READY? JUMP! With the First French Military Paratroopers

This fascinating saga traces both the training of the first parachute instructors of the French Air Force and the creation of the first Air Infantry Groups.

It is this period of wild enthusiasm, often tempered by dashed hopes, that this work recounts with humour and finesse, written in a lively style that reads like a vivid adventure story. The author traces in detail the establishment of the Parachute Training Centre, the atmosphere of the first courses, an apprenticeship made up of discoveries and mishaps, of technical and tactical experimentation, during which the instructors were only a short step ahead of their students.

During the "Phoney War", for lack of boldness and imagination, the high command found no better use for these elite units than as a supplementary force formed into a march battalion. The instrument was certainly not fully operational, nor was it dimensioned to influence the outcome of battles. That is no doubt why it was deemed preferable not to commit it lightly. This book gives an objective account of all this, as well as evoking the baptism of fire of the paratroopers in the corps francs in February–March 1940, and then the dark hours of defeat and the dissolution of the Compagnies d'infanterie de l'Air.

Through this narrative peppered with captivating anecdotes — by turns tragic or colourful — recounting the training and daily life of the Air infantrymen, the reader will discover many unsuspected aspects of the birth of French military parachuting, a synthesis of the testimonies of Frédéric Geille and his comrades, all of whom have since passed away.

Through the wild enthusiasm of these elite soldiers in the face of hostility or indifference from the high command, through their joys and sorrows, their successes and dashed hopes, an entire context emerges, revealing the difficulties faced by the French army as a whole.

Thoroughly researched and packed with information, written in a lively style, this work reads like a vivid adventure story.