Henri d'Astier de La Vigerie was a French soldier, Résistance member, and conservative politician.
José Aboulker was an Algerian Jew and the leader of the anti-Nazi resistance in French Algeria in World War II. He received the U.S. Medal of Freedom, the Croix de Guerre, and was made a Companion of the Liberation and a Commander of the Légion d'honneur. After the war, he became a neurosurgeon and a political figure in France, who advocated for the political rights of Algerian Muslims.
Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle was a royalist member of the French Resistance during World War II. He assassinated Admiral of the Fleet François Darlan, the former chief of government of Vichy France and the high commissioner of French North Africa and West Africa, on 24 December 1942.
Germain Jousse, was a member of the French Resistance during World War II.
The 3rd Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment is one of the airborne force regiments of the Troupes de Marine. It is heir to the 3rd Colonial Commando Parachute Battalion created in 1948 and the 3rd Colonial Parachute Regiment. The regiment is part of the 11th Parachute Brigade.
The 27th Mountain Infantry Brigade is a mountain infantry formation of the French Army. The brigade is subordinated to the 1st Armored Division and specializes in mountain warfare.
Fernand Gambiez was a French Army general and military historian who fought in World War II, the First Indochina War and the Algerian War. During the Algerian War, Gambiez was commander-in-chief of the French Army in Algeria.
Jean Marcellin Joseph Calixte Gilles was a French Army general who served in World War II and several colonial conflicts. A paratrooper, Gilles led the French defence during the Battle of Na San and the initial paratrooper landings at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu during the French Indochina War, as well as serving in Algeria. For near the entirety of his career he fought with a glass eye, having lost an eye at 18.
The Tonkin Expeditionary Corps was a French military command based in northern Vietnam (Tonkin) from June 1883 to April 1886. The expeditionary corps fought the Tonkin Campaign (1883–86) taking part in campaigns against the Black Flag Army and the Chinese Yunnan and Guangxi Armies during the Sino-French War and the period of undeclared hostilities that preceded it, and in important operations against Vietnamese guerrilla bands during the subsequent 'Pacification of Tonkin'.
The 11e régiment parachutiste de choc, often called 11e choc, was an elite parachute regiment of the French Army. It used to serve as the armed branch of the SDECE. Its insignia, designed by lieutenant Dupas, features Bagheera in the moonlight and a golden wing. The motto is Qui ose gagne, in continuation of the tradition of the British Special Air Service.
The Action Division, commonly known by its predecessor's title Action Service is a division of France's Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE) responsible for planning and performing clandestine and covert operations including black operations. The core specialisations of the Action Division are sabotage, destruction of materiel, assassination, detaining/kidnapping, interrogation with and without using torture, infiltration/exfiltration of persons into/from hostile territory and hostage rescue.
The Foreign Legion Detachment in Mayotte is a detachment of the Foreign Legion based on the island of Mayotte, near Madagascar. It is the smallest operational unit of the French Army. The main role of the detachment is to maintain a French presence in the region, enabling the French armed forces to quickly react to events in the Indian Ocean and the east coast of Africa.
The invasion of Elba, codenamed Operation Brassard, was part of the Italian campaign during the Second World War. The invasion was carried out from 17 to 19 June 1944 by Free French Forces supported by British and American ships and aircraft. According to the testimony of captured Germans, Allied activity had been observed on Corsica, thus the defenders were aware of the impending invasion 24 hours in advance. They resisted for two days before being given permission to withdraw to the mainland.
François d'Astier de La Vigerie was a French military leader during two World Wars.
The 2nd Parachute Chasseur Regiment or 2e RCP, is one of the most decorated French units of the Second World War, the only land unit awarded the red fourragère in that war, including six citations at the orders of the armed forces. The French Navy 1500-ton class submarine Casabianca also accumulated six citations at the orders of the armed forces and therefore its crewmen were entitled to wear the same fourragère.
The 25th Airborne Division was an airborne unit of the French Army. Constituted at the end of 1945, the division was created on 1 February 1946 and was dissolved during the Indochina War in June 1948; it did not serve in Indochina as an entire division.
The Géo Gras Group was a French resistance movement that played a decisive role during Operation Torch, the British-American invasion of French North Africa during World War II.
Jacques Lefort was a Général de corps d'armée of the French Army and Commandant of the Foreign Legion.
The Orion Network was a French Resistance network during World War II that originated from the la chaine Franco-Belge that was created by Henri d'Astier de La Vigerie and Georges Piron de la Varenne in the autumn of 1940. After being compromised in northern France, it was integrated with the Saint-Jacques network and most operations were moved to the south. Its leaders were at the vanguard of the Allied invasion of Provence.
