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Henri Ecochard
Henri Ecochard (24 April 1923 – 3 April 2020) was a French military officer who served in the Free French Forces during World War II. He is known for compiling a list of fighters for Free France. Biography Ecochard was born on 24 April 1923 in Cholet. His father was a doctor based in Airvault, who was heavily pacifist due to the memory of World War I. He was interested in international relations from a young age. Ecochard attended the Lycée Descartes in Tours. An anti-fascist, he was opposed to the anti-parliamentary ideals of François de La Rocque. He was also opposed to the Munich Agreement, which allowed Adolf Hitler to annex the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia. When war was finally declared in France, Ecochard raised the Flag of France in front of his father's house. Ecochard was revolted by the loss of the French Third Republic at the Battle of Saumur in 1940. He fled back to Airvault by bicycle and listened to the Armistice of 22 June 1940 on the radio. He did not hear ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cholet
Cholet (, , probably from Latin language, Latin ''cauletum'', "cabbage") is a Communes of France, commune of western France in the Maine-et-Loire Departments of France, department. With 54,307 inhabitants (2019), it is the second most populous commune of Maine-et-Loire, after the Prefectures in France, prefecture Angers. Geography Cholet stands on an eminence on the right bank of the river Moine (river), Moine, which is crossed by a bridge from the fifteenth century. It is about 50 km southeast of Nantes. Cholet is the centre of the Agglomeration community of Cholet with about 107,000 inhabitants.CA Agglomération du Choletais (N° SIREN : 200071678) BANATIC. Accessed 24 March 2022. It is the seat of the arrondissement of Cholet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Saumur (1940)
The Battle of Saumur occurred during the last stages of the Battle of France during World War II, when officer cadets from the Cavalry School at Saumur, led by superintendent Colonel Charles Michon, made a defensive stand along the Loire River at Saumur, Gennes, and Montsoreau. For two days the Cavalry School, and other assorted units which had fallen back before the German Wehrmacht advance, held off a German attack. Since the battle occurred after the message by Marshal Pétain which called for an end to fighting (on 17 June 1940), the event is often considered one of the first acts of the French Resistance. Prelude In the first week of June 1940, in accordance with instructions by General Maxime Weygand to delay German Wehrmacht army units, Colonel Michon issued contingency orders for the cadets to take up defensive positions along the southern bank of the Loire, not that there was any likelihood of Germans getting to the Loire. On 8/9 June there was an air raid against Saum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1st Free French Division
The 1st Free French Division (french: 1re Division Française Libre, 1re DFL) was one of the principal units of the Free French Forces (FFL) during World War II, renowned for having fought the Battle of Bir Hakeim. Consisting of troops from mainland France and from the then French colonial empire, the division was formed by the first units to rally to de Gaulle after the fall of France. Together with the 3rd Algerian Infantry Division, it was the most decorated French division of the Second World War. Creation and different nominations * 1940: Free French Expeditionary Corps. * 1941: Free French Orient Brigade. * May 1941: 1st Light Free French Division. * 20 August 1941: dissolution following the campaign of Syria. * 24 September 1941: regrouping of the Free French units of the Middle East into the 1st and 2nd Light Free French Divisions (divisions with two brigades each). * December 1941: the 1st Light Free French Division, reworked into the 1st Free French Brigade Group ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands within the British Isles. Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland; otherwise, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea and the Irish Sea. The total area of the United Kingdom is , with an estimated 2020 population of more than 67 million people. The United Kingdom has evolved from a series of annexations, unions and separations of constituent countries over several hundred years. The Treaty of Union between the Kingdom of England (which included Wales, annexed in 1542) and the Kingdom of Scotland in 170 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of Norway. Bouvet Island, located in the Subantarctic, is a dependency of Norway; it also lays claims to the Antarctic territories of Peter I Island and Queen Maud Land. The capital and largest city in Norway is Oslo. Norway has a total area of and had a population of 5,425,270 in January 2022. The country shares a long eastern border with Sweden at a length of . It is bordered by Finland and Russia to the northeast and the Skagerrak strait to the south, on the other side of which are Denmark and the United Kingdom. Norway has an extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea. The maritime influence dominates Norway's climate, with mild lowland temperatures on the se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battles Of Narvik
The Battles of Narvik were fought from 9 April to 8 June 1940, as a naval battle in the Ofotfjord and as a land battle in the mountains surrounding the north Norwegian town of Narvik, as part of the Norwegian Campaign of the Second World War. The two naval battles in the Ofotfjord on 10 April and 13 April were fought between the British Royal Navy and Nazi Germany '' Kriegsmarine'', while the two-month land campaign was fought between Norwegian, French, British, and Polish troops against German mountain troops, shipwrecked Kriegsmarine sailors and German paratroopers (''Fallschirmjäger'') from the 7th Air Division. Although defeated at sea off Narvik, losing control of the town of Narvik and being pushed back towards the Swedish border, the Germans eventually prevailed because of the Allied evacuation from Norway in June 1940 following the Battle of France. Narvik provided an ice-free harbour in the North Atlantic for iron ore transported by rail from Kiruna in Sweden ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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