On 19th August 1944, after more than 4 years of occupation, the French Resistance rose up to throw off their German oppressors. Anticipating the imminent arrival of the Allies, the Forces françaises de l’intérieur (FFI) launched a street by street campaign against the Wehrmacht, Numbering 20000, with only a few being armed, they nevertheless barricaded streets, dug trenches, attacked isolated German outposts and bombed German vehicles. The Germans fought back, and an infuriated Hitler ordered Paris destroyed. However, the closeness of the approaching Allies was playing on the Germans’ minds, and they were unable to co-ordinate a concerted campaign against the rebels. Some 800 Resistance fighters were killed, another 1600 wounded, but the survivors were able to hang on until the French 2nd Armoured Division swept through the remaining German defences and entered the city to a delirious reception on 24 August. The Germans surrendered the next day, opting not to carry out Hitler’s destruction order. It was perhaps the only significant French victory of the Second World War, but it is nevertheless one that the French have proudly celebrated ever since.



Paris 1944

After the fall of France in 1940, from exile in Britain, Charles de Gaulle rallied remaining French forces from around the world to form the Free French Forces. The first significant campaign for the Free French came in North Africa, where they fought first against their own Vichy countrymen, then against the Germans and Italians. In May 1942, the Free French came up against the might of Rommel’s Afrika Corp at Bir Hakeim, an oasis in the Libyan desert. Defending an old Turkish fort, the 1st Free French Division under General Marie Pierre Koenig held off the much larger German and Italian force for 14 days, before successfully evacuating under cover of darkness on 11 June. The action was significant because it delayed Rommel long enough for the British to re-group their forces. Although Rommel succeeded in capturing Tobruk 10 days later, Bit Hakeim and other delaying actions were successful in giving the British the vital time needed to pull together the forces which eventually defeated Rommel at El Alamein in July. The Bir Hakeim action was trumpeted by De Gaulle as an indication that France was not out of the war and was still a force to be reckoned with by the Germans. Hitler was infuriated by the French actions and ordered Rommel to execute all Free French prisoners. Rommel ignored the order and the Afrika Corps continued to treat Free French prisoners as legitimate POWs, which reinforced the Free French assertion that they were a genuine army and not simply a group of partisans.



Bir Hakeim 1942

Saint Tropez, august 1944.
After liberation of the city, french soldiers are removing a street sign named after maréchal Pétain. 