Did the french resistance exist

According to my old friend who was a spy in WWII she says there where only the british operating in france, helping the downed airmen and what not.

[Hilandor]

As far as im aware the french resistance did exist they worked in conjunction with british operators who were sent over and usually the resistance were their first contact.

I dont think they were a big resistance group more likely pockets of people in different areas of france.

Yea 1 or 2 ppl in a town, but not the big thing the french make it out to be.

[Hilandor]

indeed, with what ive seen and heard on television etc, french resistance were mainly folks who went about daily business as usuall and everything was hush hush, occaisionally they grouped together for missions in conjunction with british forces/operators.

but sure i dont think they were a massive fighting force i dont think they would have had the chance to group together like this when france was occupied heavly by german forces

[Longinius]

Ofcourse they werent a massive force. Well, not for very long any way. The key to any resistance force in occupied territory is to be covert, which the French resistance was. Unless you count those French soldiers that joined the British forces as resistance, ofcourse.

[Hilandor]

i think it should also be said that for the very few resistance fighters there was they sure made a big difference to the outcome of the war, if it hadnt been for their intelligence their willingness to help british forces on arrival, departure etc then who knows where the war may have gone.

Also if they were caught then im sure that it was execution time for them unlike soldiers who became prisoners of war.

Respect due to the resistance

[ran]

the resistance was big for a movement of this type , the places wich hasn't been liberated by the allies and the FFL were liberated by the FFI (the french resistance : Forces Françaises de l'Interieur )
without the resistance , the reaction of the wehrmacht would have been better and faster , the resistance has destroyed railroads , bridges , and german supply

Not according to someone who was actually there. the resistance was just hype and exagerated.

[ran]

the french resistance was something like that:

french forces commandement (london)
english agents l l l l
l l l l FFL (free french forces
l regional FFI's(french interior forces) commandements
l l l l l l l l l l
l "departemental" commandement
l llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
actions groups (sabotage , pilots rescue , intelligence )

[Black Op]

the french did actually play a major role in ww2

there soldiers made a rear guard to protect the evacuating british soldiers at dunkirk

there navy also helped evacuate our soldiers, risking been sunk themsleves

then when france was occupied they formed a effective resistance unit "the maquis", they were suppiled and given orders by the british but they gave there lives in terrorising the germans behind lines

and when d day finnaly came the free french had succesful operations in the beach landings

and yes the resistance did exist on a large scale, they were just ordinary civilians

Well im going on the info a friend of mine who was Actually There, BTW the french helped loads they just gave there navy to the german , so we had to go blow it up  http://www.flashpoint1985.com/ikonboard3/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif  thye have never forgivun us for that.

[Black Op]

No, the french never gave there navy to the germans, the british blew it up cos they feared it would fall into german hands, but the french never gave it to them

[ran]

yes , but do you know the story of toulon ?
we sunk our own ships in this harbour , it became useless for the german and they didn't have our ships
but yes , you sunk some of our ship , can't remember the name of the battle .....
but the french forces have fought from the beginning to the end of the war , the french forces have seen all the operation theaters (north african desert , italy , france , russia , germany , some units exemples : the 2nd DB with the general leclerc (from the sand of the french colonies to the western berlin), the GC3 normandie niemen on the eastern front, the kieffer's commandos (normandy beaches))

[Vir]

This isnt exactly relevant to the subject, just a funny bit of info i happened upon. http://www.flashpoint1985.com/ikonboard3/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

in 1797 'The Quasi War'

American shipping was having problems with english and french privateers, and senate approved the making of 6 frigates (only 3 were completed). From February 1799 to September 1800 more than EIGHTY french ships were taken with the loss of only one american ship.

'Such a succession of triumphs convinced the French of the futility of continuing the conflict, and on 30 September 1800, a convention was signed ending the war.'
-United States Naval Historical Foundation