Traveling
Tuesday: French Forces of the Interior
“The rapid
advance of my army through France would have been impossible without the
fighting aid of the FFI.”
Four-star General
George S. Patton, Jr.
“The help given by the FFI from the Mediterranean
landings to the arrival of U.S. troops at Dijon, was equivalent to four full
divisions.”
Three-star General
Alexander M. Patch
High praise from highly-placed senior officers in the
U.S. Army. Who were these men and women? According to an article written by Sgt.
Bill Davidson, Yank Staff
Correspondent:
“The French Forces of the Interior, better known as
the FFI or the Maquis (from the brush
country in which they hide and operate), are not a collection of picturesque
hit-and-run guerrillas led by a Hollywood character resembling Errol Flynn.
They are a highly-organized, well-disciplined army of some 500,000 French men and
women, divided into divisions and regiments, with rifles, mortars, pack
artillery and even tanks, and fired with tremendous resolve to re-establish
their homeland among the free, respected peoples of the earth.”
He goes on to say, “The Maquis are mostly young, tough-looking guys between the ages of 17
and 25, although there is a good percentage of women and older persons.”
One intriguing anecdote tells of a group of five FFI
members who walked into a restaurant, hung their rifles on the hat rack, and
sat down to have lunch with their wives. Having just finished a mission that
killed some Germans outside the city, they discussed domestic issues with the
women, finished their meal, then headed out in a captured German staff car
marked with the cross of Lorraine.
Prior to 1942, the FFI was a relatively small and
disorganized force. They worked underground, appearing long enough to conduct acts
of sabotage and providing intelligence to Allied leaders. By 1944, the group had
grown and were unified under the command of French General Marie Pierre Koenig.
Absorbed into the French regular forces, the FFI were used as light infantry
and continued to use their own weapons and wear civilian clothing with an
armband marked “F.F.I.”
As liberation progressed, the FFI took control of
bridges and flushed the Germans out of villages and towns all over France. It
is estimated the Maquis liberated
approximately 50,000 square miles of the country, including Paris. They served
as scouts for the Allied armies and slowed down enemy troop movements.
Many members of the FFI are well-known, with streets,
bridges, and parks named in their honor, but the majority of this organization
slipped back into obscurity after the war and resumed their lives as unassuming
men and women.
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