included Lt. Col. Gwido Langer and Major Maksymilian Ciężki. The information gathered by the Agency was used by the Americans, to gauge the feeling of the Vichy French forces, Murphy was appointed to the American consulate in Algeria. His covert mission was to determine the mood of the French forces and he succeeded in contacting several French officers, including General Charles Mast, the French commander-in-chief in Algiers. These officers were willing to support the Allies, but asked for a conference with a senior Allied General in Algeria. However, Giraud would take no position lower than commander in chief of all the invading forces, when he was refused, he decided to remain a spectator in this affair. The Allies organized three amphibious task forces to seize the key ports and airports of Morocco and Algeria simultaneously, targeting Casablanca, Oran, successful completion of these operations was to be followed by an advance eastwards into Tunisia
11.
Tunisian Campaign
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The Tunisian Campaign was a series of battles that took place in Tunisia during the North African Campaign of the Second World War, between Axis and Allied forces. The Allies consisted of British Imperial Forces, including Polish and Greek contingents, with American, the battle opened with initial success by the German and Italian forces but the massive supply interdiction efforts led to the decisive defeat of the Axis. Over 230,000 German and Italian troops were taken as prisoners of war, the first two years of the war in North Africa were characterised by chronic supply shortages and transport problems. The North African coast has few natural harbours and the British base at Alexandria on the Nile delta was some 2,100 km by road from the main Italian port at Tripoli in Libya. Smaller ports at Benghazi and Tobruk were 1,050 km and 640 km west of Alexandria on the Litoranea Balbo running along a corridor along the coast. The chronic difficulty in the supply of military forces in the led to several indecisive victories by both sides and long fruitless advances along the coast. The Italian invasion of Egypt by the 10th Army in 1940, advanced 97 km into Egypt, the Western Desert Force fought a delaying action as it fell back to Mersa Matruh, then began Operation Compass, a raid and counter-attack into Libya. The 10th Army was destroyed and the WDF occupied El Agheila, the Eighth Army was soon pushed back to Gazala west of Tobruk and at the Battle of Gazala in May 1942, the Axis pushed them all the way back to El Alamein, only 160 km from Alexandria. In 1942, the Royal Navy and Italian Navy were still disputing the Mediterranean, large quantities of supplies became available to the British from the United States and the supply situation of the Eighth Army eventually resolved. With the Eighth Army no longer constrained, the Axis were driven westwards from Egypt following the Second Battle of El Alamein in November 1942. Because of the nearness of Sicily to Tunisia, the Allies expected that the Axis would move to occupy the country as soon as heard of the Torch landings. To forestall this, it would be necessary to occupy Tunisia as quickly as possible after the landings were made, Algiers was accordingly chosen for the most easterly landings. This would ensure the success of the landings in spite of uncertainty as to how the incumbent French forces would react. This meant that at Algiers the disembarkation of mobile forces for an advance to Tunisia would necessarily be delayed, at the end of November, naval Force K was reformed in Malta with three cruisers and four destroyers and Force Q formed in Bône with three cruisers and two destroyers. No Axis ships sailing to Tunis were sunk in November but the Allied naval forces had success in early December sinking seven Axis transports. However, this too late to affect the fighting on land because the armoured elements of 10th Panzer Division had already arrived. To counter the threat, Axis convoys were switched to daylight when they could be protected by air cover. Night convoys resumed on completion of the extension of Axis minefields which severely restricted the activities of Force K, Tunisia is rectangular, with its northern and much of its eastern boundary on the Mediterranean coast
12.
Allied invasion of Sicily
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The Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II, in which the Allies took the island of Sicily from the Axis powers. It was an amphibious and airborne operation, followed by a six-week land campaign and was the beginning of the Italian Campaign. Husky began on the night of 9/10 July 1943, and ended on 17 August, the Italian leader, Benito Mussolini, was toppled from power in Italy and the way was opened for the Allied invasion of Italy. The German leader, Adolf Hitler, canceled a major offensive at Kursk after only a week, in part to divert forces to Italy, resulting in a reduction of German strength on the Eastern Front. The plan for Operation Husky called for the assault of Sicily by two Allied armies, one landing on the south-eastern and one on the central southern coast. The amphibious assaults were to be supported by gunfire, as well as tactical bombing, interdiction. As such, the operation required a complex structure, incorporating land, naval. The overall commander was American General Dwight D. Eisenhower, as Commander-in-Chief of all the Allied forces in North Africa, British General Sir Harold Alexander acted as his second-in-command and as the 15th Army Group commander. The American Major General Walter Bedell Smith was appointed as Eisenhowers Chief of Staff, the overall Naval Force Commander was the British Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham. The Allied land forces were from the American, British and Canadian armies, the Eastern Task Force was led by General Sir Bernard Montgomery and consisted of the British Eighth Army. The Western Task Force was commanded by Lieutenant General George S. Patton, the two task force commanders reported to Alexander as commander of the 15th Army Group. Seventh Army consisted initially of three divisions, organized under II Corps, commanded by Lieutenant General Omar Bradley. Middleton, sailed from the United States via Oran in Algeria, the 2nd Armored Division, under Major General Hugh Joseph Gaffey, also sailing from Oran, was to be a floating reserve and be fed into combat as required. On 15 July, Patton reorganized his command into two corps by creating a new Provisional Corps headquarters, commanded by his deputy army commander, Major General Geoffrey Keyes. The two divisions of XIII Corps, the 5th and 50th Infantry Divisions, commanded by Major-Generals Horatio Berney-Ficklin and Sidney Kirkman and this request was granted by the British, displacing the veteran British 3rd Infantry Division. The Red Patch Division was added to Leeses XXX Corps to become part of the British Eighth Army, in addition to the amphibious landings, airborne troops were to be flown in to support both the Western and Eastern Task Forces. To the east, the British 1st Airborne Division, commanded by Major-General George F. Hopkinson, was to seize vital bridges and high ground in support of the British Eighth Army. The initial plan dictated that the U. S. 82nd Airborne Division, Allied naval forces were also grouped into two task forces to transport and support the invading armies
13.
Italian occupation of Corsica
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Italian-occupied Corsica refers to the military occupation by the Kingdom of Italy of the island of Corsica during World War II. It lasted from November 1942 to September 1943, on 8 November 1942, the Allies landed in North Africa. In response, Nazi Germany formulated Operation Anton, as part of which Italy occupied the island of Corsica on November 11, the Italian occupation of Corsica had been strongly promoted by the Italian irredentist movement during Italys Fascist period. The occupation force initially included 30,000 Italian troops and gradually reached the size of nearly 85,000 soldiers and this was a huge occupation force relative to the size of the local population of 220,000. The VII Army Corps of the Regio Esercito was able to occupy Corsica, because of the initial lack of perceived partisan resistance and to avoid problems with Marshal Philippe Pétain, no Corsican units were formed under Italian control. The Corsican population initially showed some support for the Italians, partly as a consequence of irredentist propaganda, the Italian troops grew to encompass two Army Divisions, two coastal Divisions, eight battalions of Fascist Militia, and some units of Military Police and Carabinieri. The Italian troops were commanded by General Mondino until the end of December 1942, then by General Carboni until March 1943, also some Corsican military officers collaborated with Italy, including the retired Major Pantalacci, Colonel Mondielli and Colonel Simon Petru Cristofini. Cristofini, who even met Benito Mussolini in Rome, was a supporter of the union of Corsica with Italy. He closely worked with the famous Corsican writer Petru Giovacchini, who was named as the potential Governor of Corsica had the Kingdom of Italy annexed the island, indeed, there was a mild support of the Italian occupation from most of the Corsican population until summer 1943. Social and economic life in Corsica was administered by the original French civil authorities, i. e. the préfet and four sous-préfets in Ajaccio, Bastia, Sartene and Corte. On 14 November 1943, the préfet restated French sovereignty over the island, the French Resistance was initially limited, but it started taking shape immediately in the aftermath of the Italian invasion. Under the chief of the mission Roger de Saule, they coordinated various groups that merged in the Front national, communists were most influential in this movement. The R2 Corse network was formed in connection with the London-based forces immediately under General de Gaulle in January 1943. Its leader Fred Scamaroni failed to unite the movements and was captured and tortured. In April 1943 Paulin Colonna dIstria was sent by Charles de Gaulle from Algeria, by early 1943, the Resistance was organized enough that it requested arms deliveries. The Resistance leadership was reinforced and the morale was boosted by six visits by Casabianca carrying personnel and arms. This allowed the Resistance to increase its activities and establish greater territorial control, in June and July 1943 the OVRA and the fascist Black Shirts paramilitary groups started a large-scale repression. According to General Fernand Gambiez,860 Corsicans were jailed and deported to Italy, on 30 August, Jean Nicoli and two French partisans of the Front national were shot in Bastia by order of an Italian Fascist War Tribunal
14.
Battle of Monte Cassino
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The Battle of Monte Cassino was a costly series of four assaults by the Allies against the Winter Line in Italy held by Axis forces during the Italian Campaign of World War II. The intention was a breakthrough to Rome, at the beginning of 1944, the western half of the Winter Line was being anchored by Germans holding the Rapido-Gari, Liri and Garigliano valleys and some of the surrounding peaks and ridges. Together, these formed the Gustav Line. Monte Cassino, a historic hilltop abbey founded in AD529 by Benedict of Nursia, dominated the town of Cassino. Lying in a historic zone, it had been left unoccupied by the Germans. They had manned some positions set into the slopes below the abbeys walls. Repeated pinpoint artillery attacks on Allied assault troops caused their leaders to conclude the abbey was being used by the Germans as an observation post, fears escalated along with casualties and in spite of a lack of clear evidence, it was marked for destruction. On 15 February American bombers dropped 1,400 tons of high explosives, the raid failed to achieve its objective, as German paratroopers occupied the rubble and established excellent defensive positions amid the ruins. Between 17 January and 18 May, Monte Cassino and the Gustav defences were assaulted four times by Allied troops, the German defenders were finally driven from their positions, but at a high cost. The capture of Monte Cassino resulted in 55,000 Allied casualties, with German losses being far fewer, estimated at around 20,000 killed and wounded. On the western front, the American Fifth Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Mark W. Clarks Fifth Army made slow progress in the face of difficult terrain, wet weather, the original estimates that Rome would fall by October 1943 proved far too optimistic. Highway 6 ran through the Liri valley, dominated at its entrance by the rugged mass of Monte Cassino above the town of Cassino. Excellent observation from the peaks of several hills allowed the German defenders to detect Allied movement and direct highly accurate artillery fire, preventing any northward advance. Running across the Allied line was the fast flowing Rapido River, there the Liri river joined the Gari to form the Garigliano River, which continued on to the sea. Nevertheless, some Allied reconnaissance aircraft maintained they observed German troops inside the monastery. The main central thrust by the U. S. II Corps would commence on 20 January with the U. S. 36th Infantry Division making an assault across the swollen Gari river five miles downstream of Cassino. Simultaneously the French Expeditionary Corps, under General Alphonse Juin would continue its right hook move towards Monte Cairo, VI Corps, under Major General John P. Lucas, was due to make an amphibious landing on 22 January. The intelligence assessment of Allied prospects was therefore over-optimistic and they hardly had time to prepare the new assault, let alone take the rest and reorganization they really needed after three months of attritional fighting north from Naples
15.
Battle of Ist
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The Battle of Ist was a naval engagement in Adriatic Sea, between the islands of Škarda and Molat off Ist on 29 February 1944. The engagement was fought between Free French navy destroyers and a Kriegsmarine force of two corvettes, two boats and three minesweepers. The German flotilla had been deployed to escort a freighter, in the ensuing engagement the French managed to destroy the German freighter and a corvette in return for no loss before withdrawing. The French under Captain Pierre Lancelot would operate in the Northern part of the Adriatic, while the British would do the same but further South. The speed of the French destroyers, being the fastest in the world at the time, on 29 February the French departed Manfredonia fifty miles North of Bari and headed up the Adriatic. They were escorting a freighter of 6,311 tons, the Kapitan Diederichsen, the German escorts had only been recently commissioned and were only on their second operation. The two were heading towards each other in the dark of the night with little moonlight. At 2135 hours Le Terribles radar soon picked up targets further North, when it was known that the targets were confirmed as non-allied, the French opened fire at roughly 9,000 yards just West of Ist Island, surprising the Germans. Le Malin opened fire on the largest of the targets which was the freighter, the Germans attempted to lay smoke but the destroyers with their speed soon closed in using their radar. Le Terrible scored more hits on the freighter while Le Malin targeted the closest of the escorts, meanwhile UJ201 was soon struck by Le Malins well-directed 90 pound shells, now having found the range, the German corvette was hit six more times and was soon a burning wreck. Le Malin was close enough to launch a salvo of torpedoes and she sank immediately and all hands went with her. Both Le Terrible and Le Malin then took on the rest of the German escorts, TA37 however was hit in the engine room and burst into flames which caused her speed to drop rapidly. Lancelot was about to finish off the German ship but on seeing low fast moving silhouettes of potential E-boats he decided to withdraw and they were in fact the motor minesweepers coming in to help with the crew of the stricken freighter and for survivors of the destroyed UJ201. Lancelot headed south back to port, the Kapitan Diederichsen remained afloat but only for some time, an attempt to tow failed and the survivors were taken off by the German escorts. The heavily damaged TA37 was towed successfully and made it to Pola, the French forced remained in the Adriatic for half of the year bombarding Zante, and on 19 March sank two Siebel ferries SF273 and SF274 on their way to Pylos and crippling another two. In August they took part in the Southern Invasion of France, order of Battle, German Kriegsmarine in WWII
16.
Maquis du Mont Mouchet
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The Maquis du Mont Mouchet were a group of French resistance fighters during the Second World War. Based at Mont Mouchet, its goal was to delay the convergence of German forces in the south of France with those in Normandy, in order to aid the allies in the reconquest of France. The Germans, having discovered the maquis, made several attacks up until May 1944 with about 3,000 men and using aviation, little information is available on the German forces. Out of revenge for their previous losses, the Germans pillaged several of the surrounding villages, in the course of the battles, the French Forces of the Interior sustained severe losses,238 killed and 180 wounded as well as about 100 hostages executed by the Nazis
17.
Operation Overlord
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Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings, a 1, 200-plane airborne assault preceded an amphibious assault involving more than 5,000 vessels. Nearly 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel on 6 June, the decision to undertake a cross-channel invasion in 1944 was taken at the Trident Conference in Washington in May 1943. The coast of Normandy was chosen as the site of the invasion, with the Americans assigned to land at sectors codenamed Utah and Omaha, the British at Sword and Gold, and the Canadians at Juno. In the months leading up to the invasion, the Allies conducted a military deception, Operation Bodyguard. This misled the Germans as to the date and location of the main Allied landings, Adolf Hitler placed German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in charge of developing fortifications all along the Atlantic Wall in anticipation of an invasion. A failed counterattack by German forces on 8 August left 50,000 soldiers of the 7th Army trapped in the Falaise pocket, the Allies launched an invasion of southern France on 15 August, and the Liberation of Paris followed on 25 August. German forces retreated across the Seine on 30 August 1944, marking the close of Operation Overlord, in June 1940, Germanys leader Adolf Hitler had triumphed in what he called the most famous victory in history—the fall of France. The defending British Expeditionary Force, trapped along the northern coast of France, was able to evacuate over 338,000 troops to England in the Dunkirk evacuation. After the Germans invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin began pressing for the creation of a front in Western Europe. Two tentative plans code-named Operation Roundup and Operation Sledgehammer were put forward for 1942–43, instead, the Allies launched the invasion of French North Africa in November 1942, the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, and invaded Italy in September. These operations provided the troops with valuable experience in amphibious warfare, the decision to undertake a cross-channel invasion within the next year was taken at the Trident Conference in Washington in May 1943. Churchill favoured making the main Allied thrust into Germany from the Mediterranean theatre, but was over-ruled by his American allies, British Lieutenant-General Frederick E. Morgan was appointed Chief of Staff, Supreme Allied Commander, to begin detailed planning. The initial plans were constrained by the number of landing craft, most of which were already committed in the Mediterranean. In part because of lessons learned in the Dieppe Raid of 19 August 1942, the failure at Dieppe also highlighted the need for adequate artillery and air support, particularly close air support, and specialised ships able to travel extremely close to shore. Morgan considered four sites for the landings, Brittany, the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy, as Brittany and Cotentin are peninsulas, it would have been possible for the Germans to cut off the Allied advance at a relatively narrow isthmus, so these sites were rejected. The Pas de Calais is the closest point in continental Europe to Britain and was the location of sites for V-1 and V-2 rockets. The Germans considered it to be the most likely initial landing zone, Normandy was hence chosen as the landing site
18.
Invasion of Elba
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The invasion of Elba, codenamed Operation Brassard, was part of the Italian campaign during the Second World War. The invasion was carried out by Free French Forces supported by British and American ships and it came as a complete surprise to the German garrison although it had been reinforced for just such a possibility. The defenders resisted for two days before being given permission to withdraw to the mainland, the Allied 15th Army Group—under the command of General Sir Harold Alexander—captured Rome on 4 June 1944 and forced the German 14th and 10th Armies to withdraw into Northern Italy. This success was followed by orders for the invasion of southern France, the 15th Army Group were asked to supply the majority of the troops for the landings. This reduced the U. S. 5th Army to five divisions, the whole of the 15th Army Group now only consisted of 18 divisions, and the reduction in strength put on hold any plans Alexander had of reaching the Gothic Line by August 1944. One operation they could carry out was the invasion of Elba. The landings had then been postponed because of the shortage of support aircraft, the objectives of the invasion were to prevent the Germans using the island as a forward outpost and to provide a gun position for Allied artillery to interdict traffic on the Piombino canal. It is not known if the Germans were aware of the Allied plans, on 12 June, the German commander in Italy—Field Marshal Albert Kesselring—was informed that Elba must be defended to the last man and the last cartridge. On 14 June, German reinforcements started to arrive on Elba from Pianosa, the decision to reinforce Elba was not known to the Allies who believed the naval activity between the island and the mainland was in fact an evacuation. The naval commander for the operation was Rear-Admiral Thomas Hope Troubridge of the Royal Navy and he was in command of Force N, which would be responsible for landing the assault division. Because of the shallow waters large naval and transport ships could not be used, the only naval gunfire support would be provided by Landing Craft Hedgehogs and the Insect-class gunboats HMS Aphis and Cockchafer. The naval force would be formed into three groups, Group 1 comprised Motor Torpedo Boats and PT boats and they would initially create diversions and land the French Commandos on the northern side of the island. Their objective would be the gun batteries located there, Group 2 would comprise five Landing Craft Infantry and eight motor launches each towing a Landing Craft Assault. Their objective was four beaches on the south coast, Group 3 comprised the main force, in nine LCIs, four Landing Ships Tank, and three motor launches towing Landing Craft Support. The main landings would be on two beaches codenamed Kodak Amber and Kodak Green at 04,00 and they would be followed at 04,30 by another 28 LCIs and after dawn by 40 LCTs, bringing in heavier equipment. In the briefing immediately prior to the landing, Troubridge said he expected the shore batteries to have taken out by aerial bombardment. He also said the garrison consisted of about 800 men. On 16 June, the day before the invasion, German reconnaissance aircraft spotted two flotillas of ships, but thought they were just the normal naval convoys between Naples and Bastia
19.
Maquis du Vercors
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The Maquis du Vercors was a rural group of the French Forces of the Interior resistance that fought the 1940–1944 German occupation of France in World War II. The Maquis du Vercors used the prominent scenic plateau known as the Massif du Vercors as a refuge, many members of the maquis, known as maquisards, died fighting in 1944 in the Vercors Plateau. From 16 to 24 April 1944 the Milice attacked the village of Vassieux, burning several farms, nevertheless, the local population continued to support the Resistance movement. In his BBC speech, de Gaulle pronounced the famous line le chamois des Alpes bondit which signalled the 4,000 maquisards to begin the uprising. The Maquis returned to the traditional style of petite guerre, engaging in harassment. Reserve-Division of the Wehrmacht,4 reserve mountain light infantry battalions,2 reserve infantry battalions,2 reserve artillery batteries, other units, Kampfgruppe « Zabel »,3 Ost-Bataillonen, about 200 Feldgendarmen,1 security battalion,1 police battalion, about 400 paratroopers. According to Peter Lieb, two crashed and eight of them landed a bit further on, so the first wave of assault consisted only of about a hundred soldiers. Peter Lieb spécifies that the Kommandeur der Sipo-SD of Lyon, SS-Obersturmbannführer Werner Knab, was airborne on Vassieux on 21 July. Shot and wounded, he was evacuated in a Fieseler Fi 156 Storch on 24 July and he would have played an important part in the torture and the slaughter of the Maquisards of Vercors and the inhabitants of Vassieux. On 23 July 1944,3 Go-242 gliders, towed by bombers Heinkel-111, and 20 DFS-230 gliders transported one Ost-Kompanie, thomas and Ketley wrote that the Fallschirm-Kampfgruppe « Schäfer » was detached from Kampfgeschwader 200 on 8 June 1944. It was made up of volunteers out of Fallschirmjäger-Bewährungstruppe, mustered at Tangerhütte, günther Gellermann says that the Fallschirm-Kampfgruppe « Schäfer » was under Luftflotte 3 command and no longer under Kampfgeschwader 200 command. This followed the declaration of freedom from the German occupation in some towns, on 3 July 1944 the Free Republic of Vercors was proclaimed, the first democratic territory in France since the beginning of the German occupation in 1940. The Free Republic had its own flag, i. e. the French Republic tricolour featuring the Cross of Lorraine and the V for Vercors and Victory, and its coat of arms and it was a short-lived regime, it ceased to exist before the end of the month. Maquisards appealed to Free French agencies based in London and Algiers to supply them with arms and heavier weaponry to counter the German action. We shall not forget the bitterness of having been abandoned alone and without support in time of battle, the battle and the maquisards of Vercors also prominently feature in Frank Yerbys 1974 novel The Voyage Unplanned. French director Jean-Paul Le Chanoi made Au Coeur de lOrage, a documentary about the French Resistance during the Second World War, the movie, composed of Allied clandestine film recordings and German newsreel, focuses on the battle of the Vercors Plateau during July 1944. Four young Europeans meet with historians and witnesses of our past… They investigate the events of the Second World War in Germany, in France and in Russia. Maquis des Glières Maquis du Mont Mouchet French Resistance Free French Forces French Forces of the Interior Liberation of Paris List of French possessions and colonies
20.
Operation Dragoon
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Operation Dragoon was the code name for the Allied invasion of Southern France on 15 August 1944. By July 1944 the landing was reconsidered, as the ports in Normandy did not have the capacity to adequately supply the Allied forces. Concurrently, the French High Command pushed for a revival of the operation that would include large numbers of French troops, as a result, the operation was finally approved in July to be executed in August. The goal of the operation was to secure the ports on the French Mediterranean coast. After some preliminary commando operations, the US VI Corps landed on the beaches of the Côte dAzur under the shield of a naval task force. Hindered by total Allied air superiority and an uprising by the French Resistance. The Germans decided to withdraw towards the north through the Rhône valley, Allied mobile units were able to overtake the Germans and partially block their route at the town of Montélimar. The ensuing battle led to a stalemate, with neither able to achieve a decisive breakthrough, until the Germans were finally able to complete their withdrawal. While the Germans were retreating, the French managed to capture the important ports of Marseille and Toulon, the Germans were not able to hold Dijon and ordered a complete withdrawal from Southern France. Army Group G retreated further north, pursued by Allied forces, the fighting ultimately came to a stop at the Vosges mountains, where Army Group G was finally able to establish a stable defense line. After meeting with the Allied units from Operation Overlord, the Allied forces were in need of reorganizing and, facing stiffened German resistance, Operation Dragoon was considered a success by the Allies. The captured French ports were put into operation, allowing the Allies to solve their supply problems soon after, during planning stages, the 1942 operation was known as Anvil, to complement Operation Sledgehammer, at that time the code name for the invasion of Normandy. Subsequently, both plans were renamed, Sledgehammer becoming Operation Overlord, and Anvil becoming Operation Dragoon, the original idea of an invasion of Southern France had come from General George Marshall, the U. S. Army Chief of Staff already in 1942. Operation Dragoon was controversial from the time it was first proposed, the American military leadership and its British counterparts disagreed on the operation. When first planned, the landings were to take place simultaneously – Overlord in Normandy and it soon became clear that a dual landing was impossible to conduct with the available forces. The expansion of Overlord from a three- to a five-division front required many additional LSTs, at the same time, another Allied amphibious landing in Italy at Anzio had gone badly. All of these resulted in the postponing of Anvil by the Allies, after the landing at Normandy, a revival of Anvil became increasingly attractive to the Allied planners. These factors led to a reconsideration of the plan, despite Churchills objections, the operation was authorized by the Allied Combined Chiefs of Staff on 14 July and then renamed Dragoon on 1 August
21.
Liberation of Paris
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The Liberation of Paris was a military action that took place during World War II from 19 August 1944 until the German garrison surrendered the French capital on 25 August 1944. Paris had been ruled by Nazi Germany since the signing of the Second Compiègne Armistice on 22 June 1940, after which the Wehrmacht occupied northern and western France. On the night of 24 August, elements of General Philippe Leclercs 2nd French Armored Division, made its way into Paris, the next morning,25 August, the bulk of the 2nd Armored Division and US 4th Infantry Division entered the city. Although the Allied strategy emphasized destroying German forces retreating towards the Rhine, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force, did not consider the liberation of Paris to be a primary objective. The goal of the U. S. and British Army was to destroy the German forces, and therefore end World War II in Europe, General Eisenhower stated that it was too early for an assault on Paris. He was aware that Adolf Hitler had ordered the German military to completely destroy Paris should the Allies attack, Paris was considered to have too great a value, culturally and historically, to risk its destruction. General Eisenhower was keen to avoid a battle of attrition. Basic utilities would have to be restored, and transportation systems rebuilt, all of these supplies were desperately needed in other areas of the war effort. General Charles de Gaulle of the French Army threatened to order the French 2nd Armored Division to attack Paris and that same day, employees of the Paris Métro, the Gendarmerie, and police went on strike, postal workers followed the next day. They were soon joined by workers across the city, causing a general strike to break out on 18 August, on 16 August,35 young FFI members were betrayed by an agent of the Gestapo. They had gone to a meeting near the grande cascade in the Bois de Boulogne. There, they were executed by German machine-guns and then finished off with hand grenades, when Choltitz told them that he intended to slow the Allied advance as much as possible, Taittinger and Raoul Nordling attempted to persuade Choltitz not to destroy Paris. All over France, from the BBC and the Radiodiffusion nationale, on 19 August, continuing their retreat eastwards, columns of German vehicles moved down the Champs Élysées. Posters calling citizens to arm had previously been pasted on walls by FFI members, other posters assured that victory is near and promised chastisement for the traitors, i. e. Vichy loyalists, and collaborators. Then, the first skirmishes between the French and the German occupiers began, during the fighting, small mobile units of the Red Cross moved into the city to assist the French and Germans who were wounded. That same day in Pantin, a filled with mines exploded and destroyed the Great Windmills. On 20 August, as began to appear, Resistance fighters organized themselves to sustain a siege. Trucks were positioned, trees cut down, and trenches were dug in the pavement to free paving stones for consolidating the barricades and these materials were transported by men, women, and children using wooden carts
22.
Operation Nordwind
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Operation North Wind was the last major German offensive of World War II on the Western Front. It began on 31 December 1944 in Alsace and Lorraine in northeastern France, there is not a matter of prestige involved here. It is a matter of destroying and exterminating the enemy wherever we find them. The goal of the offensive was to break through the lines of the U. S, seventh Army and French 1st Army in the Upper Vosges mountains and the Alsatian Plain, and destroy them. This would leave the way open for Operation Dentist, a major thrust into the rear of the U. S. Third Army which would lead to the destruction of that army. S, Operation Nordwind soon had the understrength U. S. 7th Army in dire straits. The 7th Army —at the orders of U. S, general Dwight D. Eisenhower— had sent troops, equipment, and supplies north to reinforce the American armies in the Ardennes involved in the Battle of the Bulge. On the same day that the German Army launched Operation Nordwind and this attempt to cripple the Allied air forces based in northwestern Europe was known as Operation Bodenplatte, which failed without having achieved any of its key objectives. The initial attack was conducted by three Corps of the German 1st Army of Army Group G, and by 9 January, another, smaller, attack was made against the French positions south of Strasbourg, but it was finally stopped. The U. S. VI Corps—which bore the brunt of the German attacks—was fighting on three sides by 15 January and their arrival was delayed, and the American forces were forced to withdraw to defensive positions on the south bank of the Moder River on 21 January. The German offensive finally drew to a close on 25 January, after the US 222nd Infantry Regiment stopped their advance near Haguenau and this was the same day that the reinforcements began to arrive from the Ardennes. Strasbourg was saved but the Colmar Pocket was a danger which had to be eliminated, Battle of the Bulge Operation Spring Awakening Engler, Richard. The Final Crisis, Combat in Northern Alsace, January 1945, ISBN 978-0-9666389-1-2 Clarke, Jeffrey J. and Smith, Robert Ross. Center of Military History, United States Army, Washington, DC,1993, Nordwind & the US 44th Division *Battle History of the 44th I. D. The Other Battle of the Bulge, Operation Northwind, the U. S. Army Campaigns of World War II. United States Army Center of Military History, the NORDWIND Offensive on the website of the 100th Infantry Division Association contains a list of German primary sources on the operation
23.
Colmar Pocket
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The Colmar Pocket was the area held in central Alsace, France by the German Nineteenth Army from November 1944 – February 1945, against the U. S. 6th Army Group during World War II. It was formed when 6th AG liberated southern and northern Alsace and adjacent eastern Lorraine, during Operation Nordwind in December 1944, the 19th Army attacked north out of the Pocket in support of other German forces attacking south from the Saar into northern Alsace. In late January and early February 1945, the French First Army cleared the Pocket of German forces. S, General Jean de Lattre de Tassignys French First Army forced the Belfort Gap and destroyed the German IV Luftwaffe Korps near the town of Burnhaupt in the southern Vosges Mountains. Soon thereafter, French forces reached the Rhine in the north of the Swiss border between Mulhouse and Basel. Likewise, in the northern Vosges Mountains, the French 2nd Armored Division spearheaded a U. S, seventh Army advance, forced the Saverne Gap, and drove to the Rhine, liberating Strasbourg on 23 November 1944. Apart from Normandy, the areas of France most bitterly defended by the Germans were Alsace and this perception informed Hitlers decisions of 24 November and 27 November 1944, that committed General Siegfried Rasps Nineteenth Army to a do-or-die defense of the region around Colmar. On 26 November, the Germans formed Army Group Oberrhein under the command of Heinrich Himmler, of prime importance to the German defense around Colmar were the bridges over the Rhine at Breisach and Chalampé, since it was over these bridges that supplies were delivered. The logistical crisis and heavy combat of autumn 1944 had dulled the fighting edge of Allied forces throughout northwestern Europe, restricted logistical support imposed limits on the usage of artillery ammunition and the number of divisions the Allies could effectively employ in the front lines. Faulty forecasts for the numbers of infantry replacements needed prevented U. S. rifle companies from maintaining full strength. Thus, at the close of November 1944, the French First Army deployed two kinds of units—highly experienced colonial units and green units that had received a large influx of FFI troops. On New Years Day 1945, the Germans launched Unternehmen Nordwind, German troops of the 198th Infantry Division and the 106th Panzer Brigade attacked north out of the Colmar Pocket from 7–13 January. Although the defending French II Corps suffered some losses during this attack. Since the bulk of Allied troops surrounding the Colmar Pocket were French, the U. S. 28th Infantry Division duly arrived from the Ardennes front and took up position along the right flank of the U. S. 3rd Infantry Division. With the 28th Division in the Kaysersberg Valley, the 3rd Division would be able to concentrate for an attack against two German divisions, the 708th Volksgrenadier and the 189th Infantry. Additionally, a U. S. armored division, the 10th, was scheduled to support the offensive, the winter of 1944-45 was uncommonly cold for northwestern Europe. In his History of the French First Army, General de Lattre described the weather in Alsace as Siberian with temperatures of -20 °C, strong winds, the Alsatian Plain is flat and offers an attacker practically no cover other than occasional woods. The plain is also a basin for the Rhine and is consequently cut by many streams and drainage canals with alluvium-coated bottoms. Dotting the plain are small villages made up of masonry houses whose multi-storey construction offered defending troops a commanding view of the surrounding fields
24.
Operation Crimson
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The aircraft carriers launched 34–39 Vought F4U Corsair fighters, under Lieutenant Commander Frederick Richard Arnold Turnbull. In spite of a five minute delay, it was too dark for the planes to accurately strafe the air fields, Japanese AA defences shot down a single Corsair, though the pilot was rescued. The battleships, aided by aircraft from Illustrious, bombarded Sabang harbour installations, the cruisers attacked shore batteries and a wireless station, while the destroyers focused on a radar station. Following the main bombardment, Tromp, Quality, Quickmatch, and Quilliam under Captain Richard Onslow entered the harbor at Sabang, coastal artillery damaged all but the Quickmatch, causing some casualties and killing a war correspondent. As the task force withdrew, two Japanese aircraft tried to shadow, but both were intercepted and shot down, later in the afternoon, 9–10 A6M Zero fighters engaged 13 Corsairs. The British destroyed two fighters and damaged two more, the Allies lost a total of two Corsairs during the operation. A report of the states, Operation Crimson was the final event of Admiral Somervilles military command before concerns about his health forced his transfer to diplomatic duty. Table of actions by Royal Navy
25.
First Army (France)
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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 and it was massed between Belfort and the general line Mirecourt-Lunéville with headquarters at Epinal. First Army then took part, along with the French Second Army, the First Army intended to take the strongly defended town of Sarrebourg. German Crown Prince Rupprecht, commander of the German Sixth Army, was tasked with stopping the French invasion, the French attack was repulsed by Rupprecht and his stratagem of pretending to retreat and then strongly attacking back. On August 20, Rupprecht launched a major counter-offensive, driving the French armies out, a frantic 1916 saw four different commanders command the First Army, an even more frantic 1917 saw five different commanders at the helm. By the time of the Passchendaele, the French First Army was composed of two corps - the 1st Army Corps and the 36th Army Corps. During the Second World War the French First Army, under the command of General Georges Blanchard, formed part of the forces ranged against the German Army during the Battle of France. On 10 May 1940, it included the Cavalry Corps, and the 3rd, 4th, when the Wehrmacht invaded France and the Low Countries in 1940, the First Army was one of the many armies including the British Expeditionary Force that advanced north to stop the German armies. On May 21,1940, the First Army was one of the trapped in a vast pocket with their backs to the sea that would eventually result in the Dunkirk evacuations. It is estimated that the First Armys last battle allowed the evacuation of an additional 100,000 men from Dunkirk, the First Army formally ceased to exist on May 29, though a portion escaped with the British soldiers. The First Army was reconstituted as the French Army B under the command of General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny in the summer of 1944 and it landed in southern France after Operation Dragoon, the Allied invasion of the area. On September 25,1944 French Army B was redesignated French First Army, liberating Marseilles, Toulon, and Lyon, it later formed the right flank of the Allied Southern Group of Armies at the southern end of the Allied front line, adjacent to Switzerland. It commanded two corps, the French I and II Corps, the French First Army liberated the southern area of the Vosges Mountains, including Belfort. Its operations in the area of Burnhaupt destroyed the German IV Luftwaffe Korps in November 1944, in January 1945 it defended against operation Nordwind, the last major German offensive on the western front. In February 1945, with the assistance of the U. S. XXI Corps, in March 1945, the First Army fought through the Siegfried Line fortifications in the Bienwald Forest near Lauterbourg. Subsequently, the First Army crossed the Rhine near Speyer and captured Karlsruhe, operations by the First Army in April 1945 encircled and captured the German XVIII S. S. Armee Korps in the Black Forest and cleared southwestern Germany. At the end of the war, the motto of the French First Army was Rhin et Danube, the First Army was mainly composed of North African troops drawn from the Army of Africa. These troops had played a role in the liberation of Corsica
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Army of Africa (France)
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The Army of Africa included indigenous Arab or Berber volunteers, regiments largely made up of French settlers doing their military service, and non-French volunteers. Prior to World War I, one battalion of each of the four zouave regiments then in existence, was recruited in France to provide a link between the African and Metropolitan armies, in May 1913 a limited form of selective conscription was applied to the Muslim population of Algeria. Only 2,000 conscripts a year were obtained by this method out of approximately 45,000 possible candidates, as in France itself, military service was an obligation of citizenship and all physically fit male settlers of French origin were required to undertake two years of compulsory service. In 1956, in the course of the Algerian War, a new policy of racial integration was adopted in the remaining units of the old Army of Africa. At the same time, additional Muslim soldiers were to be incorporated into previously mostly European units such as the zouaves, growing tensions within mixed units as the war continued, plus the threat of rebel FLN reprisals against Muslim volunteers, largely nullified this attempted reform. The Armée d’Afrique was formally part of the French metropolitan army comprising a separate army corps, the designation of 19th Army Corps was allocated to the Armée dAfrique in 1873. The preference was not to them to their original units where they might undermine discipline or brutalise their fellow soldiers. The first two battalions of the Infanterie Legere dAfrique were raised in 1832 for service in Algeria, ironically known as les Joyeux these units were generally used for road and other construction work under harsh discipline. They were however used for service when circumstances demanded in Africa, Indochina. Three battalions sent to France at the outbreak of World War II to work on fortifications, were rearmed in April 1940, officers of the African Light Infantry were seconded from other regiments as were some non-commissioned officers. Many NCOs were however former Joyeux who chose to remain with these units and exercise authority. Camel mounted Meharistes plus Compagnies Sahariennes were maintained in the Sahara, the Foreign Legion provided mule mounted detachments for service in southern Algeria and, from 1940 to 1962, four of the Compagnies Sahariennes. In addition to the above, units or individuals from the mainland French Army were sometimes posted to service in North Africa, as were detachments of the Gendarmerie and the Tirailleurs Senegalais. In Morocco nineteen battalions of tirailleurs and nine of zouaves were on service, along with elements of the Foreign Legion. Large numbers of troops were sent immediately to serve in France. In 191433,000 Muslim Algerians were already serving with the spahis, tirailleurs, in the course of the war a further 137,000 enlisted either as volunteers or as wartime conscripts. Of the total of 170,000,36,000 were killed, on 22 April 1915 the first German use of chlorine gas on the Western Front was directed against the French 45th Division, consisting of zouaves, Algerian tirailleurs and African Light Infantry. As had been the case in 1914, substantial numbers of the Army of Africa were moved to mainland France on the outbreak of World War II, following the fall of France, the Army of Africa was reduced to a level of 120,000 under Axis direction
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1st Army Corps (France)
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The 1st Army Corps was first formed before World War I. The Corps saw service throughout the entirety of World War I, at the time of the Battle of Passchendaele, the Corps comprised the 1st Division, 2nd Infantry Division, 51st Infantry Division and 162nd Infantry Division. 1st Army Corps was constituted on August 27,1939, in Lille under the command of Major General Sciard as part of the French mobilization for war. Initially assigned as part of the French First Army, the corps was transferred to the French Seventh Army and moved to regions near Calais. On May 10,1940, the Corps commanded the 25th Motorised Infantry Division in addition to its organic units. With the German invasion violating the neutrality of Belgium and the Netherlands on May 10,1940, the 1st Army Corps moved into Belgium with the goal of gaining contact with the Dutch Army. This was achieved on May 12 near Breda, but the failure of the Allies to hold the German advance mandated early retreats so that the 1st Army Corps would not be cut off. Breda fell to the Germans on May 13 and the corps conducted a fighting withdrawal through Dorp and Wuustwezel to the zone of Antwerp. During May 15–17, the defended the Scheldt Estuary with the 60th and 21st Infantry Divisions. The period from May 19–26 saw the falling back to the line of the Somme River. Because of German advances, the 1st Army Corps had to deploy its divisional reconnaissance units to positions on the river that the slower-moving infantry divisions could then occupy. This required combat with the Germans, but the corps reached positions near Le Hamel, Aubigny, during May 24–25, troops of the corps seized and lost Aubigny twice. The Germans, however, had held onto a large bridgehead at Peronne, the Germans broke out of this bridgehead on June 5,1940, and continued their advance into the heart of France. A counterattack by armored elements of the corps on June 6 was halted by the Germans, from June 9, the corps was involved in a succession of withdrawals that were meant to form lines of defense along the Avre, Oise, Nonette, Seine, and Loire rivers. The crossing of the Oise River was made under German air attack, some bridges were destroyed by the Luftwaffe, after the Germans crossed the Loire River on June 18, the 19e DI of the corps was largely destroyed near La Ferté. This was followed by capture of the bulk of the infantry of the 29th and 47th Infantry Divisions on June 19 near Lamotte-Beuvron. The final week of the campaign was a constant retreat for the remnants of the corps, the following day, an armistice was declared and the corps assembled in the region of Miallet and Thiviers. On July 1, Brigadier General Trancart assumed command of the corps, the 1st Army Corps was demobilized on July 10,1940
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1st Free French Division
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The 1st Free French Division was one of the principal units of the Free French Forces during World War II. 1941, Free French Brigade of the Orient, may 1941, 1st Light Free French Division. August 20,1941, Dissolution following the campaign of Syria, September 24,1941, regroupment of the Free French units of the Middle East in the 1st and 2nd Light Free French Divisions, division with two brigades. December 1941, 1re DLFL, reworked into First Free French Brigade Group to the organization of the British Military, elements of a tank company, sapeurs, artillerymen and navalmen chose the same, they would constitute the 1er Régiment de Fusiliers Marins 1er RFM. In the Middle East,350 men of a battalion stationned in Cyprus, with 120 men of captain Raphaël Folliot, who left French Lebanon on June 27, constituted the 1st Marine Infantry Battalion 1er BIM. In November 1940, the unit participated to the campaign of Gabon, before joining via martime means, designated as the Free French Brigade of the Orient and commanded by colonel Magrin-Verneret, the brigade left Durban and disembarked at Souakim to take part in the campaign of Eritrea. The brigade is reinforced by the Pacific Battalion and by troops of the AEF going from the Bazaville, passed at Bangui, Fort Lamy before joining Khartoum and Souakim. Successful at Kub Kub on February 23,1941, then during the Battle of Keren on February 26, under the designation of First Light Free French Division and under the command of général Legentilhomme, the division entered into Syria in June 1941. The division entered into Damascus on June 21,1941, then continued to Homs and Aleppo before joining Beirut and Cairo, where the division was dissolved. The 1e BFL illustrated capability at the Battle of Bir Hakeim from May 26 to June 11,1942, in June 1943, various troops of the Army of Africa joined the ranks of the division. Accordingly, the division was sent to the desert of Libya during two and a half months, at the request of the général Giraud, the 2e DFL of général Leclerc would follow the same procedure. In 1944, the 1st Motoryzed Infantry Division became the 1st Marching Infantry Division, nevertheless, for those that composed the division, and in most of the ouvrages that were dedicated to the division, the unit remained designated as the 1re DFL. Commanded by général Diego Brosset, the division was integrated into the French Expeditionary Corps of Word War II, lyon was reached in September 3. In autumn 1944, the FFI integrated during the amalgam of the 1st Army replacing the 6000 Africans of the division in what was referred during that period as blanchiment, the division then made way until the Massif des Vosges. On March 1945, the left the guard of the Rhin for the borders of the Alpes, apprehended the Massif de lAuthion, Tende, La Brigue. With the DFL, the battalion participated to the campaign of Gabon, Eritrea, the battalion then participated to the campaigns of Fezzan and Tunisia with the colonne Leclerc prior to the dispersing of officers and men in various units in 1943. Marching Battalion no 2 BM2, attached to the 3rd Independent French Brigade of colonel de Tournadre, in Syria, on July 1942, then sent to Madagascar, Marching Battalion no 3 BM3, dissolved in 1942. 1er Régiment de Fusiliers Marins 1er RFM, Compagnon de la Libération 1er Régiment de Marche de Spahis Marocains, 11e Régiment de cuirassiers 1st Artillery Regiment of Free French Forces, RAFFL
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1st Armored Division (France)
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The 1st Armored Division is a unit of the French Army formed during World War II. Dissolved for a first time in 1946, the unit was recreated in 1948 and it was again dissolved in 1999 with the cadre of the professionalization of the French Military. The 1st Mechanised Brigade, created on July 1,1999, the 1re BM was again dissolved on July 21,2015. The 1st Division was recreated in 2016, the 1st Armored Division was created on May 1,1943. It was dissolved on March 31,1946, the 1st Armored Division was recreated in 1948. On July 1,1999, the 1st Mechanised Brigade inherited the traditions of the division, the 1st Mechanised Brigade was dissolved on July 21,2015. The 1st Division was recreated on July 1,2016 part of the Scorpion Force alongside the 3rd Division, the motto of the division, Nomine et Virtute Prima, translates literally to La première par le nom et la valeur in French, The first in designation and worth. The choice of the insignia, the cross of Saint Louis by général Jean Touzet du Vigier, comes from the place of formation of the unit, Tunisia, the division is known and referred to as division Saint-Louis. The division was cited three times at the orders of the forces during the Second World War. In 1943, a French armed force was formed in North Africa, the unit was equipped with modern equipment coming from the United States, and the program anticipated the constitution of several armed divisions. S. American norms, in three tactical groupments, baptized by the Americans as Combat Command, under these designations the three French divisions engaged in operations from 1944 to 1945. Within this context, the 1st Armored Division 1st DB was formed on May 1,1943, the division was heir to the Light Mechanic Brigade which combat engaged in Tunisia. On January 28,1943, général du Vigier took command of this unit in formation and he had left the command of the BLM to général Brossin de Saint-Didier and installed his command post in Mascara where the training center for armored brigades garrisoned. In the coming months of May 1943 joined transmission and services, in August, the train and a squadron group reinforced immediately. Then, the 2nd African Chasseur doubled to form 2nd Tank-Cuirassiers Regiment, the latter had just been promoted to a divisional general on August 25, and all the forces which were under his disposition were grouped around Mascara. The 2nd Zouaves Regiment disappeared and was replaced, as the infantry of the division, the division assumed position within the ranks of the 1st Army then designate as Army B and which would participate to the disembarking of Provence. The first embarking commenced in Oran and Mers-el-Kébir at the end of the month of July 1944, the Naval ships lifted anchors on August 10 and 11. The disembarking should have taken lieu between Saint-Tropez and Saint-Raphaël, at the dawn of August 15, an enormous naval fleet was assembled north-west of Corsica steering and heading north
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2nd Armored Division (France)
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The French 2nd Armored Division, commanded by General Philippe Leclerc, fought during the final phases of World War II in the Western Front. The divisions 14,454 personnel included men from the 2nd Light Division, escapees from metropolitan France, about 3,600 Moroccans and Algerians and about 350 Spanish Republicans. Other sources give about 2,000, official records of the 2e DB show fewer than 300 Spaniards as they hid their nationality, the division embarked in April 1944 and shipped to various ports in Britain. On 29 July 1944, bound for France, the division embarked at Southampton, during combat in 1944, the division liberated Paris, defeated a Panzer brigade during the armored clashes in Lorraine, forced the Saverne Gap and liberated Strasbourg. 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, the most celebrated moment in the units history was the Liberation of Paris. Eisenhower agreed to let the French armored division and the U. S. 4th Infantry Division liberate Paris. In the early morning of 23 August, Leclercs 2e DB left the south of Argentan on its march to Paris, a march which was slowed by poor conditions, French crowds. On 24 August, General Leclerc sent an advance party to enter the city. This party, commanded by Captain Raymond Dronne, consisted of the 9th company of the 3rd Battalion of the Régiment de marche du Tchad. Dronne and his men arrived at the Hôtel de Ville, in the center of Paris, on 25 August, the 2nd Armored and the U. S. 4th Division entered Paris and liberated it. After hard fighting that cost the 2nd Division 35 tanks,6 self-propelled guns, and 111 vehicles, von Choltitz, the German military governor of Paris, capitulated at the Hôtel Meurice. The following day,26 August, a victory parade took place on the Champs Élysées, which was lined with a jubilant crowd acclaiming General de Gaulle. The 2nd Division later fought in the battles in Lorraine. Subsequently, the 2nd Division operated with U. S. forces during the assault into the Vosges Mountains, the Presidential Unit Citation was awarded to the division for this action. Fighting in Alsace until the end of February 1945, the 2nd Division was deployed to reduce the Royan Pocket on the western coast of France in March–April 1945. After forcing the Germans in the Royan Pocket to surrender on 18 April 1945, eventually, the 2nd Division finished its campaigning at the Nazi resort town of Berchtesgaden in Southeastern Germany. According to Defence Historical Service, the unit counted 1,224 dead and 5,257 wounded at the end of the campaign in northwestern Europe
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5th Armored Division (France)
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The 5th Armored Division was an armored division of the French Army that fought in World War II and the Algerian War. It was also active in Germany during the Cold War, the division was formed on 1 May 1943 under the command of General de Vernejoul. It was initially the 2nd Armored Division, but renamed the 5th Armored Division on 9 July, during the Cold War, the division was initially stationed in Germany, its HQ was in Landau, Palatinate. The division left Germany for Algeria on 1 April 1956, but left some units in Palatinate, the French Army in Germany was drastically reduced after the end of the Cold War, the 5th was dissolved on 31 June 1992
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3rd Algerian Infantry Division
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The 3rd Algerian Infantry Division was an infantry division of the Army of Africa which participated to World War II. The 3rd Armored Division is an heir to 3rd Algerian Infantry Division, the 3rd Division was recreated in 2016 with the cadre of the reorganization of the French Army. November 1942 to April 1943, Marching Division of Constantine, April 15,1946, dissolution of the division. The motto is « It crescendo », the 3rd Algerian Infantry Division has for origin the marching division of Constantine of général Welvert. Created on May 1,1943, in Constantine, Algeria and placed under the orders of général Goislard de Monsabert, at the corps of the French Expeditionary Corps, commanded by the future maréchal Juin, the 3e DIA apprehended the position of forte du Belvédère on January 25. While attracting the masses, the division allowed the development of the manœuvre of Anzio, military on the promontory of Cassino. In relation to this arm event, the 4e RTT endured the loss of half of the effectifs. In May 1944, the division made way to Monte-Cassino where Allied forces have engaged for several months, and participated to the reinforcing of the Gustav line during the victory of Gariglioni. On August 15,1944, the 3e DIA disembarked in Provence, at Cogolin in the Var, liberated Toulon and Marseille, in September–October 1944, the division arrived at the Vosges. The division, then progressed towards Cornimont, pushing back on October 15 at Tête des Cerfs, at the Piquante Pierre, at Rondfaing, at Chapechatte, in 20 days, the 3e DIA advanced more than 15 km while clearing the sectors of Belfort and Gérardmer. Beginning of November 1944, the division was engaged in Le Haut du Tôt, Forge, countering assaults, the division apprehended le Tholy, Château-Lambert, cols de Bussang, Col de Bramont and Col dOderen. Beginning January 1945, the division was called to mount the defensive of Strasbourg, on March 15,1945, the division pierced through Oberhoffen-sur-Moder, and apprehended Lautrebourg. The division then crossed the Lauter and penetrated first into Germany, on March 31,1945, at the head of the 1st Army, the division crossed the Rhin in the region of Spire. Reinforced by the Moroccan Goumier, the division braked the resistance at Heuchelberg and Stromberg, on April 16, the division led at Enz in the north, infiltrating by Nagold in the south and encircled Pforzheim. The campaigns of Alsace and Germany ended with the 3e DIA in Stuttgart, on May 1, the division paraded in front of général de Lattre de Tassigny. One North-African Tirailleur regiment is composed of a more than 3000 men and 200 vehicles. The portion of Maghrebis reaches 69% for the regiment, 74% for the battalion, 79% for the company fusiliers-voltigeurs, 52% for the ant-tank company, 3rd Algerian Spahi Regiment, colonel Bonjour 7th African Chasseur Regiment, colonel Van Hecke. The two regiments are composed of 900 to 1000 men with 15% Maghrebis and 85% Europeans, 67th African Artillery Regiment 37e group de FTA
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13th Demi-Brigade of Foreign Legion
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The 13th Demi-Brigade of Foreign Legion is a mechanized infantry demi-brigade of the French Foreign Legion. It is the only permanent demi-brigade in the French Army, the 13e DBLE was raised in February 1939 at Sidi Bel Abbes in Algeria, with its cadre drawn from 1st Foreign Infantry Regiment. The 13e DBLE fought during World War II for the Free French Forces including service at the Battle of Narvik, the unit fought in the French Indochina War and suffered heavy losses at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. In January 1940, the British and French high commands had decided to dispatch an expedition to Finland, the French decided to allocate a demi-brigade of legionnaires to the expedition – and 13e DBLE was born. In March 1940, the 13e DBLE comprised 55 officers,210 non-commissioned officers, the average age of the legionnaires was between 26 and 28 years old, and most counted 4 to 5 years service. Many of its veteran NCOs had served in the Legion for 10 or more years, once ashore, the 13e DBLEs companies deployed and moved to seize the high ground to the north and south of the town. The legionnaires overran the German camp at Elvegårdsmoen and forced the German rearguard out of Bjerkvik, on 28 May, the 13e DBLE moved on Narvik. The legionnaires crossed Rombaksfjorden and landed squarely in the middle of the German positions, German air attacks forced the supporting British ships to withdraw, leaving the 13e DBLE ashore without fire support. The legionnaires engaged in the task of clearing-out German machine gun nests located in railway tunnels. Lieutenant-Colonel Magrin-Vernerey commanded from the front, patrolling his front-lines to point out German positions to his troops with his walking stick, during the next 10 days, the Allied troops pushed the Germans to within 10 miles of the Swedish frontier. Then, with the collapse of the French and British armies in France it was decided to cancel the Narvik operation, the 13e DBLE evacuated Narvik on 7 June and was withdrawn to England. The unit had lost 7 officers,5 NCOs, and 55 legionnaires during the campaign, the 13e DBLE comprised 1,619 of the 4,500 French soldiers present in England. In France, Prime Minister Paul Reynaud resigned on 16 June, Pétain announced his intention to capitulate to the Germans and sign an armistice. On 18 June, General Charles de Gaulle, under-secretary of defence in the Reynaud government, on 1 July, the French troops at Trentham Park were given the choice of repatriation to Vichy-controlled North Africa, or joining the Free French Forces under De Gaulle. The decision split the 13e DBLE between pro-Vichy and pro-De Gaulle cliques, the split was particularly felt amongst the officer corps, with 31 of the regiments 59 officers choosing repatriation. Amongst the legionnaires, which included many refugees from Nazi and Fascist countries, the 13th included a number of junior officers who would later rise to general rank, such as Captain Marie-Pierre Koenig, Captain Jacques Pâris de Bollardière, and Lieutenant Bernard Saint-Hillier. Other officers, such as Captain Dimitri Amilakvari and Captain Gabriel Brunet de Sairigné would also achieve fame on the battlefield, second Lieutenant Pierre Messmer would later serve as De Gaulles defence minister. On 30 August the Free French 13th Demi-Brigade sailed from Liverpool for operations against Vichy forces that would include the abortive Battle of Dakar, the 13e DBLE was reorganized in two battalions following its participation in the successful Allied invasion of Syria
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French Far East Expeditionary Corps
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The French Far East Expeditionary Corps was a colonial expeditionary force of the French Union Army that was initially formed in French Indochina during 1945 during the Pacific War. The CEFEO later fought and lost in the First Indochina War against the Viet Minh rebels, the CEFEO was created in early 1945 as a replacement for the older Far East French Expeditionary Forces. Its purpose was to support Saigon-based General Gilbert Sabattier, divisional commander of colonial Indochina French Forces, then fighting with the Japanese Southern Expeditionary Army Group during the March coup. On June 7,1945, Leclerc was nominated commander of the CEFEO, on June 22, Leclerc transferred command of the 2nd Armored Division -the famous unit which had liberated Paris in August 1944- to Colonel Dio. Leclerc received command of the Far East French Forces on August 15, in 1946, they would become associated states within the French Union and by 1949 Tonkin, Annam and the Republic of Cochin China would merge as the State of Vietnam. The First Indochina War officially lasted from November 20,1946 until July 20,1954 and was settled by the Geneva Agreements, after withdrawal of the last CEFEO troops from the independent Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia in 1956, the corps was disbanded by General Pierre Jacquot. An exception was the French Foreign Legion which consisted mainly of European volunteers, most of the professional colonial airborne units and the entire Chief of Staff were metropolitan French, as were some colonial infantry, artillery and specialist units. In early November 1953, the French U. N. volunteers returning from the ended Korean War joined the French Union CEFEO and they would be later involved in the battle of Mang Yang Pass of June and July 1954. S. At the beginning of April 1954, Lt. General Earle E. Partridge, Far East Air Force, had arrived in Saigon and begun talks with his French counterpart, Gen. Lauzin, as well as with Gen. Navarre. He had brought with him Brigadier General Joseph D. Caldara, then the chief of the FEAF Bomber Command—the man who would fly and command the Vulture missions. The Americans had arrived at Saigons Tan Son Nhut Airport in a discreet B-17, from the beginning, the Americans were appalled at the total lack of French preparedness for anything like the control of a major saturation bombardment operation. French Col. Brohon later said that this involved the use of several A-bombs in the Dien Bien Phu area. Caldara decided to judge the situation for himself, the French at the highest levels seemed to have no idea of the awful destructive power of the 98 Superfortresses. This bombing mission died a death as Winston Churchill was against it. Thus U. S. Air Force aircraft and personnel were involved in Vietnam in 1954
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Military history of France during World War II
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The military history of France during World War II covers three periods. From 1939 until 1940, which witnessed a war against Germany by the French Third Republic, the period from 1940 until 1945, which saw competition between Vichy France and the Free French Forces under General Charles de Gaulle for control of the overseas empire. In 1944 the Allies invaded and took control of France, expelling the Germans, Vichy France fought for control over the French overseas empire with the Free French forces, which were aided by Britain and the U. S. By 1943, all of the colonies, except for Indochina, had joined the Free French cause, France and Britain declared war on Germany when it invaded Poland in September 1939. After the Phoney War from 1939 to 1940, with little fighting. Recruitment in liberated France led to 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, France had several regular and irregular army forces during World War II, this was partially due to a major geopolitical change. These complex opposing forces were called, in a manner, Vichy French forces. They fought battles all over the world from 1940 to 1945 and these forces were composite, made of rebel factions and colonial troops, France controlled a large colonial empire, only second to the British empire. The French Army on the eve of the German attack in 1940 was commanded by General Maurice Gamelin with its headquarters in Vincennes and it consisted of 117 divisions with 94 committed to the North-Eastern front of operations. The North-Eastern Front Command was held by its Commander-in-Chief, General Alphonse Georges, the French air force was commanded by General Joseph Vuillemin, whose headquarters was located in Coulommiers. After the French armies surrendered, Germany seized 2 million French prisoners of war, about one third were released on various terms. Of the remainder, the officers and noncommissioned officers were kept in separate camps, the privates were sent out to work. About half of them worked in German agriculture, where supplies were adequate. The others work in factories or mines, where conditions were much harsher, Free French Forces were created in 1940 as a rebel faction of the French Army, refusing both the armistice and Vichys authority. Its allegiance was toward General de Gaulle and its HQ was in London, starting as a limited force made of volunteers from metropolitan France and French colonies but also from other countries. It evolved to an army after its merger with Girauds Army of Africa. General Charles de Gaulle was a member of the French cabinet during the Battle of France, 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
36.
French Resistance
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The Résistance also planned, coordinated, and executed acts of sabotage on the electrical power grid, transport facilities, and telecommunications networks. Estimated to have a strength of 100,000 in June 1944 and this burden amounted to approximately 20 million German reichsmarks per day, a sum that, in May 1940, was approximately equivalent to four hundred million French francs. Because of this overvaluation of German currency, the occupiers were able to make fair and honest requisitions and purchases while, in effect. Prices soared, leading to food shortages and malnutrition, particularly among children, the elderly. The labour shortage was worsened by the fact that a number of the French were also held as prisoners of war in Germany. Beyond these hardships and dislocations, the occupation became increasingly unbearable, onerous regulations, strict censorship, incessant propaganda and nightly curfews all played a role in establishing an atmosphere of fear and repression. The sight of French women consorting with German soldiers infuriated many French men, as reprisals for Résistance activities, the authorities established harsh forms of collective punishment. For example, the militancy of communist resistance in August 1941 led to the taking of thousands of hostages from the general population. A typical policy statement read, After each further incident, a number, reflecting the seriousness of the crime, during the occupation, an estimated 30,000 French civilian hostages were shot to intimidate others who were involved in acts of resistance. In early 1943, the Vichy authorities established a paramilitary group and they worked alongside German forces that, by the end of 1942, were stationed throughout France. The group collaborated closely with the Nazis, and was the Vichy equivalent of the Gestapo security forces in Germany and their actions were often brutal and included torture and execution of Résistance suspects. After the liberation of France in the summer of 1944, the French executed many of the estimated 25,000 to 35,000 miliciens for their collaboration. Many of those who escaped arrest fled to Germany, where they were incorporated into the Charlemagne Division of the Waffen SS, the experience of the Occupation was a deeply psychologically disorienting one for the French as what was once familiar and safe become strange and threatening. Many Parisians could not get over the shock experienced when they first saw the huge swastika flags hanging over the Hôtel de Ville, Many résistants often spoke of some climax when they saw some intolerable act of injustice, after which they could not longer remain passive. Barthelt recalled, I recognized him only by his hat, only by his hat, I tell you and because I was waiting on the roadside to see him pass. I saw his face all right, but there was no skin on it, both his poor eyes had been closed into two purple and yellow bruises. In the beginning, resistance was limited to such as severing phone lines, vandalizing posters. Another form of resistance was underground newspapers like Musée de lHomme which circulated clandestinely, the Musée de lHomme was founded by two professors, Paul Rivet and the Russian émigré Boris Vildé in July 1940
37.
Free French Naval Forces
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Les Forces Navales Françaises Libres were the naval arm of the Free French Forces during the Second World War. They were commanded by Admiral Émile Muselier, in the wake of the Armistice and the Appeal of 18 June, Charles de Gaulle founded the Free French Forces, including a naval arm, the Free French Naval Forces. On 24 June 1940, de Gaulle made a separate call specifically to servicemen overseas to join him, on 30 June, De Gaulle was joined by vice-admiral Émile Muselier, who had come from Gibraltar by flying boat. Muselier was the flag officer of the French Navy to answer the call of De Gaulle. The French fleet was widely dispersed, some vessels were in port in France, others had escaped from France to British controlled ports, mainly in Britain itself or Alexandria in Egypt. At the first stage of Operation Catapult, the ships in the British ports of Plymouth and Portsmouth were simply boarded on the night of 3 July 1940. The then-largest submarine in the world, the Surcouf, which had sought refuge in Portsmouth in June 1940 following the German invasion of France, in capturing the submarine, two British officers and one French sailor were killed. Other ships were the two obsolete battleships Paris and Courbet, the destroyers Triomphant and the Léopard, eight boats, five submarines. As soon as the summer 1940, the submarines Minerve and Junon, as well as four avisos, towards the end of 1940, the destroyers Le Triomphant and Léopard followed. Le Triomphant sailed for New Caledonia and spent the rest of the war based there, the ship saw action in both the Pacific and Indian Oceans. A number of ships were leased from the British to compensate for the lack of warships in the FNFL, among them, the Hunt class destroyer La Combattante and the Flower class corvette Aconit. The FNFL suffered their first loss when the patrol boat Poulmic hit a mine, soon after the fall of France, Free France was but a government in exile based in England, with no land of its own to speak of and very few land or sea forces. The resulting Battle of Dakar ended on a Vichist victory, however, after the occupation of Vichy France by the Germans after the Allied invasion of North Africa in November 1942, French West Africa also eventually joined the Free French. Captain dEstienne dOrves attempted to unite the French Resistance, became a symbol when he was arrested, tortured by the Gestapo. In the summer of 1944, the Invasion of Normandy took place, the cruisers Georges Leygues and Montcalm, along with the battleship USS Arkansas provided fire support for the infantry until 10 June. The Combattante silenced German coastal artillery of Courseulles-sur-Mer, the next day, she started patrolling the Channel. On 14 July, she ferried General Charles de Gaulle to France, after the rescue, Triomphant then searched for I-21 for a day, but without success. The Richelieu was present in Tokyo Bay during the signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, the FNFL also harboured technical innovators, like Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau, who invented the modern aqua-lung, and Yves Rocard, who helped perfect radar
38.
Free French Air Forces
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The Free French Air Forces were the air arm of the Free French Forces during the Second World War from 1940. They were commanded by Martial Henri Valin from 1941 to 1944, on 17 June 1940, five days before the signing of the Franco-German Armistice, the first exodus took flight from Bordeaux-Mérignac to England. Others rallied to General Charles de Gaulle from France and French North Africa during the period June 1940 to November 1942, a contingent of volunteers from South American countries such as Uruguay, Argentina and Chile was also created, as Free French officials recruited there personally. From a strength of 500 on July 1940, the ranks of the FAFL grew to 900 by 1941, a total of 276 of these flyers were stationed in England, and 604 were stationed in overseas theaters of operation. In the summer of 1940 General de Gaulle named then-Colonel Martial Henri Valin as commander-in-chief of the FAFL, Valin was at the French military mission in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at the time of his appointment and he had to complete his assignment there by February 1941. It took him 45 days to get to London to see de Gaulle and it was not until 9 July that Valin formally assumed office taking over from the caretaker commander, Admiral Emile Muselier. All FAFL aircraft were to be identified differently from those of the Vichy French air force, which continued to use the pre-war tricolor roundel. The cross could be seen in the places on FAFL aircraft where the roundels used to be on all French military aircraft. The FAFL was formed with one unit at RAF Odiham on August 29,1940. Operation Menace was the Allied plan to take persuade Dakar to join the Allied cause, the resulting Battle of Dakar was a failure. The port remained in Vichy control, FAFL envoys were arrested and imprisoned at Dakar by the Vichy authorities, however, French forces in Cameroon and Chad, in French Equatorial Africa, rallied to the Gaullist cause. There were three detachments of French air force units — based at Fort-Lamy, Douala and Pointe-Noire – operating a mixed bag of Potez and Bloch aircraft, and they thus became part of the FAFL. However, Gabon remained loyal to Vichy, so, in mid- to late October 1940, FAFL squadrons set out on photo-reconnaissance and leaflet-dropping missions. The first combats between Vichy and the FAFL took place on 6 November 1940, when two Vichy air force took on two FAFL Lysanders near Libreville. Both aircraft sustained damage but made it back to base, two days later, the first FAFL airmen were shot down and taken prisoner. Two days after that, Libreville was taken by Free French army troops, the French attitude towards the fighting was that of a “civil war” that was being won for Free France, since now Libreville had joined the Gaullist cause. As it happened, this would be the time when opposing factions within FEA territory would fight each other openly. Philippe de Hauteclocque, better known by his French resistance name of Leclerc, but in outlining what he wanted the FAFL to do, he often revealed a complete lack of understanding of what it was actually capable of
39.
Normandie-Niemen
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The Normandie-Niemen Regiment is 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, the unit originated in mid-1943 during World War II. Joseph Stalin awarded the unit the name Niemen for its participation in the Battle of the Niemen River, as of 2005 the unit, known as Escadron de chasse 1/30 Normandie-Niemen, flew Dassault Mirage F1 CT planes. The squadron was disbanded in June 2010 and re-activated in 2011 as a Dassault Rafale unit. De Gaulle officially promulgated the Groupe de Chasse GC3 Normandie on 1 September 1942, mechanics, pilots and hardware travelled by rail and air via Tehran to Baku. They completed a period of training on the Yakovlev Yak-7 by the end of January 1943, the unit became operational on 22 March 1943. The first campaign of GC3, equipped with the Yakovlev Yak-1 fighter, lasted until 5 October, Tulasne was killed in combat on 17 July, and Commandant Pierre Pouyade took command. On 11 October de Gaulle accorded the groupe the title of Compagnon de la Libération, by the time GC3 relocated to Tula on 6 November 1943, only six pilots remained from the original groupe, which had accumulated 72 aerial victories since becoming operational. In their first year on the front they claimed 86 kills and 16 enemy aircraft damaged, in 1944 the groupe was expanded to become a régiment, with a fourth escadrille joining its ranks. After completing training on the more advanced Yakovlev Yak-9D fighter at Tula and this took place around Doubrovka and Gross-Kalweitchen until 27 November 1944. During this campaign Joseph Stalin ordered the regiment to style itself Normandie-Niemen in recognition of its participation in the battles to liberate the river of the same name. On 16 October, the first day of a new offensive against East Prussia, by the following month the regiment found itself based in German territory. By the end of the year, Pouyade was released from command of the regiment and he, along with other veteran pilots and he was replaced by Commandant Louis Delfino. By the end of 1944,201 kills were claimed, the USSR expressed its gratitude to the regiment by offering 37 of the unit’s Yak-3 fighters as a gift to France. The pilots returned to a welcome in Paris on 20 June 1945. At the end of the war, the regiment had claimed 273 enemy aircraft shot down,37 probables, some 5,240 sorties were flown and the unit took part in 869 dogfights. The unit also destroyed 27 trains,22 locomotives, two E-boats,132 trucks, and 24 staff cars, forty-two of the squadrons pilots were killed and 30 reached ace status. Four of its pilots, Marcel Albert, Marcel Lefèvre, Jacques André and Roland de La Poype and its battle honours included such names such as Bryansk, Orel, Ielnia, Smolensk, Königsberg, and Pillau
