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| French Liberation Army | |
|---|---|
| Armée française de la Libération | |
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| Active | 8 January 1943 (1943-01-08)–1945 (1945) |
| Country | Free France Second French Colonial Empire |
| Type | Army |
| Size |
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| Engagements | Italian campaign Liberation of Corsica Battle of Marseille Operation Overlord Liberation of Paris Operation Dragoon Campaign of France Colmar Pocket French West Africa |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Henri Giraud Charles de Gaulle |
| Insignia | |
| Identification symbol | |
TheFrench Liberation Army (French:Armée française de la Libération[aʁmefʁɑ̃sɛːzdəlalibeʁɑsjɔ̃];AFL) was the reunifiedFrench Army that arose from the merger of theGiraudistArmée d'Afrique with the priorGaullistFree French Forces (Forces françaises libres;FFL) duringWorld War II. The military force ofFree France, it participated in theItalian andTunisian campaigns before joining in the 1944Liberation of France with other WesternAllies of World War II. It went on to join theWestern Allied invasion of Germany to secure the capitulation of Germany's remaining forces. The successor to the FLA, the modernFrench Armed Forces would jointly occupy Germany with the other allies until 1955.
The French Liberation Army was created in January 1943 when theArmy of Africa (Armée d'Afrique) led byGeneral Giraud was combined with the Free French Forces ofGeneral de Gaulle.[1]
The AFL participated in the campaigns ofTunisia and Italy; during theItalian campaign the AFL was known as theFrench Expeditionary Corps in Italy (Corps Expéditionnaire Françaisen Italie or CEFI) making a quarter of the troops deployed. The AFL was key in the liberation ofCorsica, the first French metropolitan department to be liberated.[1] The troops that landed 2 months after D-Day were the2nd Armored Division underPhilippe Leclerc and the 1st Battalion Marine Commando Fusiliers (1er Bataillon de Fusiliers Marins Commandos) better known asCommando Kieffer.[2]
During theAllied invasion of Provence, on 15 August 1944, the AFL made the majority of the troops landing on French shores, capturing the ports ofToulon andMarseille.[3] The French troops in Southern France were now namedFrench First Army and would participate in the Liberation of France and the invasion of south-western Germany in 1944–45. One of the AFL's garrison and second-line formations, which later helped man theFrench occupation zone in Germany, was the10th Infantry Division.
The appeal byPhilippe Pétain, marshal of France, nicknamed the "Hero of Verdun" to "cease fighting" that was broadcast on the 17th of June, 1940 on French national radio and the response byCharles de Gaulle to keep up the resistance on the British radio network theBBC the next day divided the remnants of the French Army that had just been defeated.
On the one hand, the large majority of this force, theArmistice Army, was loyalist and obeyed the government installed in Vichy in theZone libre (Not occupied by the GermanWehrmacht, but effectively submissive to the German government). On the other, a minority force considered Vichy "rebels" and as such considered them condemned to death, was the Free French Forces. The FFL recognized the authority of Charles de Gaulle, acolonel who had been namedbrigadier general on a temporary basis on the field of battle, then as under secretary of state at war and who defended the idea ofGeorges Mandel to continue to fight with a government based inFrench North Africa and to mobilize theFrench Colonial Empire, which, at the time, was the second largest in the world after the British colonial empire.
Having departed forLondon general de Gaulle was proclaimed head ofFree France and recognized as such by the Brits, decided to continue the war with allied Britain. Formerly, the allied Britain had evacuated most of de Gaulle's Metropolitan French troops from Dunkirk On the 29th of August 1940,French Equatorial Africa, through the intervention of governor-generalFélix Éboué, recognized the authority of general de Gaulle and joined, in the Free French Camp with theNew Hebrides,French India, and theFrench domains of Saint Helena
Two French armies went on to lead their combatants from opposing camps (that is the Axis or the Allies) and they would go on to meet head-to-head several times on the battlefield, notably in Dakar and Syria.
The first French-on-French confrontation was theBattle of Dakar, capital ofFrench West Africa, in September 1940, where an Anglo-French fleet under British command (while being the only FFL military operation in which de Gaulle physically participated) sent by parliamentarians ofFree France to convince the governor-general ofFrench West Africa,Pierre Boisson, to rally to the Free French cause. He did not recognize the authority of general de Gaulle and expressed his refusal by peppering the visiting delegation with bullets. An attempted landing by Free French forces was similarly repulsed and did not participate in the naval artillery duel that followed. Vichy remained in control ofFrench West Africa and it was an agonizing defeat forFree France.
The refusal by Boisson took place following orders by admiralFrançois Darlan, Minister of Marine, to fire on any approaching British vessel.[4] This order was a response to the BritishOperation Catapult that, from the 2nd to 8th of July 1940, effected the destruction of the Vichy naval forces during theAttack on Mers-el-Kebir — where 1,200 French sailors were killed by their erstwhile allies — the capturemanu militari of those naval forces which had retreated toPlymouth andGibraltar, the disarmament of those based inAlexandria, and the attack on the French battleshipRichelieu — the largest of its era — by the Britishaircraft carrier HMSHermes that leftRichelieu stranded (TheRichelieu had earlier been escorting the British HMSPanther).[4]
TheBattle of Gabon in November 1940 precipitated the "Dakar Affair" and, this time, the Free French forces obtained by force the unity of this territory, then intervening in 1941 in theSyria-Lebanon Campaign, where, after a month of fighting, the Australians, Indians, Brits, and the Free French inflicted thousands of deaths on generalHenri Dentz'sArmy of the Levant, Dentz finally surrendered to the British.
On the eve of the Anglo-American invasion of North Africa in November 1942, the schism between the allies and FFL was profound because de Gaulle was kept at a distance from the operation by Roosevelt and Churchill following the failure of de Gaulle to reach Dakar in 1940.[4] In fact, his participation in Operation Torch was limited to the "appeal to the French of North Africa" on the broadcastHonneur et Patrie, distributed on radio by the BBC on November 8 1942;[5] he didn't arrive in Algiers until June 1943. In response to the allied invasion, the VichyistLégion impériale was created in November, 1942 in Tunisia, while the French fleet was being scuttled at Toulon. Then, in 1943,French West Africa and the Alexandrian fleet of admiralRené-Émile Godfroy rallied to Giraud.
In the autumn of 1942, after theBattle of Bir Hakeim, in which the 1st Free French brigade under the command ofMarie-Pierre Kœnig slowed the German advance, the FFL was in Libya and foughtErwin Rommel's troops alongside the British army. Two Free French brigades, the 1st division, participated in theSecond Battle of El Alamein, and colonel Leclerc conqueredFezzan.
On the 8th of November, 1942, the Army of Africa, under orders from the Vichy regime, briefly confronted the invading allies (Operation Torch), but combat quickly came to a halt and an accord was reached. In revenge, in Tunisia, this same army allowed Axis forces entry without resistance and retreated.
The Army of Africa progressively resumed combat against the allied flanks and lead them into a difficultTunisian campaign, with oftentimes miserable arms (issued by the French Army in 1940, since outdated). It was there that Leclerc's forces stumbled uponEdgard de Larminat's 1st Division.
However, once victory was achieved, dissent grew. InAlgiers, the fight for power between de Gaulle and Giraud had turned to whether or not to continue all the way to Vichy. The Free French, aware of their numerical disadvantage, did everything possible to rally others to their cause, and the heads of the Army of Africa were experiencing desertions across their ranks. Finally, Giraud was granted an American command to organize the movements of two Free French divisions inTripolitania.
However, the support of organizations affiliated with theFrench Resistance (later formalized as theFrench Forces of the Interior (FFI)) and the return of Giraudist commissioners of theFrench Committee of National Liberation, likeJean Monnet, permitted de Gaulle to supersede Giraud, and an accord was met that resulted in the fusion of the Free French Forces on August 1, 1943.
While on this date the FFL officially ceased to exist, the expression "Free French Forces" was and is still often used, albeit incorrectly, to refer to the French Liberation Army. This confusion was not reflected in documents of the era produced by those themselves who had interest in eliminating such confusion, on the contrary, the new command tried desperately to remove the words "Free France" from the names of units with such names. The1st Free French Division was officially renamed the "1st Motorized Infantry Division" without really accepting it, and the 2nd Free French Division became the 2nd Armored Division, which had doubled in number due to reorganization of the Free French and defection of elements of the Army of Africa[citation needed].
The expression "Combatant French Forces" (FFC) is also used to refer to the Free French Forces post-reunification, always incorrectly. In effect, after July 13, 1942, the official name of Free France became "Fighting France", even so and despite the facts, the old designation lived on, and the Fighting French Forces gathered the Free French and networks of the Interior resistance, whether they were made by the BCRA (and approved by the Free French Forces) or not (approved by the Combatant French Forces).
The Anfa Conference, in January 1943, planned for the formation of eight infantry divisions and three armored divisions, rearmed by the Americans.[6] The eleven divisions from the dissolvedArmy of Africa were the following:[7]
But the two divisions of the Free French Forces (the1st Free French Division and the2nd Free French Division) were given no consideration by the plan. After the fusion of theFree French Forces and the Army of Africa on August 1, 1943, they were included in an updated version of the plan
The material needs of each division were evaluated and in the end only eight divisions could be formed. The 6th, 7th, 8th, 10th, and 3rd Armored Division were dissolved between September 1943 and 1944.[8] Some, like the 6th Moroccan Infantry division were simple auxiliary units, and others were only partially formed and maintained "without plan"[9]
Other territorial defense units and guard units in North Africa were maintained "without plan". finally, the four groups of Moroccan Gumiers were not included in the Anfa plan,[10] but were nevertheless participants in the Italian Campaign andOperation Husky.
After theLiberation of France, the elements of theFrench Forces of the Interior were mobilized to continue the fight. A party of interior forces replaced the divisions of the Anfa Plan, who were "whitened[11][12][Note 1]" at the same time. Amongst others, these new divisions formed:[13].*The1st division of the Far East
The 1st and 14th infantry divisions joined the1st French Army during the last months of the Allied invasion of Germany. The 10th, 19th, 23rd, and 25th infantry divisions were deployed against variousAtlantic pockets, with the 3rd Armored in formation towards the south-east. The 36th reified the south-east towards the 27th alpine division, positioned in the alps. The two divisions of the Far-East were destined to depart to reinforceFrench Indochina against Japan.[13]
Finally, numerous "light" regiments were formed, often armed by the Americans and shared with guarding communication lines and the rears of allied armies.[13]
In November 1942, excluding the French Free Air Force (FFAF) equipped by and integrated with essential components of theRoyal Air Force, the materiel available in French North Africa was expired and many of the techniques and concepts of aerial warfare were foreign to French pilots, who had been well isolated from the ongoing warfare [in Europe] for more than two years[citation needed].
From January to June of 1943, the American reinforcements had slowed. Many variables explained the want: primarily the training of American pilots, priority was given to materiel destined for American forces in Great Britain, which sowed some sort of doubt in the French pilots[citation needed].
The FFAF consisted of:[citation needed]
The liberation ofMetropolitan France began not in 1944 with Operation Dragoon, but in 1943 with the liberation of Corsica. Profiting from the Italian capitulation, French forces landed on the island and aided the Corsican resistance (FFI and FTP), with the help of some Italian troops, to liberate this metropolitan department.
The first French troops to participate in the battle of Normandy were the Kieffer Commandos, who on June 6, 1944, fought alongside the British. The first French forces of significance, the 2nd armored division of General Leclerc landed on August 1st alongside American forces. They participated in the end ofOperation Overlord and took an active part in theLiberation of Paris.
Nevertheless, the French armed forces went on to have a more active role in the liberation of continental France after the landings in Provence, August 15 1944. Under pressure from De Gaulle who threatened to withdraw their troops from Italy, British Prime MinisterWinston Churchill was compelled to accept a [continental] landing in the in the South of France and not a landing in the Balkans as they had initially hoped for. All in all, there were 350,000 French and Americans who would take part in combat, of with 250,000 (71%) were French.
The rapid and unexpected progress inwards was so much so that it contrasted with the inward stall in Normandie in the months prior. Incidentally, one of the reasons they would push Paris towards insurrection from August 19th. In practice, as the allied troops would progress from the Northwest and Southeast, Parisian resistance would surge.
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| Liberation of France | ||
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