Battle of Vercors

Battle of Vercors

Vercors Massif
Date21 July 1944 – 5 August 1944
(2 weeks and 1 day)
Location
Vercors Plateau, France
44°53′46″N 5°22′15″E / 44.8961°N 5.3708°E / 44.8961; 5.3708
Result German victory
Belligerents
 Germany
Vichy France		 Republic of Vercors
Supported by
 United States[1]
 United Kingdom[1]
Commanders and leaders
Nazi Germany Karl Pflaum [de]
Vichy France Raoul Dagostini [fr]		 François Huet [fr]
Units involved
157th Reserve Infantry Division[2]
Other units		 Mostly local forces
Strength
8,000–10,000[3]
67 combat aircraft
(36 aircraft operational)[3]
500 Milice Franc-Gardes		 4,000 Maquisards
Casualties and losses
65 killed
133 wounded
18 missing[4]		 639 maquisards killed[4]
201 civilians killed
500 houses destroyed[5]

The Battle of Vercors in July and August 1944 was between a rural group of the French Forces of the Interior (FFI) [maquis] and the armed forces of Nazi Germany which had occupied France since 1940 in the Second World War.

The maquis used the prominent scenic plateau known as the Massif du Vercors (Vercors Plateau) as a refuge. The maquis carried out sabotage and partisan operations against the Germans. After the Normandy Invasion of 6 June 1944, the leadership of a force of about 4,000 maquis declared the Free Republic of Vercors and attempted to create a conventional army to oppose the German occupation.

The Allies supported the maquis with parachute drops of weapons and by supplying teams of advisors and trainers but the uprising was premature. In July 1944, up to 10,000 German soldiers invaded the massif and killed more than 600 maquisards and 200 civilians. It was Germany's largest anti-partisan operation in Western Europe.[6] In August 1944, shortly after the battle for the Vercors, the area was liberated from German control by the Americans and the FFI.

  1. ^ a b Lieb 2012, p. 24.
  2. ^ Lieb 2012, p. 29.
  3. ^ a b Lieb 2012, p. 21.
  4. ^ a b Lieb 2012, p. 71.
  5. ^ Lieb 2012, p. 70.
  6. ^ Ashdown 2014, p. 277.