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In May 1943, citing the Joint Planning Staff, Jean-Louis Crémieux-Brilhac alludes to 79,600 men who constitute ground forces, including 21,500 men from special Syro-Lebanese troops, 2,000 men of color supervised by Free French Forces in northern Palestine, and 650 soldiers assigned to the general headquarters in London.
Georges Roger Pierre Bergé (3 January 1909 – 15 September 1997) was a French Army general who served during World War II.He enlisted in the Free French Forces, where he took command of the 1re compagnie de chasseurs parachutistes (1st Parachute Chaser Company).
The Free French SAS took an important part in the liberation of Europe. In Brittany, a little after midnight on D-Day, June 6, 1944, Caporal Emile Bouétard (born in Brittany, 1915) was the first soldier killed in action in Plumelec, Morbihan. On August 1, 1944, the 3rd and 4th Air Infantry battalions were renamed the 2nd and 3rd Chasseur ...
1940: Free French Expeditionary Corps. 1941: Free French Orient Brigade. May 1941: 1st Light Free French Division. 20 August 1941: dissolution following the campaign of Syria. 24 September 1941: regrouping of the Free French units of the Middle East into the 1st and 2nd Light Free French Divisions (divisions with two brigades each).
The French troops in Southern France were now named French 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 the French occupation zone in Germany, was the 10th Infantry Division.
By September 1944, the Free French forces had 560,000 soldiers. They grew to one million by the end of the year. They fought in Alsace, the Alps, and Brittany. When the war in Europe ended in May 1945, the Free French forces numbered 1.25 million, including seven infantry divisions and three armoured divisions fighting in Germany.
In August of that year, after the fusion of the Free French Forces and the Army of Africa, it was rechristened the 2nd Armored Division. In the first half of 1943, it consisted of 16,000 men, of which 2,000 were Spanish. [4] As Spanish soldiers were particularly numerous in the 9th Company, it became known as La Nueve or La Española. [10]
Free French Forces: Service / branch: French Army (1939) Free French Forces (1940–1941) Years of service: 1939–1941: Rank: Aspirant: Unit: 1 re Compagnie Chasseurs Parachutistes; 3rd French Special Air Service or French 3rd Parachute Chasseur Regiment; Battles / wars: Second World War. North African Campaign. Western Desert Campaign ...