In 1942, during the Gazala offensive in Libya, the Free French First Brigade blocked for sixteen days the German-Italian army of Erwin Rommel, giving critical time for the British 8th Army to fall back to Tobruk and to prepare its defense. They eventually managed to escape him and to join the British.
Some quotes :
“The lengthened defense of the French garrison played a major role in the re-establishment of the British troops in Egypt. The Free French gravely disrupted, from the beginning, Rommel's offensive, resulting on a disturbed supply line of the Afrika Korps. The growing Axis troop concentration in the sector, needed to subjugate the fort, saved the British 8th Army from a disaster. The delays in the offensive caused by the relentless French resistance increased the British chances of success and eased the preparation of the counter-offensive. On long term, holding back Rommel allowed the British forces to escape from its meticulously planned annihilation. That's why we can say, without exaggerating, that Bir Hakeim greatly contributed to El-Alamein defensive success."
— I. S. O. Playfair (British General and Historian)
"The United Nations need to be filled with admiration and gratitude in respect of these French troops and their brave General Kœnig"
- General Claude Auchinleck, Commander in Chief of Middle East Command
"In the whole course of the desert war, we never encountered a more heroic and well-sustained defense"
- Generalmajor Friedrich von Mellenthin
"Once again, this is evidence that a French commander, determined not to throw his gun away at the first opening, can work miracles even if the situation seems desperate”.
- Erwin Rommel
“Holding back for fifteen days Rommel's offensive, the Free French of Bir Hakeim had contributed to save Egypt and Suez canal's destinies."
- Winston Churchill
Adolf Hitler to the journalist Lutz Koch : "You have heard, gentlemen, what Koch recounts. It is a new proof of the thesis I've always supported; namely, that French are still, after us, the best soldiers in Europe. France will always have the possibility, even with its current birthrate, to raise a hundred divisions. We will definitely, after this war, have to set up a coalition able to military control a country capable of such impressive military feats." Source : Lutz Koch, “Rommel”, editor Plon, 1950.
As a consequence, the Führer gave the order to execute the Free French prisoners, an order that Rommel refused to carry out. Anecdotally, Rommel, impressed by the French resistance, and understanding that the prisoners suffered of thirst, ordered that French prisoners and Axis soldiers would receive the same water ration. It matched Benito Mussolini's will, whose orders to its troops were to treat particularly well the French prisoners.
De Gaulle to Koenig: "Hear and tell your troops: the whole of France is watching you, you are our pride."
My other videos in English about France’s participation in WW2 :
France in 1944: Occupation, Collaboration, Resistance, Liberation ENGLISH SUBTITLES (full documentary)
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The French Airforce during the Battle of France – 1940
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French army in 1940: What Nolan's "Dunkirk" did not show you
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French Army in WW2 - The rise of Free France (Nov.1940 - May 1943)
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Free French Forces in 1941 (East African Campaign) + Nettempereur migration to OK.RU
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The Battle of Bir Hakeim - The failure of Rommel
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Normandie-Niemen - French fighters in Russia during WW2
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Kieffer, the French Commandos who landed first on Sword Beach - D DAY 1944
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D-Day: Free French Commando Kieffer captured Ouistreham :
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"Is Paris Burning?" ending scene + "Echoes of France" by Django Reinhardt
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1945 French Army defend Strasbourg against German offensive
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WW2 - French-American liberation of Alsace, January 1945
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WW2 - French invasion of Germany and Austria in 1945
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