TO EARN THE GREEN BERET 1941 - 1944

This book recounts how, sometimes at the cost of their lives, young Frenchmen refused to accept defeat and above all the shameful armistice of 22 June 1940.

Some of these future commandos, who had endured German oppression and then the harassment and lies of Vichy propaganda, decided to leave France — sometimes by deserting from the Marine Nationale, for example. These men, driven by a love of freedom and patriotism, and still in France, chose to rally to England or North Africa by passing through Francoist Spain, where they were interned for varying lengths of time in the sinister camp of Miranda de Ebro.

Across the French army as a whole, only a very small number of soldiers rallied to the Free Forces, such as the sailors who deserted from the French battleship Richelieu while it was being refitted in the United States, or those of the French Antilles squadron, which was nonetheless commanded with an iron fist by Admiral Robert, high commissioner, who remained loyal to Pétain and his government to the very end.

Upon their arrival on British soil, they were imprisoned for interrogation at the Patriotic School in London. This procedure was designed to identify any potential spies working for Vichy or the Reich. Once this ordeal was over, the escapees chose which branch of the armed forces they wished to serve in. It was common for the youngest, those under 18, to choose the Navy. For others, it was the paratroopers and commandos, believing that at the moment of the landings they would be the first liberators of their homeland.

Those who joined these elite units took part in Operation Overlord and landed on 6 June 1944 on the beach at Colleville-sur-Orne, renamed Colleville-Montgomery by decree on 14 June 1946.

All of these exceptional testimonies have been gathered in this 200-page work, featuring photographs, illustrations and maps explaining in precise detail their paths towards combat for the liberation of their country. Most of these men belonged to the 1st Marine Fusiliers Commando Battalion, which later gave rise to the Maritime Force of Marine Fusiliers and Commandos.