A diversionary raid by mounted Meharistes Colonial Cavalry failed after it was betrayed by local guides, prompting Leclerc to relegate these troops to recon duties only. Free French infantry fighting in the Normandy beaches on June 6 is limited to the 1er Bataillon de Fusiliers Marins Commandos (1er BFMC) under Free French Navy Major Philippe Kieffer. The 3rd DB, which served as a training and reserve organization for the three operational armored divisions was equipped with roughly 200 medium and light tanks. That only left the centre. The Gloire was slowed by mechanical troubles, and was intercepted by Australia and ordered to sail for Casablanca. The French Army, officially the Land Army (Armée de Terre, lit. During the First World War the French Armed Forces reached a size of 8,300,000 soldiers, of which about 300,000 came from the colonies. the 1944 Battle of Monte Cassino (Garigliano), Operation Dragoon (Toulon) and the 1945 invasion of Germany (Württemberg). It was decided to send a naval force of an aircraft carrier, two battleships (of World War I vintage), four cruisers and ten destroyers to Dakar. Starting with Operation Catapult on 3 July 1940, the British took pre-emptive actions to seize French vessels. Later, Churchill described hearing this as the single most shocking moment in his life. France is a participant in 3 x EU Battlegroups. [4] About one third were released on various terms. "The original plan intended to attack the two ports in succession. Surcoufs repairs were completed and it was turned over to Free French forces by August 1940 and in 1941 was acting as escort to trans-Atlantic convoys. Only a few French infantry were involved in the Allied landing operations on June 6, 1944. See more ideas about free in french, french army, french foreign legion. The attack would also enable the Germans to secure bases for a later attack on Britain. These individuals served in British squadrons until there were sufficient pilots to create All-Free French RAF flights. This in-exile French force together with the French Forces of the Interior (FFI) played a variable-scale role in the eventual liberation of France by the Western Allies and the defeat of Vichy France, Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, and the Japanese empire. Hermann Göring had convinced Hitler the Luftwaffe could prevent an evacuation; Rundstedt had warned him that any further effort by the armoured divisions would lead to a much prolonged refitting period. David Stirling gave British captains George Jellicoe and Free French Georges Bergé a mission in the Greek island of Crete[60][61] called Operation Heraklion. The unreported, unnoticed war crimes committed by a spiteful vengeful French during WW2 against Germans and Germany Agony of Freudenstadt. 5,000,000 men, 99 divisions, 4,200 tanks, about 11,000 guns Ten Free French (three officers, two sergeants and five native soldiers) under d'Ornano met with Clayton's LRDG patrols on January 6, 1941, at Kayouge. British warships were lent to the Free French navy. [36], On June 9, the obsolete French cuirassé Courbet was disarmed and saborded – together with other ships – in the Hermanville-sur-Mer area to be used as artificial breakwaters.[36]. 327 Squadron RAF and No. General de Gaulle's reputation was then as a military man with no political experience or following. In the evening of 20 May, a reconnaissance unit from 2nd Panzer Division reached Noyelles, 100 kilometres (62 mi) to the west, where they could see the estuary of the Somme flowing into The Channel. The French 7th Army under General Henri Giraud fought the Germans in support to its allies of the Netherlands. On January 18, 1943, Captain Mouchotte returned to Turnhouse to form and command the 341 Free French Squadron.[24]. 342 Squadron RAF (GB 1/20 Lorraine), commanded by Michel Fouquet, supported the Omaha Beach invasion with a smoke screen campaign blinding and isolating the German defenders. In the early hours of 23 May, Gort ordered a retreat from Arras. During 1940 a few colonies joined the Free French side, but others remained under Vichy control. Army of land) is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. Front line strength on the eve of WW2 was 1,114 fighters, 1,002 bombers and 800 reconnaissance aircraft and in August 1939 there were 110,000 personnel of all ranks, a figure which had risen to 150,000 March 1940. That evening French troops crossed the Dutch border. About half of them worked in German agriculture, where food supplies were adequate and controls were lenient. The British garrison in Boulogne surrendered on 25 May although 4,368 troops were evacuated. [7], In 1945 after Japan surrendered and China was in charge in Indochina, the Provisional French Republic sent the French Far East Expeditionary Corps to Indochina to pacify the Vietnamese liberation movement and to restore French colonial rule.[8]. At this point, the Free French forces and Army of Africa were merged to form the French Expeditionary Corps (Corps Expéditionnaire Français, CEF), under General Alphonse Juin, that would take part in the 1943 Italian Campaign and the August 1944 invasion in Southern France called Operation Dragoon. It was the most effective use of tactical air power yet demonstrated in warfare. The commander of the French Second Army, General Huntzinger, immediately took effective measures to prevent a further weakening of his position. Other Free French units were directly attached to Allied forces including the British SAS, RAF and the Soviet air force. The French State exploited this series of events in its anti-British propaganda[55] which has a long-running history back to the Perfidious Albion myth. In Toulon, the French ships were scuttled rather than let them be handed over. The Vichy French navy did sabotage on its docked fleet at Toulon in southern France. The National Revolution was the French State's official ideology. As agreed at Cherchell, starting at midnight and continuing through the early hours of 8 November, as the invasion troops were approaching the shore, a group of 400 French resistance under the command of Henri d'Astier de la Vigerie and José Aboulker staged a coup in the city of Algiers. The Nazis suspected Vichy determination after Torch and they occupied the southern "free" part of metropolitan France known as Vichy France in November 1942, (Case Anton). The first permanent army, paid with regular wages, was established under Charles VII of France. The plane returned and circled over the wadi, where it directed a patrol of the Auto-Saharan Company to intercept the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG). A notable action took place in the Adriatic sea on 29 February 1944 known as the Battle off Ist when a German naval force of two corvettes and two torpedo boats escorting a freighter supported by three minesweepers were intercepted by the Free French Navy operated under British command as the 24th Destroyer flotilla. The Vichy French SS battalion Charlemagne (remains of the French SS Division Charlemagne) under Hauptsturmführer (Captain) Henri Fenet was among the last defenders of the Nazi German capital, fighting against Soviet forces during the Battle of Berlin in April–May 1945. commandos were rather known as "Gaurs", the gaur is an Indian bison. Churchill returned to France on June 11, meeting the French War Council in Briare. Charles de Gaulle set a plan to bring together the different groups under his leadership. The Dutch, their poorly equipped army largely intact, surrendered on 14 May after the Germans bombed Rotterdam. Simultaneously, a second force, under Maj. Gen. Goislard de Monsabert and consisting of one infantry division and similar supporting forces, would advance in a more northwesterly direction, encircling the naval port from the north and west and probing toward Marseille. He immediately recognized the gravity of the situation when he observed that the French government was already burning its archives and preparing for an evacuation of the capital. His forces surrounded the villa of General Charles Noguès, the Vichy-loyal high commissioner. After severe losses, the surviving seven trucks of the patrol were forced to withdraw, leaving behind their commanding officer, who was captured along with several others. Nevertheless, on 22 June, Petain's representative signed the armistice and he became leader of the new regime known as Vichy France. More pressing, however, was his strategic task: he formed the Weygand Plan, ordering to pinch off the German armoured spearhead by combined attacks from the north and the south. However the French armoured divisions of the Infantry, the Divisions Cuirassées de Réserve, were despite their name very specialized breakthrough units, optimized for attacking fortified positions. The garrison was thought to comprise a battalion of Askaris (Colonial Infantry) under Colonel Leo, plus supporting troops. The French Resistance gradually grew in strength. The plan would benefit from an Allied response close to how they would have responded in the original case; namely, that a large part of French and British strength would be drawn north to defend Belgium and Picardy. The quick success of this invasion, with a twenty-mile penetration in twenty-four hours, sparked a major uprising by resistance fighters in Paris. The Free French Navy's submarine Minerve was involved in the Allied battle against the Allied battle against the Bismarck. Famous groups included communist Francs-Tireurs et Partisans, FTP ("Partisan irregular riflemen") and rebel police Honneur de la police ("Honour of the Police"). As a consequence of the Armistice, the French colonial world empire became Vichy French. The resulting Battle of Arras demonstrated the ability of the heavily armoured British Matilda tanks (the German 37 mm anti-tank guns proved ineffective against them) and the limited raid overran two German regiments. The rank of Général de corps d'armée wasn't officially adopted until 1939, along with five other French Armed Forces ranks. This included not only the enemy Vichy French ships in the Mediterranean (see Battle of Mers-el-Kebir) but also the allied Free French ships docked in Britain after the Dunkirk evacuation. The rapid Allied advance after Operation Cobra and Dragoon slowed almost to a halt in September 1944 due to a critical lack of supplies, as thousands of tons of supplies were shunted to NW France to compensate for the inadequacies of port facilities and land transport in northern Europe. While the Allies did little either to threaten them or escape from the danger they posed, the Panzer Corps used 17 and 18 May to refuel, eat, sleep and get some more tanks in working order. 2,916 planes (1,114 fighters, 1,002 bombers) Mouchotte was posted to Turnhouse as Deputy 'A' Flight Commander with 340 Squadron on November 10. "Imperial backwater or strategic outpost? The commandeered Bourrasque-class destroyer Ouragan was not returned to the Free French but instead was transferred to the Free Polish Navy on 17 July 1940. (see Battle of Dunkirk) The Allied position was complicated by King Leopold III of Belgium's surrender the following day, which was postponed until May 28. During the course of the war, Vichy France forces lost 2,653 soldiers[57] and Free France lost 20,000.[58]. 's German designation was 638.Infanterie-Regiment 638 ("638th Infantry Regiment") and it served under Field Marshal Günther von Kluge, commander of the Fourth Army. [71] Following World War II, the GCMA French airborne commandos, servicing in the Indochina War, were created after the gaurs (C.L.I.) A fighter aviation group nicknamed Normandie-Niemen fought on the Russian front as part of the Soviet air force. Réunion was under the authority of the Vichy Regime until 30 November 1942, when the island was liberated by the destroyer Léopard. This was part of a larger Anglo-American strategic disagreement. The centre of the Belgian defensive line, Fort Eben-Emael, had been seized by German paratroopers using gliders on May 10, allowing their forces to cross the bridges over the Albert Canal, although the arrival of the British Expeditionary Force managed to save the Belgians for a time. On the 18 of June, de Gaulle spoke to the French people via BBC radio. The British began to doubt Admiral Darlan's promise to Churchill to not allow the French fleet at Toulon to fall into German hands by the wording of the armistice conditions. We are beaten; we have lost the battle." It was a police version of the Mobile Gendarmerie that served as French Milice and German army auxiliary during battles against the French Resistance's maquisards. Following this, El Tag was surrounded, despite a further attack from the Saharan's and harassment from the air, the French laid siege to the fort. Vichy France fought for control over the French overseas empire with the Free French forces, which were helped by Britain and the U.S. By 1943, all of the colonies, except for Indochina, had joined the Free French cause.[1]. During World War II (1939–1945), the French colonies were administered by the Minister of the Navy and Colonies. The company also had the support of its own air arm to assist in long range reconnaissance and ground attack. In 1943, the French decided to raise a new army in North Africa, and had an agreement with the Americans to equip it with US modern weapons. Operation Diadem was a successful Allied assault, including the Free French Corps, on German Gustav Line defences in the Liri valley in Italy. Though raised across France's territories in west, central and east Africa, they took the title Senegalese in honour During World War I, France was one of the Triple Entente powers allied against the Central Powers. [35] After the armistice of June 1940, Free French Naval Forces, headed by admiral Émile Muselier, were created and pursued the war on the Allies side. Britain planned to transfer her to the Polish Navy. The British takeover of Vichy Madagascar, 1942,", John C. Cairns, "General de Gaulle and the Salvation of France, 1944-46,", This page was last edited on 19 January 2021, at 07:01. [20] Despite the failure of numerous quickly planned counterattacks to collapse the German bridgehead, the French Army was successful in re-establishing a continuous defensive position further south; on the west flank of the bridgehead, however, French resistance began to crumble. Copyright © 2006-2021 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - THE OPERATORS OF THIS SITE DISSOCIATE THEMSELVES FROM CONTENTS OF OTHER WEBSITES, WHICH ARE LINKED ON THESE PAGES. He changed the name of his movement to Forces Françaises Combattantes (Fighting French Forces) and sent Jean Moulin back to France to unite the eight major French Resistance groups into one organisation. [42] Following the capture of the Belfort Gap, French operations in the area of Burnhaupt destroyed the German IV Luftwaffe Korps. These include the flying crew Boissieux-Canut-Henson from bomb group No. On 21 June, Campinchi left metropolitan France, on board the Massilia ocean liner at Bordeaux, with other government members such as Interior Minister Georges Mandel and arrived in Casablanca, French Morocco, on 24 June. Seventy-seven vessels, including three battleships, seven cruisers, and fifteen destroyers, were deliberately sunk. It had left Brest on the June 18 before the Germans reached it. As a result, a battle was engaged between Free French colonies and Vichy French colonies, each one siding with the Axis or the Allies. The 2nd division played a critical role in Operation Cobra, the Allied breakthrough from Normandy, when it served as a link between American and Canadian armies and made rapid progress against German forces. General Leclerc's 2nd Division finished its campaigning at the Nazi resort town of Berchtesgaden, in southeastern Germany, where Hitler's mountain residence, the Berghof, was located. They threatened in four directions: to the north, to attack the allied main force directly; to the west, to cut it off; to the south, to occupy Paris and even to the east, to move behind the Maginot Line. Operation Dragoon's D-Day was set for August 15, 1944. To help ensure this result, German Army Group B would still attack Belgium and the Netherlands in order to draw Allied forces eastward into the developing encirclement. In September–October 1943, an ad hoc force (ca. Churchill flew to Paris on May 16. The consequent need for vehicle fuel outstripped supply, and this shortage proved to be a greater impediment to the advance than German resistance. Two Vichy French submarines were sunk, and a destroyer damaged. By the end of World War II, the Free French unit counted 273 certified victories, 37 non-certified victories and 45 damaged aircraft with 869 fights and 42 dead.[33]. Calais, though strengthened by the arrival of 3rd Royal Tank Regiment equipped with cruiser tanks and 30th Motor Brigade, fell to the Germans on 27 May. This caused bitterness and division in France, particularly in the Navy, and discouraged many French soldiers from joining the Free French forces in Britain and elsewhere. The French Youth Workings were available in all French departments which it means they were also in those of French Algeria and apply to European settlers and Muslim locals. (Vigneras, Marcel, "Rearming the French", Did not see combat during the Second World War. Following Operation Torch, Henri Giraud took the head of Army of Africa a third French force distinct from de Gaulle's Free French Forces and the Vichy French forces. This Gembloux Gap, ideal for mechanized warfare, was a very dangerous weak spot. [36], The Free French Navy under Admiral Ramsay took part in Operation Neptune which was the naval part of Operation Overlord, a series of missions were fulfilled on June 6:[36], Another French mission from June 3 to 16, consisted in the shelling of Omaha Beach's defense by a fleet under Admiral Jaujard which comprised the 7,500 tons cruisers Georges-Leygues and Montcalm, with their 10,000 tons tanker, and the cruiser Duquesne. His charisma wasn't sufficient to gather the allegiance of senior colonial administrators or Generals. Before ww2, “La Royale” was the fourth world’s largest navy, behind the British, American, and Japanese. The famous battle song Le Chant des Africains version 1943 is dedicated to Lt.Col. From 1792, the French Revolutionary Army fought the allies. By the 21st Monsabert had cut the Toulon-Marseille road, and several of his units had entered Toulon from the west, penetrating to within two miles of the main waterfront. After hard fighting that cost the 2nd Division 35 tanks, 6 self-propelled guns, and 111 vehicles, von Choltitz, the military governor of Paris, surrendered the city at the Hôtel Meurice. The final plan for Fall Gelb (Case Yellow) had been suggested by General Erich von Manstein, then serving as Chief of Staff to Gerd von Rundstedt, but had been initially rejected by the German General Staff. Beside its regular limited Armistice Army, the French State created irregular forces in order to fight the French Resistance and inner/outer communists; both considered enemies by Vichy and the German authorities. The 1st, 7th and 9th armies moved into Belgium to counter a German attack similar to the Schlieffen Plan in the last world war, leaving them and the BEF open to later be out-flanked by the Ardennes thrust. With heavy civilian losses, Winston Churchill in June despite being rebuffed by Charles De Gaulle ordered British forces into Syria from Jordan with orders to impose a ceasefire. They were initially equipped with a mixture of British, French and American aircraft. This led to an engagement between the battleships and cruisers and the forts. NOTE: VISITING THIS SITE WITH ENABLED AD BLOCKERS IS PROHIBITED ! ", Martin Thomas, "Silent Partners: SOE's French Indo-China Section, 1943–1945,", Provisional Government of the French Republic, Category:Military units and formations of France in World War II, 1st Marine Infantry Paratroopers Regiment, Central Bureau of Intelligence and Operations, Legion of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism, 33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne (1st French), Non-British personnel in the RAF during the Battle of Britain, Allied landing operations on June 6, 1944, 1er Bataillon de Fusiliers Marins Commandos, Bureau Central de Renseignements et d'Action, Operations by the First Army in April 1945, British attacked French naval forces in Africa and Europe, Northwest African Photographic Reconnaissance Wing, History of the Armée de l'Air (1940–1945), Diplomatic history of World War II#France, January 13, 1943 : junction between Franco-British troops in Libya, DES JEUNES DES CHANTIERS DE LA JEUNESSE EN STAGE CHEZ LES POMPIERS, http://commandantdelaubier.info/circonstances/article-RHA.PDF, "Battle of Britain Monument London – Pilots from France", "Fayolle biography at Battle of Britain Monument archives", "Mouchotte biography at Battle of Britain Monument archives", "File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-141-1292-14, Russland-Mitte, Soldaten der französischen Legion.jpg – Wikimedia Commons", "File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-141-1291-02, Russland, 15-jähriger der französischen Legion.jpg – Wikimedia Commons", "File:Französische Legion Mod2.svg – Wikimedia Commons", "fncv federation nationale combattants volontaires france association", "National Federation of Volunteer Soldiers", Arrival of the Normandie-Niemen Regiment at Stuttgart and parade at Paris, "French governmental website about national war veterans", "commando kieffer – normandie 6 juin 1944", "Vichy French propaganda poster: Don't forget Oran (Mers-el-Kebir is close to Oran)", "Le "French Squadron" en Crète et en Libye (1942–1943)", Adjudant Pierre GUINET, Avec le Corps Léger d'Intervention Aéroporté, GUERRE d'Indochine, Témoignage, United States Army Center of Military History, "The U.S. Army Campaigns of World War II: Southern France", History of World War II by region and country, Sarawak, Brunei, Labuan, and British North Borneo, Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany, Rape during the Soviet occupation of Poland, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Military_history_of_France_during_World_War_II&oldid=1001336851, Military history of France during World War II, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from May 2014, Articles with French-language sources (fr), Articles to be expanded from February 2010, Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the United States Army Center of Military History, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. GIAT BM92-G1 (PAMAS-G1) - 9 mm- pistol (Gendarmerie, Air force & Army) 5. At the same time as the Canadian 1st division landed in Brest, the Canadian 242 Squadron of the RAF flew their Hawker Hurricanes to Nantes (100 miles south-east) and set up there to provide air cover. Also, the Libya-based Luftwaffe performed several bombing attacks on Algiers's harbour and Eastern French Algeria cities (including Annaba and Jijel). Finding that the Dutch had already retreated to the north, it had withdrawn and was now moving to the south. The most celebrated moment in the 2nd's history involved the Liberation of Paris. In the autumn of 1940, the French colonies of Cameroon, French India and French Equatorial Africa joined the Free French side. During the war around 1,400,000 soldiers wer… The French and British air command was less effective than their generals had anticipated, and the Luftwaffe quickly obtained air superiority, depriving the Allies of key reconnaissance abilities and disrupting Allied communication and coordination. HK USP - 9 mm- pistol (HK USP Compact for Navy, HK USP in Army) 6. He had no faith in the Weygand plan nor in the proposal of the latter to at least try to hold a pocket on the Flemish coast, a Réduit de Flandres. French Indochina was under Vichy control and Japanese oversight 1940-44 and then under total Japanese rule. As a result of the deliberations, General Gamelin ordered the French troops to withdraw to the Maginot Line in France, leaving Poland to its own fate facing the Germans and Soviets all alone; the latter entering Poland on 17 September. The Operation Pugilist involves the Free French Flying Column (X Corps (United Kingdom), British Eighth Army under General Sir Bernard Montgomery) and Leclerc's Force (2nd Division (New Zealand)). The current Chief of Staff of the French Army (CEMAT) is General Thierry Burkhard, a direct subordinate of the Chief of the Defence Staff (CEMA). Battles ensued on April 11 at Houei Houn, April 15 at Muong Koua, April 21 at Boun Tai and April 22 at Muong Yo. One month after the invasion, command was handed over to SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Forces) under U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the supreme commander of Allied forces on the Western Front. Heavy bombers of bomb groups GB 1/15 Touraine and No. In 1944, after the landings of the Allies in France (Normandy, Provence), they expelled the German Army, putting an end to the Vichy Regime. [amazon_link asins=’1855326663,0811714608,2352501792′ template=’ProductGrid’ store=’wwto-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’76bca695-ff45-11e6-929b-9f6dbe12202e’]. The Reserve Mobile Group (Groupe mobile de réserve, GMR) was a paramilitary force of the French State created by Vichy French René Bousquet. Seventh Army commanded by General Alexander “Sandy” Patch. The Free French Navy's 1er BFMC comprised 177 commandos[37] and had been created at Achnacarry, Scotland after the British Commandos. Ayrolles changed the original plan to a sabotage operation. "There is none", Gamelin replied. [22] Among these men were Adjutant Émile Fayolle, son of an Admiral and grandson of French Marshal Marie Émile Fayolle. After the Phoney War from 1939 to 1940, within seven weeks, the Germans invaded and defeated France and forced the British off the continent. Manurhin MR73 - .38 Spc/.357 Mag- revolver (GIGN only) 4. Both in the south and the north they could in reality muster but a handful of tanks. Under Napoleon I, the French Army conquered most of Europe during the Napoleonic Wars. However, he was treated to a surprise: Admiral François Darlan, the commander of all French forces, was in Algiers on a private visit. In the centre German Army Group A smashed through the Belgian infantry regiments and French Light Divisions of the Cavalry (Divisions Légères de cavalerie) advancing into the Ardennes, and arrived at the Meuse River near Sedan the night of May 12/13. ", Martin Thomas, "Imperial backwater or strategic outpost? German reinforcements pressed the British back to Vimy Ridge the following day. Giraud was the Commander of the French Forces in North Africa since he received this civil and military charge on 26 December 1942 as (Commandement civil et militaire d'Alger) replacing murdered Vichy French admiral François Darlan. In the same period, the 2nd Division inflicted losses on the Germans of 4,500 killed and 8,800 taken prisoner, while the Germans' material losses in combat against the 2nd Division during the same period were 117 tanks, 79 cannons, and 750 wheeled vehicles.[39]. Besides the FAFL air force existed the Free French Naval Air Service. There were 18 survivors from Carsbreck, and all were rescued by the Free French Elan-class minesweeping aviso Commandant Duboc (F743).[56]. However, the Allies still expected they would be able to contain the Germans, anticipating a war reasonably like the First World War, so they believed that even without an Eastern Front the Germans could be defeated by blockade, as in the previous conflict. Contrarily, General Gamelin and Lord Gort, the commander of the BEF, were shaken into realizing that whatever the Germans came up with instead would not be what they had initially expected. Under Captain Pierre Lancelot the Super or heavy Le Fantasque-class destroyers Le Terrible and Le Malin managed to destroy the German freighter and a corvette in return for no loss before withdrawing. Required fields are marked *. These were forty former French Jedburgh volunteers who embarked at Glasgow with layover at Port Said, Bombay and Colombo, and gathered in a camp at Ceylon in November 1944. Notable Force 136 members dropped in Laos during 1945 are French Colonels Jean Deuve [fr] (January 22), Jean Le Morillon [fr] (February 28) and Jean Sassi (June 4). 91 (30 regular, 13 fortresses, 12 North African and 9 colonial). [52] Her aft gun was replaced by a British model. The Battle of Dakar, also known as Operation Menace, was an unsuccessful attempt by the Allies to capture the strategic port of Dakar in French West Africa (modern-day Senegal), which was under Vichy French control, and to install the Free French under General Charles de Gaulle there.[62]. 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