Maqui, Franc Tireurs & the Armée secrète
- Thread starter cyclone
- Start date
Don't know what you mean by "good reads", friend. There is a LOT of overblown fiction out there, much of it heroic in the extreme, most of it propaganda and a great deal of it anti-American, anti-British and anti-anybody-who-wasn't French.
In actual fact, the so-called "Resistance" spent a lot of its time turning in non-Communist anti-Nazis to the Gestapo. The Resistance was Communist Party, floor to roof and tolerated no-one who was not a card-carrying Communist. They actually shut down ammunition production in the defence plants during the period of the Stalin-Hitler pact, only got started doing something on OUR side after the Nasties went into Russia, better than a year after they had taken France. Lovely fellows. France was to become Communist by the end of the war and that was that.
Fortunately, de Gaulle had a few ideas of his own, being from a family aligned with the more conservative royalist factions for centuries already. If you want a REALLY interesting read, check out the various alignments amon the upper French officer caste. France might be a Republic, but the officer class to this day remains staunchly Royalist in its outlook. Every President of France is scared spitless that he might be incompetent enough to provoke a Royalist counter-revolution. A couple of them have almost made the grade!
The Secret Army was something else, post-War-Two and very scary as far as French officialdom was concerned. These are the boys who were scrawling ''Algerie francais!'' on the walls in Paris while the fighting was going on against the independent Algerian Gummint. This is one of the reasons that the French Gummint doesn`t trust the Legion very much. The Legion, on the other hand, is still p*ssed because Sidi-bel-Abbes, their home away from home for so many years, is no longer theirs.
All very fascinating reading.
Start with Wikipdia; they have some good references from there.
Also, as mentioned, there is lots of fiction. Some of it is even labelled as fiction!
.
In actual fact, the so-called "Resistance" spent a lot of its time turning in non-Communist anti-Nazis to the Gestapo. The Resistance was Communist Party, floor to roof and tolerated no-one who was not a card-carrying Communist. They actually shut down ammunition production in the defence plants during the period of the Stalin-Hitler pact, only got started doing something on OUR side after the Nasties went into Russia, better than a year after they had taken France. Lovely fellows. France was to become Communist by the end of the war and that was that.
Fortunately, de Gaulle had a few ideas of his own, being from a family aligned with the more conservative royalist factions for centuries already. If you want a REALLY interesting read, check out the various alignments amon the upper French officer caste. France might be a Republic, but the officer class to this day remains staunchly Royalist in its outlook. Every President of France is scared spitless that he might be incompetent enough to provoke a Royalist counter-revolution. A couple of them have almost made the grade!
The Secret Army was something else, post-War-Two and very scary as far as French officialdom was concerned. These are the boys who were scrawling ''Algerie francais!'' on the walls in Paris while the fighting was going on against the independent Algerian Gummint. This is one of the reasons that the French Gummint doesn`t trust the Legion very much. The Legion, on the other hand, is still p*ssed because Sidi-bel-Abbes, their home away from home for so many years, is no longer theirs.
All very fascinating reading.
Start with Wikipdia; they have some good references from there.
Also, as mentioned, there is lots of fiction. Some of it is even labelled as fiction!
.
Check this out
http://flagspot.net/flags/fr^resm.html
Vercors maquis
Vercors is a limestone massif located in the French Alps. Vercors has a triangular shape, limited by the rivers Rhône (west), Drac (east) and Drôme (south). It stretches over the departments of Isère and Drôme. Vercors remained an extremely isolated area until the building of the 'vertigo roads' (routes du vertige), which were necessary for the exploitation of the forests of Vercors.
In 1942, French franc tireurs went underground and hid in the Vercors. When the STO (Service du travail obligatoire) was set up by the French government (16 February 1943) in order to provide workers for the German industry, the so-called réfractaires refused to obey and several of them joined the resistance movements, especially in Vercors. Resistance camps were established in the massif, which were not really attacked by the Italian occupation troops. When the Germans took the control of the zone formerly under Italian control, the situation hardly changed and the Resistance movements were able to control the few possible ways of access to the mountain.
The resistance movements was organized in Sassenage, near Grenoble, by a group of friends fond of rock-climbing, who had understood the strategical interest of Vercors. The writer Jean Prévost and the architect Pierre Dalloz met municipal councillors of Grenoble revocated by the French State (a lot of people who refused to pledge allegiance to Marshal Pétain were revocated). General Delestraint (1879-1945), the chief of the Secrete Army, approved the Plan Montagnards. According to this plan, Vercors should have been used as a bridgehead for the allied airborne troops.
In March 1944, the regular maquis of Vercors included c. 400 men, divided into two main groups. Following the Normandy landing, they were joined by more than 4,000 volunteers. On 15 June, a first attack by the Germans was blocked in Saint-Nizier. On 3 July, the Republic of Vercors was proclaimed and the French flag was hoisted. On 14 July, the maquis received a significant supply of arms and material landing by parachutes. In the meantime, the Germans sent 15,000 men, divided into two Alpine divisions, and started to surround Vercors.
On 21 July at 7 AM, workers preparing a landing ground in Vassieux welcomed a group of gliders and helped their landing. Unfortunately, the gliders were operated by SS commandos, who rapidly slaughtered the population of Vassieux and destroyed the village. The landing ground was then used by the Germans.
After three days of hopeless fighting, order of withdrawal was given by the chiefs of the maquis. Most fighters attempted to hide in the dense wood of Lente. The St. Martin's hospital was relocated into the cave of Luire, which was assaulted on 27 July. The Germans finished off the wounded and executed the two doctors and the priest. The two nurses were sent in deportation to Ravensbrück. Only one wounded could escape by hiding in a narrow fault of the mountain. The Germans took reprisals against the civil population until the 19 August.
Vercors was awarded the title of 'Citadel of the Resistance' (Citadelle de la Résistance). Memorials of the Resistance were built in Vassieux-en-Vercors, la Chapelle-en-Vercors and in other places of historical significance.
Have a look here too
http://www.cheminsdememoire.gouv.fr/page/affichelieu.php?idLang=en&idLieu=6371
http://flagspot.net/flags/fr^resm.html
Vercors maquis
Vercors is a limestone massif located in the French Alps. Vercors has a triangular shape, limited by the rivers Rhône (west), Drac (east) and Drôme (south). It stretches over the departments of Isère and Drôme. Vercors remained an extremely isolated area until the building of the 'vertigo roads' (routes du vertige), which were necessary for the exploitation of the forests of Vercors.
In 1942, French franc tireurs went underground and hid in the Vercors. When the STO (Service du travail obligatoire) was set up by the French government (16 February 1943) in order to provide workers for the German industry, the so-called réfractaires refused to obey and several of them joined the resistance movements, especially in Vercors. Resistance camps were established in the massif, which were not really attacked by the Italian occupation troops. When the Germans took the control of the zone formerly under Italian control, the situation hardly changed and the Resistance movements were able to control the few possible ways of access to the mountain.
The resistance movements was organized in Sassenage, near Grenoble, by a group of friends fond of rock-climbing, who had understood the strategical interest of Vercors. The writer Jean Prévost and the architect Pierre Dalloz met municipal councillors of Grenoble revocated by the French State (a lot of people who refused to pledge allegiance to Marshal Pétain were revocated). General Delestraint (1879-1945), the chief of the Secrete Army, approved the Plan Montagnards. According to this plan, Vercors should have been used as a bridgehead for the allied airborne troops.
In March 1944, the regular maquis of Vercors included c. 400 men, divided into two main groups. Following the Normandy landing, they were joined by more than 4,000 volunteers. On 15 June, a first attack by the Germans was blocked in Saint-Nizier. On 3 July, the Republic of Vercors was proclaimed and the French flag was hoisted. On 14 July, the maquis received a significant supply of arms and material landing by parachutes. In the meantime, the Germans sent 15,000 men, divided into two Alpine divisions, and started to surround Vercors.
On 21 July at 7 AM, workers preparing a landing ground in Vassieux welcomed a group of gliders and helped their landing. Unfortunately, the gliders were operated by SS commandos, who rapidly slaughtered the population of Vassieux and destroyed the village. The landing ground was then used by the Germans.
After three days of hopeless fighting, order of withdrawal was given by the chiefs of the maquis. Most fighters attempted to hide in the dense wood of Lente. The St. Martin's hospital was relocated into the cave of Luire, which was assaulted on 27 July. The Germans finished off the wounded and executed the two doctors and the priest. The two nurses were sent in deportation to Ravensbrück. Only one wounded could escape by hiding in a narrow fault of the mountain. The Germans took reprisals against the civil population until the 19 August.
Vercors was awarded the title of 'Citadel of the Resistance' (Citadelle de la Résistance). Memorials of the Resistance were built in Vassieux-en-Vercors, la Chapelle-en-Vercors and in other places of historical significance.
Have a look here too
http://www.cheminsdememoire.gouv.fr/page/affichelieu.php?idLang=en&idLieu=6371
My uncle fought in France after D-day and he told me the Canadian troops always knew there were no Germans around when they saw the Maqui strutting around with their armbands on and brandishing weapons. Read an interesting article the other day about De Gaulle's giving notice to the U.S. that France wanted all U.S. military out of France in the 1960's. Secretary of State, Dean Rusk had a great reply, he said " Does that include all those who are buried here as well?" Charles never said a word.
Found this in the Beaver the other day and happened on it again on the net.
Escape Network Operated by Canadian Spies Saved Downed Allied Airmen In Nazi-Occupied France During World War Two
Full story here:
http://militaryhistorytravel.com/id1.html
Escape Network Operated by Canadian Spies Saved Downed Allied Airmen In Nazi-Occupied France During World War Two
Full story here:
http://militaryhistorytravel.com/id1.html
PerversPépère
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
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- Shawinigan (Quebec)
Well, all my mother's family was involved in these unpleasant times and they weren't exactly "strutting around with armbands". I guess they never had one.
They just kept on guiding refugees to safety through the mountains with the help of anti-Franco republican spanish and Basque maquisards and providing these with food and news. Messages for the FFI organization very often came back, all the way from Gibraltar through the same path and my mother had to relay many of these.
My grandparents had an inn - "Chez Finor" - in Arthez-d'Asson (Atlantic Pyrénées) and were actively helping people elude Vichy's thugs and advancing german troops.
They kept on doing this all through the occupation years, even though elite SS Edelweiss troops had taken quarters in the hôtel and village. They just had access to more and fresher news.
Funny, the german high ranking officers already had all the village notables' pedigree when they first entered the place... They had very efficient intelligence services.
PP.
They just kept on guiding refugees to safety through the mountains with the help of anti-Franco republican spanish and Basque maquisards and providing these with food and news. Messages for the FFI organization very often came back, all the way from Gibraltar through the same path and my mother had to relay many of these.
My grandparents had an inn - "Chez Finor" - in Arthez-d'Asson (Atlantic Pyrénées) and were actively helping people elude Vichy's thugs and advancing german troops.
They kept on doing this all through the occupation years, even though elite SS Edelweiss troops had taken quarters in the hôtel and village. They just had access to more and fresher news.
Funny, the german high ranking officers already had all the village notables' pedigree when they first entered the place... They had very efficient intelligence services.
PP.
