Soldiers of the French 2nd Armored Division stand on their M4 Sherman tanks to the delight of the locals on the Place de la Concorde in liberated Paris.
 


Liberated Paris

Milice cadres parade for a press publicity photo at the Milice cadet school, rue d'Auteuil, Paris.  The Milice was a descendant of a long line of post-WW1 old comrades associations, Right-wing splinter groups and reactionary terrorist organisations hostile the Third French Republic.  The force embodied terroristic and anti-Semitic tendencies typical of interwar radical Right-wing factions.   The Milice was a vital support to the French police system, playing a major role in rounding up "political undesirables" as well as Jews.  The downside for the Vichy government was that they were notably undisciplined, and prone to disproportionate violence.   At times, they seemed to be beyond to control, not just of the Vichy government, but of their own leadership.  Best regards, JR.

Milice Francaise.

Soldiers of the French Expeditionary Corps (on the right), part of the U.S. 5th Army, guarding German prisoners of war on the street of an Italian town.
 
