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Axis occupation of France: German occupation of France during World War II - 1940–1944 in the northern zones, and 1942–1944 in the southern zone. The Holocaust in France. Italian occupation of France during World War II - limited to border areas 1940–1942, almost all Rhône left-bank territory 1942-1943.
Free France (French: France libre) was a resistance government claiming to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic during World War II. Led by General Charles de Gaulle, Free France was established as a government-in-exile in London in June 1940 after the Fall of France to Nazi Germany.
The gradual loss of all Vichy territory to Free France and the Allies by 1943. Militarily, the liberation of France was part of the Western Front of World War II. Other than scattered raids in 1942 and 1943, the reconquest began in earnest in the summer of 1944 in parallel campaigns in the north and south of France.
With nearly 75,000 inhabitants killed and 550,000 tons of bombs dropped, France was, after Germany, the second most severely bomb-devastated country on the Western Front of World War II. [25] Allied bombings were particularly intense before and during Operation Overlord in 1944.
28 March – British Commandos raid St Nazaire on the coast of Western France. 5 May – Battle of Madagascar begins, Allied campaign to capture Vichy French-controlled Madagascar during World War II. 26 May – Battle of Bir Hakeim begins, First Free French Division defends the site against the Italian and German Afrika Korps.
Free France (1 C, 18 P) G. ... Pages in category "France in World War II" ... World War II in the Basque Country; Black market in wartime France;
British troops pass a column of Belgian refugees near Leuven on 12 May 1940. The Exodus (French: l'Exode) refers to what was a massive flight of Belgian, Dutch, Luxembourgish, and French populations in May – June 1940 when the German army invaded Belgium, the Netherlands, and the majority of French territory during the Battle of France, after the breakthrough at Sedan.
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. [39] On 31 May 1945, Normandie-Niemen squadrons were directed to Moscow by the Soviet authorities, who decided to allow them to return to France with their aircraft as a reward. [40]