French tank crews in an American-made M5 "Stuart" tank in the liberated city of Mulhouse, eastern France, near the Swiss and German borders; November 21, 1944.

French tank in a French city

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in the company of Gen. Charles DeGaulle, inspecting troops of the French 1st Army during the eve of Operation Nordwind, somewhere in Alsace, France; 30 December, 1944. 

Inspection of French Forces

American soldier on the deck of the destroyed French battleship "Strasbourg" in Toulon, August 1944. Next to the battleship is the light cruiser "La Gallissoniere".
The battleship "Estrasbourg" entered service on April 6, 1939. Until the fall of France, it accompanied French convoys. After the fall of France during "Operation Catapult", the ship was damaged and managed to escape from Mers-el-Kebir towards Toulon. On the morning of December 27, 1942, the "Estrasbourg" was sunk near the quay wall in Toulon, to avoid being captured by the German forces. Later, on July 17, 1943, it was refloated by the Italians. On August 18, 1944, before the Allied landings at Toulon, 36 American B-25s dropped 156 250-kilogram general purpose bombs on the "Estrasbourg" and "La Gallissoniere". The battleship was hit by seven bombs and sank to the bottom of the harbor. In 1946, the ship was refloated again, but due to the great destruction it was not restored. It was used for underwater blast exercises, and on May 27, 1955, her remains were sold as scrap metal.
taken from fb/D.Del Moral

Takin' in the sights

A French soldier outside of a Reichskolonialbund (Reich Colonial League) office in Lauterbach, Germany during the 1939 Saar Offensive.
taken from fb/Warfare History

Saar

De Lattre, de Gaulle and Churchill inspecting french paratroopers commandos from the 1st Bataillon de Choc, France, november 1944.

Giants and commandos

1944, Italy, Monte Cassino, A French tirailleur (infantryman) of the colonial troops (Goumiers)sharpens his bayonet.
The Moroccan Goumiers (French: Les Goumiers Marocains) were indigenous Moroccan soldiers who served in auxiliary units attached to the French Army of Africa, between 1908 and 1956. While nominally in the service of the Sultan of Morocco, they served under French officers, including as part of the Free French Forces.(taken from wiki) 

Source: United States Office of War Information

Goumier

Members of the 'French Squadron SAS' (1er Compagnie de Chasseurs Parachutistes) during the link-up between advanced units of the 1st and 8th armies in the Gabes-Tozeur area of Tunisia. Previously a company of Free French paratroopers, the French SAS squadron were the first of a range of units 'acquired' by Major Stirling as the SAS expanded.

Source: IWM/taken from fb/WW2 uncovered

French SAS members and locals

US-made M4A2 Sherman medium tanks of the 2nd French Armored Division go ashore at the Utah Beach landing site from a Landing Ship Tank (LST); Normandy, France, June 1944.

Tanks of French 2nd Armor

French soldiers smiling and being happy to be on firm ground again after being evacuated from Dunkirk.
taken from fb/France and flanders Campaign 1940

Save

April-may 1945.
Ambulance driver Nicole de Barbot, from the 1st Bataillon de Choc (a paratrooper commando unit), keeps company with two wounded commandos. During the war she received multiple awards such as the cross of war, the Red Cross medal, the Legion of Honour...

Health Department

Germany, Black Forrest, probably april 1945.
French paratroopers commandos from the 1st Bataillon de Choc are being transported on tanks belonging to a chasseurs d'Afrique regiment. 

Commandos on tanks

Germany, april 1945.
A french paratrooper commando from the 1st Bataillon de Choc enjoying german war booty : german motorcycle, german belt, and probably german tunic. Note the german prisonners in the background. 

Nice ride

1940- French soldiers manning a Canon de 155mm Mle 1916 named "Madeleine" somewhere in France. Note name painted on barrel.

 Thanks to BATRAC International

taken from fb/France and Flanders Campaign 1940

Madeleine


The last battle of ‘Crécy-au-Mont’

On the 4th of June 1940 the battered French 2ème D.C.R. (Armoured Division), together with other French and British units, was ordered to attack in the direction of Abbeville, were the Germans had established a bridgehead south of the river Somme.

Like so many others, the attack was poorly coordinated, and soon the French Infantry –fired upon by the Germans and, it was said, by its own artillery and tanks- retreated, leaving the French tanks unprotected. Nevertheless the behemoths, Renault B1bis, kept moving forward, firing, and destroying a number of German Paks and infantry positions of the 57. Infanterie Division. 
 Three French tanks, ‘Crécy-au-Mont’, ‘Kléber’, and ‘Maréchal Lefèvre’, broke through the German defenses and reached the Mont de Caubert, a hill just to the west of Abbeville, but without support they were forced to retreat, losing ‘Crécy-au-Mont’ in the process.

The final moments of ‘Crécy-au-Mont’ were later described by its driver, Sergent Robert Job, of which this is a short resume:

“We moved downhill and the Lieutenant suddenly came down from the turret to point out a group of men we were unable to identify at first. (…) They were Germans! I saw a gun abandoned with shells piled beside and I drove for it, intending to destroy it. (…) we approached quickly but a direct hit stopped us a few meters from the gun (the 88mm Flak gun in the photo), the engine stalled and the tank started to burn. I cut off the ignition (…) and turned just in time to see another direct hit explode in the tank. Everything was burning and the air was suffocating. (…) I dragged myself to the door. (…) Before I realized what was happening, two Germans grabbed me and dragged me away. (…) (Caporal Marcel) Juteau was brought near me and shook my hand; sadly we thought of our two comrades who had remained in the tank.” (adapted from “Blitzkrieg in the West” by J. P. Pallud)

‘Crécy-au-Mont’ burned so fiercely that in the 1980s, when visiting the site, French historians found the exact spot where it had burned: a rectangle of sterile soil still clearly visible amid a field of grasses, a silent monument to Lieutenant Marcel Blondelet and Caporal-Chef Robert Célérier, who died there for France.

Image and text from In Colore Veritas
taken from fb/the France-Flanders campaign 1940

‘Crécy-au-Mont’ battle

The 2. French Armored Division of General Leclerc with American M4 Sherman tanks, after landing on Utah Beach; August 1, 1944.

French Sherman tanks

Female ambulance drivers of the Free French corps knit while waiting for action.
taken from fb/WW2 a war to be won

One can always use warm socks...

French soldier enjoys the comfort of a rocking chair while manning his machine gun post in an abandoned house "somewhere" in France.

 Info from BATRAC International.
taken from fb/Daniel del Moral/History of WW2

The waiting game

Circa 1940- Interior view of a French Char FCM 2C super heavy tank. Soldier in foreground is manning a Hotchkiss machine gun.

 Image and Info sourced from BATRAC International.
taken from fb/The France and Flanders Campaign 1940

Hot business


ON THIS DAY: 8 JUNE 1941

The Syria-Lebanon Campaign begins during WWII. A British-led Allied force invaded both Syria and Lebanon to wrest control from Vichy France. The idea was to prevent Nazi Germany from controlling bases in the area to attack Egypt. 

The Vichy French fought vigorously against the Allies but surrendered on 14 July and handed over control of Levant territories to Free French forces. The campaign was a bloody affair with thousands of casualties but received little attention at the time and since due to the sensitive situation of Allied troops fighting former French allies.
taken from fb/History of War Magazine

Syria-Lebanon Campaign 

A French soldier-photographer shown crouched behind a tree somewhere on the French Front, snapping pictures of the action as it takes place several hundred yards away.Probably 'Phoney war' period.
taken from fb/The France and Flanders Campaign 1940

Watching the enemy

Against lighter enemy armor and motorized troops, this French anti-tank gun was deadly.


Anti-tank gun

Renault UE Chenillette Armoured carriers in town near the belgium border, 1940

Renault Armoured carriers

Free French soldier armed with a US M1903 Springfield rifle, northern France, early 1945.
taken from fb/T.Laemlein/WW2Axis&AlliesLounge

On the lookout

Char B1 heavy tank in Military Parade, 1939

French Forces

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