Betrayal (9 – 13 May)
As fighting spread throughout the Parisian suburbs and across the center of the city, the feeling that the city would soon fall rapidly took hold. Paris was home to headquarters of Army Group B (commanding the two armies responsible for anti-partisan/occupation duties, coastal defense, guarding of important locations, and helping to man the frontline) as well as the army and corps headquarters for the First Panzer Army. With thousands of armed rebels on the streets and only the 8,000 men of the 285th Security Division spread out throughout the city to protect German interests, the officers at the various headquarters started burning sensitive documents and made preparations for evacuation.
Situation map depicting the spread of the FFI
Insert: Photo from French propaganda newspaper, announcing the liberation
of Paris and depicting FFI members during the battle.
Additional uprisings took place in Orleans and Tours, and numerous points in between. The French, calling themselves the
Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur or FFI, had taken control of a large sectiona of countryside between Paris and the Vichy border and were spreading fast. There was little in the way to stop them as our forces were centered on the frontline and the most important strategic locations. Just before midnight on the 9th, the Vichy regime announced to the world they intended to free France from our oppression, renounced their alliance, and declared war. Immediately, public broadcasts were made from the various Allied powers acknowledging the Vichy regime as the legitimate French government and vowing their support.
The 10th was a day of high and lows for both sides. Just before sunrise, the British launched attacks across the length of the frontline pinning down every single German troop in northwest France. In the south, scouts around Bayonne reported French troops moving towards the city. As the port was of little importance, and being so far south and essentially un-defendable, the garrison was ordered to abandon the city and transfer to Bordeaux. However, by the end of the day the British attack towards Rennes – one half of their attempted breakout offensive that had stimulated the Paris uprising – had finally been repulsed, and the center of Paris had been secured. Several hundred rebels had been killed during the two days of fighting in the city, and thousands more had fled towards the suburbs of Versailles which was under solid French control. The day ended with the Kriegsmarine reporting the sinking of the 300th British merchant ship of the year.
The Franco-Italian frontline, 13 May
The following days saw the FFI spread throughout the countryside. More and more territory was lost to them, causing havoc behind the frontline and major concern on the frontline as the British attacks threatened to crush either end of the frontline. Adding to the trouble was reports of the FFI spreading east. The area between the Franco-German border was lightly defended, and little in the way of reserves were based within the Reich. If these rebels could secure the various bridges and other lines of communication between the main French army and the Reich, a major disaster could emerge. The 9th and 10th Luftwaffe Field Divisions along with several Volksgrenadier divisions, all defending airbases or on occupation duties, were ordered to this new frontline with the mission of halting the FFI and ensuring the border did not fall before reinforcements could be scrapped together and dispatched. As the FFI spread east, the French army pushed into the Italian occupation zone of southern France. The French military quickly brushed aside the light resistance offered and started pushing for the Italian border liberating their fellow countrymen from the Italians. On the 13th, the first skirmishes outside of Bordeaux occurred as regular French troops moved to encircle the port city and the Kriegsmarine’s primary U-Boat base.
