THE FRENCH ARMY
FIGHTING IN FRANCE!
Leclerc
General Leclerc

“In a few days the war with France will be over.  We will win and France will never rise again.”
    So said a victorious German commander to an injured and captive French captain.
    That captain was Leclerc.  He let him talk.  He refused to admit defeat.  Escaping, despite his injury, he joined General de Gaulle.  On August 4 he repeated the words of the German officer into a microphone in London and swore to prove him wrong.
    Leclerc was from the north.  He wasn’t yet 40.  He stayed in London for less than a week.  In Cameroon he gave the rallying cry for France Combattante (Fighting France).  In ’41 he took Koufra in a raid which remains famous to this day.
    The following year General Leclerc prepared the Fezzan campaign from Brazzaville, leaving an advanced base at Fort Lamy and leading the France Combattante forces across more than 2000 kilometers of the harshest desert to the gates of Tripoli within five weeks.  It was there, in January ’43, that they joined up with the British 8th Army.
    He undertook this task with patience, with passion.  Patience, because he had to build everything up from nothing: the routes, the equipment, the officers, the base.  Passion, because he knew that, in the end, he would be leading his men towards France.
    In spring ’43, Leclerc played a glorious role in the Battle of Tunisia, and this time, the enemy was German rather than Italian.
    Today, it is he who leads French troops once more onto the territory of France herself, towards the final battle.
    Towards Victory.
The Second Armored Division
is lined up to fight on the French Front

Composed of elite troops, it was reformed in Morocco after the Tunisian Campaign.  It was then that it received the ultra-modern American equipment with which it currently fights.
    After months of intensive training in Africa, the 2nd Armored Division, commanded by General Leclerc, sailed for England.  They have been there, champing at the bit, since June 6, when the order to embark for France put an end to the waiting.
    Today, French troops have reclaimed their place in battle on French soil; after fighting in the first Battle for France, at Narvik,  Mourzouk,  Koufra,  Fezzan,  Bir Hakeim, and Tobrouk, in Egypt, Tripolitania, and Tunisia, evading the prison camps, and surmounting all obstacles, they are there to take part in the supreme push for liberation.
    This first large French unit to land in France has been molded by four years of suffering and glory.  Its veterans will show in combat that they are worthy of this honor.

Ahead of them: France
Landing Ship

Assembly of the Division
Image 2

Serried ranks of Shermans, bearing the emblem of the division, wait to embark.
The 2nd A.D. is equipped with regulation kit from American armored divisions.

The men of the Régiment de Marche du
 Tchad, veterans of Fezzan, await the
order to embark.
A Motorized Infantry unit of the 2nd Armored Division reloads its equipment after a break in its journey to the assembly point.
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These French volunteers, nurses and
ambulance drivers, form an integral part
of the division
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On the bridge, general relaxation in the sun … while the tough guys prepare for battle
A French tank charges onto French soil.  This time it is the Boche who feel the weight of the armored divisions.
Voila: the joy of seeing France once again – and French soldiers

Cheers
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As soon as they land the Division heads for
 the Front.  The population cheers the tanks,  but the schedule is rigorous and few have the time to stop.
However this lucky man who escaped from
France in 1943 passes close enough to home
to kiss his wife, under the well-wishing eye of
his comrade.
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One for the road for the motorcyclist.  After drinking to victory, he’ll set off again with a full flask.
Two generations of patriots each express, in their own way, their joy and pride at seeing the soldiers of France again.
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For all, whether officers, NCOs or soldiers, today is the reward for four years of fighting and waiting.

Cizewski, Lovetere, Musbach, & Robinson
Family History Ibiblio Index

© 2006 Leonard H. Cizewski
Last Modified on December 9, 2006
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