d'Hermoi, Pascal-Robert Pour Gagner

Le Beret Vert 1941-1944

This book describes how young Frenchmen, sometimes risking their lives, rejected the defeat and especially the armistice of 22 June 1940. Some of these future commandos, who suffered from German oppression and the chicanery and lies of Vichy propaganda, decided to leave France, for example by deserting from the navy. These men, who were in France, chose to go to England or North Africa via Francoist Spain, where they were interned for varying periods in the sinister Miranda de Ebro camp. Of the entire French army, only a very few soldiers joined the Free Forces, such as the sailors who deserted from the French battleship Richelieu, which was being overhauled in the United States, or those of the squadron of the French Antilles, although they were commanded with an iron hand by Admiral Rober, the High Commissioner, who remained loyal to Pétain and his government to the end. After their arrival on British soil, they were detained for questioning at the Patriotic School in London. This was to detect possible spies for Vichy or the German Reich. After surviving this ordeal, the escapees chose which branch of the armed forces they wanted to serve in. Often, the youngest, who were not yet 18 years old, chose the navy. Others joined the paratroopers and commandos because they thought that they would be the first liberators of their homeland when they landed. Those who chose to join these elite units took part in Operation Overlord and landed on the beach at Colleville-sur-Orne on 6 June 1944, which was renamed Colleville-Montgomery by decree on 14 June 1946. All these extraordinary testimonies have been brought together in this 200-page book, which contains photos, illustrations and plans that explain in detail their journey towards the liberation of their country. Most of these men belonged to the 1st Battalion of the Marine Fusiliers and Commandos.