Military history of France during World War II

In 1944, after the Allies had landed in Normandy and the southern front moved from North Africa across the Mediterranean into Italy and Provence, these forces routed the German Army, and Vichy officials fled into Germany.

Even though those forces participated in varying degrees, the Allies considered France a World War II victor and did not impose a planned US-run military occupation (AMGOT).

On 15 September 1940, Free French Captain Georges Bergé created the airborne unit called 1re compagnie de l'air, 1re CIA (1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment) in Great Britain.

From 1940 to 1945, General Charles de Gaulle led the following departments: Leclerc's Free French Forces met Giraud's Army of Africa for the first time near Tripoli, Libya, in 1943.

Recruiting posters for the FEFEO depicted a US-built M4 Sherman tank of general Leclerc's Free French 2nd Armoured Division, famous for its role in the 1944 liberation of Paris and Strasbourg.

Its commander was Joseph Darnand, a veteran of the Battle of France and volunteer brigade; he took an oath of loyalty to Adolf Hitler in October 1943 and received the rank of Sturmbannführer (major) in the Waffen SS.

Its members acted under Vichy army officers and dressed in military uniforms[20] similar to those of the French Milice (béret included) and had to claim allegiance to Marshal Pétain with an arm salute.

[21] However, Lieutenant-colonel Alphonse Van Hecke [fr] advised De La Porte du Theil to reject young Jews, and so they were barred from the French Youth Workings by the decree of 15 July 1942, twenty-four hours before the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup.

Although tactically successful, as the advance into German territory reached 8 km, the Saar operation was abandoned on 12 September when the Anglo French Supreme War Council decided to halt all offensive actions immediately.

On 16 October, German general Erwin von Witzleben started a counter-offensive against France, entering a few kilometers into its territory, and the last French forces left Germany the following day to defend their country.

The French decided to create a new reserve, among which a reconstituted 7th Army, under General Robert Touchon [fr], using every unit they could safely pull out of the Maginot Line to block the way to Paris.

De Gaulle, in command of France's hastily formed 4th Armoured Division, attempted to launch an attack from the south and achieved a measure of success that would later accord him considerable fame and a promotion to brigadier general.

This volunteer unit, including old men and 15-year-old children as evidenced by Nazi propaganda archives,[33][34] took part in Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, beginning November 1941.

In the Battle of Mont Gargan [fr], FTP forces (Francs-tireurs partisans) under Georges Guingouin fought the Wehrmacht brigade led by General Curt von Jesser.

342 Squadron RAF (GB 1/20 Lorraine), commanded by Michel Fouquet and equipped with Boston light bombers, supported the Omaha Beach invasion with a smoke screen campaign that blinded and isolated the German defenders.

The 2nd Division played a critical role in Operation Cobra, the Allied breakthrough from Normandy, when it served as a link between American and Canadian armies and made rapid progress against German forces.

Allied strategy emphasized destroying German forces retreating towards the Rhine, but when the French Resistance under Colonel Rol-Tanguy staged an uprising in the city, Charles de Gaulle pleaded with Eisenhower to send help.

However, Resistance sources also told him that the defenders had not yet put much effort into protecting the landward approaches to the ports, and he was convinced that a quick strike by experienced combat troops might well crack their defenses before they had a chance to coalesce.

[49] Even as French forces occupied Toulon, Monsabert began the attack on Marseille, generally screening German defenses along the coast and striking from the northeastern and northern approaches.

[49] Although de Lattre urged caution, concerned over the dispersion of his forces and the shortage of fuel for his tanks and trucks, Monsabert's infantry plunged into the heart of Marseille in the early hours of 23 August.

A notable action, the Battle off Ist, took place on the Adriatic sea on 29 February 1944, when a German naval force of two corvettes and two torpedo boats escorting a freighter, supported by three minesweepers, was intercepted by the Free French Navy operating under British command as the 24th Destroyer flotilla.

Bergé chose three Free French commandos, Jacques Mouhot, Pierre Léostic, and Jack Sibard; Lieutenant Kostis Petrakis of the Greek Army in the Middle East, a native of Crete, joined them.

Free French naval minesweeper Commandant Dominé and cargo vessel Casamance[77] conducted coastal operations, led by Georges Thierry d'Argenlieu aboard the Bougainville-class aviso Savorgnan de Brazza.

As agreed at Cherchell, starting at midnight and continuing through the early hours of 8 November, as the invasion troops were approaching the shore, a group of 400 French resistance under the command of Henri d'Astier de la Vigerie and José Aboulker staged a coup in the city of Algiers.

The Operation Pugilist involves the Free French Flying Column (X Corps (United Kingdom), British Eighth Army under General Sir Bernard Montgomery) and Leclerc's Force (2nd Division (New Zealand)).

On 8 June 1941, the 5th Indian Infantry Brigade under Brigadier Wilfrid Lewis Lloyd crossed into Syria from the British Mandate of Palestine to take Quneitra and Deraa and clear the way for Free French forces to advance from there to Damascus.

[citation needed] South African Air Force (SAAF) reconnaissance led to landings in assault craft, just west of the port of Diego-Suarez on the northern tip of Madagascar, by the British 29th Infantry Brigade and No.

He had 1,500–3,000 Vichy troops around Diego-Suarez,[101] but naval and air defences were relatively light or obsolete: eight coastal batteries, two armed merchant cruisers, two sloops, five submarines, 17 Morane-Saulnier 406 fighters, and 10 Potez 63 bombers.

Governor Pierre Émile Aubert [fr] had received no response from Vichy to repeated requests for instructions, and decided not to put up even a symbolic defense after he learned that the invaders were French and not British.

"[102] In contrast, the British, who trained the first CLI/Gaurs (small, specialized units), supported French Indochina through their Force 136, flew aerial supply missions for the airborne commandos, and delivered Tommy guns, mortars, and grenades from their Calcutta base.