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TheService d'ordre légionnaire (SOL, "Legionary Order Service") was acollaborationistmilitia created byJoseph Darnand, afar right veteran from theFirst World War. It was granted its independence in January 1943, afterOperation Torch and theGerman occupation of the South Zone, until then dubbed "Free Zone" and controlled by Vichy.Pierre Laval himself (supported by MarshalPhilippe Pétain) passed the law which accorded the SOL its independence and transformed it into theMilice, which participated in battles alongside theNazis against theResistance and committed numerouswar crimes against civilians. After the Liberation, some members of the Milice escaped to Germany, where they joined the ranks of theSS. Those who stayed behind in France faced eitherdrumhead courts-martial, generally followed bysummary execution, or simple lynching at the hands ofrésistants and enraged civilians.
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Joseph Darnand, who had taken part in theCagoulefascist group's conspiracy before theInvasion of Poland, had been one of the first to rally himself to the "National Revolution" – which was the name given to the newVichy regime issued from the 1940 defeat during theBattle of France and from the 10 July 1940 vote according extraordinary powers to Marshal Pétain. Joseph Darnand took the head of theLégion française des combattants (LFC) in theAlpes Maritimes region, and then created the SOL, which attracted not only the most enthusiast proponents of collaborationism withNazi Germany, but also criminals from theNice mafia. The SOL was extended to all of the South Zone and to North Africa on 12 December 1941.
This new organization was headed by Darnand,Pierre Gallet,Marcel Gombert andJean Bassompierre, whereas its program was defined by Bassompierre,Noël de Tissot and thedocteur Durandy. It advocated thecult of the leader,anti-parliamentarism,racism andanti-Semitism, as well as pushing for collaboration with the Nazis. Before the 1941-1942 turn ofpublic opinion, France was mostly composed ofpétainistes, who supported Marshal Pétain. However, various grades of collaborationism must be distinguished, as some advocated it claiming it would lighten the burden of the military occupation (this was Pétain's official discourse) and that Marshal Pétain, a figure highly respected for his role during the 1916Battle of Verdun, couldn't be wrong. These collaborationist have been calledMaréchalistes, as their support of the collaboration was rather based on trust towards Pétain. After his meeting withHitler, Pétain had advocated collaboration in an 30 October 1940 speech to theradio. Others, commonly calledpétainistes, advocated collaboration on ideological grounds: they supported Vichy's anti-Semitic laws which the regime had put in place on its own, without waiting for German orders. Joseph Darnand and the SOL, were at the spearhead of these ideological collaborationists, eagerly hoping for German victory in the war
Several leaders and SOL activists engaged themselves in brutal actions against imaginary or real opponents of Vichy, and started a wave ofdenouncement which did not even spare the civil or religious authorities of theEtat français (name by which the Vichy regime called itself). Joseph Darnand, who headed the SOL, had based himself inVichy. He was always supported by Pétain even in his more extreme cries in support to Collaboration. Darnand went so far that his "patriotism" came to be seen astreason, and shocked even others leaders of the Légion or of theChantiers de jeunesse (Youth Workshops) which were also in favor of Collaboration, but done in a "civilized" manner. Thus, it was decided to grant autonomy to the SOL on 5 January 1943, in order to take distance with the militia and at the same time grant it complete freedom of action.
Following the November 1942Operation Torch and the landing in North Africa, which led to the German occupation of the South zone, until now designed as the "free zone" because it was under Vichy's authority, Marshal Pétain exalted in his 5 January 1943 discourse the "patriotism" of the SOL which, along with theArmée d'Afrique, had fired on the American troops. In reality, only several dozens of SOL militia had fought inOran and inMorocco, whereas in Algiers all of the SOL militia had surrendered to the Allies during the "November 8, 1942 putsch", during which 400 poorly equippedResistance fighters single-handedly immobilised the XIXthCorps d'Armée vichyste for 15 hours, contributing to the immediate success of the Allies' landing in Algiers.
Thus, on 5 January 1943, the SOL was granted autonomy and transformed into theMilice française (French Militia), created by a law issued byPierre Laval under agreements with Pétain.