Free French forces

Free French forces were formed in July 1940 de jure. The initial strength of these forces was 1,300 men from the expeditionary force in Norway and the French Legion. By July 8, the number of forces was 1994 people (101 of them were officers), by August 15 it had grown to 2,721 people (123 officers). The force also included aviation and fleet: in the fleet, commanded by Admiral Emil Mousellier, there were 882 people by July 15 (of which 30 were officers); in aviation , from June 15 to 30, out of a total of about 200 people went to the UK as volunteers to fight against the Germans, and by the end of the year this figure had grown to 300 ^[1] .

Baptism of fire Free French forces took part in a Syrian-Lebanese operation against French collaborators , which lasted from June to July 1941. However, the most important battle of the Free French forces was the battle of Bir Hackheim , which continued in Libya from May 26 to June 11, 1942 . Then the 1st French Free Brigade under the command of General Marie-Pierre Koenig for 14 days defended the path to Suez from the forces of the African Corps Erwin Rommel . Soon, after the arrival of the forces of the 8th British Army on the line near El Alamein, the Franco-British forces finally stopped Rommel’s onslaught towards Egypt. In the course of the battle, about 3,700 French kept up their defenses against 40,000 Germans and Italians, and at crucial moments the French had to act without the support of aviation. Total Free Forces suffered losses in the amount of 800 killed or missing.

In the Free French forces, the enthusiasm and patriotism of the servicemen was so high that the officers were forced to close their eyes to minor misdemeanors. So, according to the testimony of Pierre Klostermann , one of the commanders criticized several soldiers for the fact that they came to the review of the troops in yellow dressmakers and yellow sweaters under the uniform, in response to that they exclaimed: “We are civilians and we went volunteers for that war, which the military do not want to lead! ” ^[2] .

On August 1, 1943, the Free French forces were reorganized: the African army remained in Africa under the command of Henri Giraud , and the French army of liberation was formed in Europe.

According to the French historian Jean-Francois Muracciola , a specialist in the history of the French Resistance Movement, about 33,300 people served in the Free French Forces. The figure is based on data from the summer of 1940 to the summer of 1943. Of these 73300 people ^{[3] [4]} :

• 50,000 served in the ground forces;
• 12,500 in the navy;
• 3200 in the air force;
• 5,700 in reserve;
• 1900 in the headquarters of the local committees for the liberation of France.

According to the national composition, the division was as follows: 39,300 people were French, 30,000 were from the French colonies (mainly French-speaking Africans) and 3,800 people were foreigners by origin (members of the Foreign Legion also belong here).

According to a report dated October 30, 1942 , there were approximately 61670 people in the army, including 20200 infantrymen and 20,000 special forces soldiers (mostly Lebanese) ^[5] . As of May 1943, according to Jean-Louis Crémyo-Brilyak, there were 79,600 people in the ground forces, of which about 21,500 are of Lebanese and Syrian origin, about 2,000 are from North Palestine and 650 are from the headquarters in London ^{[6 ]} . According to Francois Broche , a member of the board of the administration of the Free French Foundation, there were a maximum of 53 thousand soldiers in the army, of whom there were about 32 thousand inhabitants of the colonies (were not French citizens in 1940), 16 thousand French and about 5 thousand foreigners (including and military foreign legion) ^[7] . For his part, Henri Echocard, a veteran of the Free French Forces, counted 54,500 people ^{[8] [9]} .

Top commanders

• Georges Katra , Army General (June 1940)
• Paul Lezhentil , Brigadier General (1938), Division General (1941), Corps General (March 1943)
• Emil Musele , Vice Admiral (October 1939)
• Adolf Sise , military doctor, General (1939), Inspector General of the Public Health Service (July 1942)

Other commanders

• Georges Thierry d'Argenleux , Captain 3rd Rank (February 1940), Captain 2nd Rank (July 1940), Captain 1st Rank (December 1941), Rear Admiral (July 1943), Vice Admiral (December 1944)
• Philip Obojno , Captain 2nd Rank (June 1940), Rear Admiral (April 1942), Vice Admiral (December 1945)
• Charles Bapst
• Paul Beine
• Pierre Biyot , captain (December 1936), lieutenant colonel (December 1941), colonel (December 1942), brigadier general (September 1944)
• Diego Brosse , lieutenant colonel (December 1940), brigadier general (August 1943), division general (September 1944)
• Alfred Cazeau , lieutenant colonel (June 1940), brigadier general (October 1941), division general (February 1945)
• Georges Chadebek de la Lavalad
• Philibert Kolle , commander (1938), brigadier general (August 1941), division general (November 1944)
• Pierre Garbey , captain (1938), commander (September 1940), lieutenant colonel (December 1941), colonel (June 1944), brigadier general (November 1944)
• Philip Leclerc , Captain (December 1940), Commander (July 1940), Colonel (November 1940), Brigadier General (August 1941-April 1942), Division General (May 1943), Corps General (May 1945), Marshal of France
• Marie-Pierre König , captain (July 1940), brigadier general (July 1941), division general (May 1943), corps general (June 1944), posthumous Marshal of France
• Edgar de Larmina , colonel (March 1940), brigadier general (July 1941), division general (September 1942)
• Pierre Lelon
• Joseph Magnan
• Raul Magran-Vernarei , aka Ralph Monklar , Lieutenant-Colonel (June 1938), Colonel (June 1940), Brigadier General (December 1941)
• Pierre Marchand
• Rene Marchand
• Zinovy ​​Peshkov , Commander (February 1923), Colonel (Late 1941), Brigadier General (April 1944)
• Ernest Petit
• Martiale Valan , commander (1938), brigadier general of aviation (August 1941), general of the air corps (1945)

Literature

• Henri Michel, Histoire de la France libre, Paris, éd. PUF, coll. “Que sais-je?”, 1967, 126 p. ( ISBN 978-2-13036273-9 )
• Jean-Louis Crémieux-Brilhac, La France libre: de l'appel du 18 juin à la Libération, éd. Gallimard, coll. Suite Des Temps, 1996, 976 p. ( ISBN 2-070-73032-8 )
• Michel Chauvet, Le Sable et la neige: mes carnets dans la tourmente , 1939-1945, éd. du petit véhicule, coll. Mémoires de vie, Octobre 1996, 427 p. ( ISBN 978-2-84273004-8 )
• François Broche, Georges Caïtucoli et Jean-François Muracciole (préf. Max Gallo), La France combat: de l'Appel du 18 Juinà la victoire, éd. Perrin & scérÉn (CNDP), 2007, 848 p. ( ISBN 978-2-26202530-4 )
• Jean-François Muracciole, Les Français Libres: L'autre Résistance, éd. Tallandier, coll. Histoire Aujourd'hui, 2009, 424 p. ( ISBN 978-2-84734596-4 )
• François Broche, Georges Caïtucoli et Jean-François Muracciole (dir.) (Présentations de Max Gallo et de Jean-Louis Crémieux-Brilhac, postface de Jean-François Sirinelli), Dictionnaire de la France libre, éd. Robert Laffont, coll. Bouquins, juin 2010, XXV-1606 p. ( ISBN 978-2-221-11202-1 )
• Dominique Lormier, Histoire générale de la résistance française, La Geneytouse, éd. Lucien Souny, septembre 2012, 620 p. ( ISBN 978-2-84886-383-2 )

See also

• Battling france
• Aviation of the Free French Forces
• Navy Free French Forces
• Free Belgian forces
• Vichy Army
• Vichy Aviation

Links

• Official website of the Free French Foundation (Fr.)
• Site of the Knights of the Order of the Liberation (Fr.)
• Site about members of the Free French movement, created by their descendants (fr.)
• Site about members of the Free French movement, created in 2003-2004 (Fr.)