From mid-January to late March 1944, some 460 French maquis guerrillas of the Battalion des Glières occupied the Glières plateau, making it a besieged Free “French” territory where they hoisted the tricolor flag every day.
The motley assortment included not only paroled French soldiers and sailors but also 56 exiled Spanish Republicans who had escaped to the area in 1939 when Franco took over.
The remote alpine pasture only held about 20 year-round inhabitants but it made a great parachute drop zone to receive weapons intended for the maquis of Haute-Savoie, and the first RAF weapons drop, of 54 containers, was made on the night of 13/14 February. Guns and explosives were then spirited out through the nearby trails and paths to other parts of the region.
RAF parachute container drop to Resistance French 1944
Under the command first of LT Théodosius Morel (formerly of the Blue Devils of the 27e bataillon de chasseurs alpins) known as Tom Morel, then Capt. Maurice Anjot, the pocket held out against increasingly strong Wehrmacht attacks until 26 March 1944 when Anjot ordered those who could to break out and melt back into the countryside.
Maquis members of the Allobroges section during its breakout on Esserts on March 27, 1944 Plateau des Glières
In all, at least 129 maquisards died there, were killed in combat, executed on capture, or– along with the 20 inhabitants– were deported to concentration camps.
They are remembered in the National Necropolis of Glières, and a memorial stands on the plateau where the battalion mustered.
Lost the battle, but not the war…
The battle along the Glières plateau was perhaps the biggest set-piece battle by the Resistance in the lead-up to the twin Overlord and Dragoon Landings in the summer of 1944 that would spark the overt liberation of the Republic. The Allies had gone far to build up the shadow army for “the day.”
Allied Military Missions in Occupied France, 1944
From 1941 to 1945, SOE organized about 3,733 parachute landings and 81 pick-up operations (Lysander, Hudson, or Dakota) into France:
About 470 SOE agents, including 39 women, were sent out into France. Among Section F, 104 of whom were killed in action or executed (13 women), 30 escaped and 12 were released. They were “closely harnessed to the military effort” and “played a very considerable part in our complete and final victory.”
About 100 Jedburgh teams were dropped into France, Belgium, and Holland between June and December 1944.
Jed Nationalies dispatched into France :
- British: 91 Jed
- French: 108 Jed
- USA: 77 Jed
- Canadian: 2 Jed
The Jedburgh Teams had in Europe:
- 14 members were killed in action.
- 5 members died from injuries and were shot when prisoners or by accident.
- 3 members were killed due to bad dropping or parachute failure.
- 11 members were severely injured during the fighting.
- 4 members were injured due to bad dropping.
- 4 prisoners who escaped.
The Carpetbagger operation dropped some 10 million pounds of equipment to the French Resistance including 104,536 STEN submachine guns, 409,224 grenades, and 307,023 kg of explosives.
French Bernard maquisards 1944 with PIAT and STEN. Note the blend of civilian clothes with Adrian helmets