Free France was a political entity 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. It joined the Allied nations in fighting Axis forces with the Free French Forces, supported the resistance in Nazi-occupied France, known as the French Forces of the Interior, and gained strategic footholds in several French colonies in Africa.
The Resistance Medal was a decoration bestowed by the French Committee of National Liberation, based in the United Kingdom, during World War II. It was established by a decree of General Charles de Gaulle on 9 February 1943 "to recognize the remarkable acts of faith and of courage that, in France, in the empire and abroad, have contributed to the resistance of the French people against the enemy and against its accomplices since 18 June 1940".
The Order of Liberation is a French Order which was awarded to heroes of the Liberation of France during World War II. It is a very high honour, second only after the Légion d’Honneur. Very few people, military units and communes were ever awarded it; and only for their deeds during World War II. A different order, the Médaille de la Résistance, was created and awarded for lesser but still distinguished deeds by members of the Resistance.
Philippe Kieffer, capitaine de frégate in the French Navy, was a French officer and political personality, and a hero of the Free French Forces.
The French Forces of the Interior were French resistance fighters in the later stages of World War II. Charles de Gaulle used it as a formal name for the resistance fighters. The change in designation of these groups to FFI occurred as France's status changed from that of an occupied nation to one of a nation being liberated by the Allied armies. As regions of France were liberated, the FFI were more formally organized into light infantry units and served as a valuable manpower addition to regular Free French forces. In this role, the FFI units manned less active areas of the front lines, allowing regular French army units to practice economy of force measures and mass their troops in decisive areas of the front. Finally, from October 1944 and with the greater part of France liberated, the FFI units were amalgamated into the French regular forces continuing the fight on the Western Front, thus ending the era of the French irregulars in World War II.
The Escapees' Medal is a military award bestowed by the government of France to individuals who were prisoners of war and who successfully escaped internment or died as a result of their escape attempt. The "Escapees' Medal" was established by a 1926 law, intended to honour combatants not only of the First World War, but also of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. Its statute was later amended to include combatants of the Second World War and later conflicts.
The Provisional Government of the French Republic was the provisional government of Free France between 3 June 1944 and 27 October 1946, following the liberation of continental France after Operations Overlord and Dragoon, and lasting until the establishment of the French Fourth Republic. Its establishment marked the official restoration and re-establishment of a provisional French Republic, assuring continuity with the defunct French Third Republic.
The Resistance Medal 1940–1945 was a Belgian war medal established by royal decree of the Regent on 16 February 1946 and awarded to all members of the Belgian armed resistance during the Second World War and to members of the intelligence service who operated in occupied territories and participated in combat actions aimed at the liberation of Belgium.
The Chief of the Air and Space Force Staff is the military head of the French Air and Space Force. The chief directs the air and space force staff and acts as the principal advisor to the Chief of the Defence Staff on subjects concerning the Air and Space Force. As such, they ensure the operational preparedness of their service branch, express their need for military and civilian personnel, and are responsible for maintaining the discipline, morale and conduct of their troops. Special responsibilities can be assigned to them in relation to nuclear safety.
Paul Chenailler, better known under the pseudonym Colonel Morice, was in charge of the French Resistance in the Morbihan region Brittany during World War II.
The Syria-Cilicia Medal was a French decoration awarded to military personnel engaged in the hostilities that erupted in the Middle East in the immediate aftermath of World War I.
The Medal of the Nation's Gratitude is a French state decoration established on 12 April 2002 by decree 2002-511 and awarded to civilians, veterans of civil or military service, and to members of the French armed forces previously awarded the "Title of the Nation's Gratitude", a governmental scroll certifying to honorable service abroad.
The Honour medal of the National Police is the highest award of the French National Police, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior.
Émile Allegret was a French soldier and member of the French Resistance during World War II.
The 1939–1945 Commemorative war medal is a commemorative medal of France established on 21 May 1946 to recognize individual participation in the Second World War.
The Commemorative medal for voluntary service in Free France was a French commemorative war medal established by decree on 4 April 1946 on the 1945 proposition of general Edgard de Larminat to the Minister to the armies.
France was one of the largest military powers to come under occupation as part of the Western Front in World War II. The Western Front was a military theatre of World War II encompassing Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Germany. The Western Front was marked by two phases of large-scale combat operations.
The French Liberation Army was the reunified French Army that arose from the merging of the Armée d'Afrique with the prior Free French Forces during World War II. The military force of Free France, it participated in the Italian and Tunisian campaigns before joining in the Liberation of France with other Western Allies of World War II. It went on to join the Western Allied invasion of Germany.
Free French Africa was the political entity which collectively represented the colonial territories of French Equatorial Africa and Cameroon under the control of Free France in World War II.
Nicole de Hauteclocque was a French Second World War resistance leader and politician who served in the National Assembly as the elected representative of Paris's 18th constituency between 1962 and 1986. She also served as a councillor in the 15th arrondissement of Paris from 1947 to 1989 and as a senator for Paris in the Senate from 1986 to 1993. De Hauteclocque was awarded the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945, the Resistance Medal with Rosette, the Commemorative medal for voluntary service in Free France and the Légion d'honneur à titre militaire.
