French Forces of the Interior
French Forces of the Interior Forces françaises de l'intérieur | |
---|---|
Occupied France and Liberated France | |
Equipment | French, British, American |
Engagements | World War II |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Marie-Pierre Kœnig |
The French Forces of the Interior (
Liberation
After the
The FFI were mostly composed of resistance fighters who used their own weapons, although many FFI units included former French soldiers. They used civilian clothing and wore an armband with the letters "F.F.I."
According to General
FFI units seized bridges, began the liberation of villages and towns as Allied units neared, and collected intelligence on German units in the areas entered by the Allied forces, easing the Allied advance through France in August 1944.
Political tension
On 20 June 1944 the French high command decreed that the mobilization requirements dating from the start of the war remained in effect, that the FFI units would become part of the French Army, and that the FFI was subject to French military law.
Amalgamation
Subsequent to the liberation of areas where FFI units operated, they often formed battalions and brigades named for their commanders or region of origin (Battalion Oziol, etc.) These FFI units were predominantly of the
[Traditional military values] were not and could not be the characteristics of the F.F.I. units. Condemned to be born and live in secret, placed outside the law by the enemy and by the enemy's accomplices, they had above all developed the revolutionary military virtues, those of partisans. By force of circumstances the personalities of the leaders had played a determining role and had stamped each maquis with a different brand. . . . To the regiments we had landed the extreme variety of the F.F.I. organizations, their at least peculiar discipline, the differing quality of their groups, the poverty of their equipment, the crying inadequacy of their armament and supplies, the heterogeneity of their officering, the facility with which their superior ranks had been assigned, and in certain cases the ostensibly political nature of their aims, ran counter to the classical military outlook of many officers, some of whom, in reaction, exaggerated their regulation strictness. . . .
The part [the FFI] had taken in the fight for liberation not only encouraged them rightly in the wish to retain their individuality; their successes, valued often from a local angle, established in their view the excellence of the military system which circumstances had led them to create and which they intended to substitute for the traditional system, which they considered out-of-date.[6]
A total of 68 infantry regiments and half-brigades, two special forces battalions, 20 light infantry or reconnaissance battalions, one tank battalion, sixteen artillery regiments, two anti-aircraft artillery regiments, five engineer regiments, and three construction regiments were ultimately formed from FFI manpower by the close of 1945.[7]
Weapons and equipment
The weapons and equipment of the FFI were highly varied. For example, the Royal Air Force (working alongside the Special Operations Executive) parachute-dropped British-made weapons such as Sten guns, revolvers, grenades and explosives to the FFI in order to harass German forces. This enabled the FFI to capture German weaponry which was also used.
Because they were not units that the United States had formally agreed to logistically support, they were not eligible to receive the standard U.S. equipment that was provided to French regular army units. Thus, the FFI units often clothed themselves in nonstandard uniforms or uniforms of 1940 vintage. The same condition existed with weapons, with the use of captured German infantry weapons a common practice. Because of the mix of American, British, French, German, and other weapons, the supply of ammunition and spare parts was complicated and often difficult to accomplish. By no means unique in the diversity of its armament, the 34th Infantry Regiment (formed on 1 January 1945) possessed the following weapons in August 1945: 1,760 (German) Mauser rifles, 470 (British) Sten sub-machine guns, 108 German sub-machine guns, 27 (French) Hotchkiss machine guns, 33 50-mm mortars and 12 81-mm mortars, two 20-mm cannon, and three 25-mm cannon. The soldiers' uniforms were described as second-hand and of diverse origins.[8]
Some heavy armored fighting vehicles were obtained, notably British
French strategic asset
As regions of France were liberated, the FFI provided a ready pool of semi-trained manpower with which France could rebuild the French Army. Estimated to have a strength of 100,000 in June 1944, the strength of the FFI grew rapidly, doubling by July 1944, and reaching 400,000 by October 1944.[11]
According to the Defence Historical Service (SHD), 252,000 individuals have been approved as FFI.[12]
Although the amalgamation of the FFI was in some cases fraught with political difficulty, it was ultimately successful and allowed France to re-establish a reasonably large army of 1.3 million men by
See also
- Binnenlandse Strijdkrachten (Netherlands)
- French Liberation Army
Citations
- ^ Harrison, Gordon A., Cross-Channel Attack, pages 206–207. Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1989, and Pogue, Forrest C., The Supreme Command, page 236. Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1996.
- ^ Information & Education Division of the US Occupation Forces (1945). "112 Gripes about the French". U.S. Armed Forces. #17. Archived from the original on 2012-03-25.
- ^ Blumenson, Martin. Breakout and Pursuit, pages 363–364 and 674. Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1989. These are only two examples of many cited in this volume.
- ^ Pogue, Forrest C., The Supreme Command, page 238. Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1996.
- ^ Vernet, J. Le réarmement et la réorganisation de l'armée de terre Française (1943–1946), page 28. Ministere de la Defense, Château de Vincennes, 1980.
- ^ De Lattre de Tassigny, Jean. The History of the French First Army, page 170. London: George Allen and Unwin, Ltd., 1952.
- ^ Michalon, Roger. Les Grandes Unités Françaises, Volume 6, p. 283. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1980.
- ^ Michalon, p. 317.
- ^ Vernet, J. Le réarmement et la réorganisation de l'armée de terre Française (1943–1946), pages 76–77. Ministere de la Defense, Château de Vincennes, 1980.
- ^ Gaujac, Paul. L'Armée de la Victoire, Vol. IV, page 161. Charles Lavauzelle, Paris, 1986.
- ISBN 1-85532-707-4. 200,000 FFI members in October 1944 were believed to be armed.
- ^ Titres, homologations et services pour faits de résistance. Mémoire des hommes (en ligne)
- ^ Vernet, J. Le réarmement et la réorganisation de l'armée de terre Française (1943–1946), pages 86 and 89. Ministere de la Defense, Château de Vincennes, 1980. Vernet lists 10 divisions that were formed with FFI manpower. Ultimately, some 103 light infantry battalions and six labor battalions were formed with FFI personnel prior to VE Day.