''Ceux de la Libération'' (CDLL; "Those of the Liberation") was a

French resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

movement during the

German occupation of France The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. CDLL was one of the eight major resistance groups of the

Conseil National de la Résistance The National Council of the Resistance (also, National Resistance Council; in French: ''Conseil National de la Résistance'' (CNR), was the body that directed and coordinated the different movements of the French Resistance: the press, trade unio ...

(CNR).

History

was formed in November 1940 by , and . The movement soon had several thousand members in the Northern occupation zone. In early 1942, , a demobilized Captain and the head of the Chemistry Laboratory at the

Académie Nationale de Médecine Situated at 16 Rue Bonaparte in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the Académie nationale de médecine (National Academy of Medicine) was created in 1820 by King Louis XVIII at the urging of baron Antoine Portal. At its inception, the instituti ...

, met with the CDLL leader Maurice Ripoche. He became involved with the group and succeeded Ripoche as leader after the latter's arrest in March 1943. Under Coquoin's command, the CDLL expanded to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and the rest of France, gathering new volunteers in

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

Champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

Bourgogne Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...

and

Vendée Vendée (; br, Vande) is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.

. Coquoin also made contact with other resistance movements in the occupied zone and even in the southern zone of Vichy. His capabilities in chemistry enabled him to develop

detonators A detonator, frequently a blasting cap, is a device used to trigger an explosive device. Detonators can be chemically, mechanically, or electrically initiated, the last two being the most common. The commercial use of explosives uses electri ...

and abrasive pellets for destroying German trucks. After Coquoin was killed in an ambush in December 1943, Gilbert Védy, CDLL's delegate to the

Provisional Consultative Assembly The Provisional Consultative Assembly (french: Assemblée consultative provisoire) was a governmental organ of Free France that operated under the aegis of the French Committee of National Liberation (CFLN) and that represented the resist ...

in Algiers, returned to Paris to head the movement. However, three days after his arrival, on 21 March 1944, Védy was arrested and poisoned himself during the interrogation rather than risk divulging any information.

Members

•Pierre Audemard (xxxx–xxxx/Place of death: KZ Mauthausen) •Jacques Ballet (1908–2000) •Christophe Beaulieu •Pierre Beuchon •Jean Bessemoulin •Josephine Bouffort •Fernand Boivent •Joseph Brindeau (xxxx–1942/Place of death: Augsburg hospital) •Albert Chodet •Roger Coquoin-Lenormand (1897–1943) •Raymond Deleule (1902–1961) •Eugene Dumaine (1901–1943/Place of death: KZ Buchenwald) •Victor Dupont (1909–1976) •Albert Forcinal (1887–1976) •Paul Fremond •Jules Fremont (xxxx–1943/Place of death: Munich / "München-Stadelheim") •Jacques Froment (1920–1944) •Andree Gallais (1898–1997) •Huguette Gallais (1921–2016) •René Gallais (1892–1943/Place of death: Munich / "München-Stadelheim") •Benjamin Garnier •Pere (Abt) Pierre Gillet (1904–1985) •Émile Ginas (1892–1975) •Aymé Guerrin (1890–1979) •Edmond Herbert •Georges Huet •Pierre Jeanpierre (1912–1958) •Teophile Jagu •Pierre Konstante •Marcel Lebastard •François Lebosse (xxxx–1943/Place of death: Munich / "München-Stadelheim") •René Leduc (1901–1983) •Jean Le Ravallec •Francis Loizance •Raymond Loizance (xxxx–1943/Place of death: Munich / "München-Stadelheim") •Emile Louvel •Joseph Louvel •Romain Mancel •Henri Manhès (1889–1959) •Alfred Marinais •Gilbert Médéric-Védy (1902–1944/Place of death: Paris) •Jules Monnerot (1909–1995) •Marcel Morel •Paul Morel •Andre Mutter (1901–1973) •Paul Pagnier (1925–2004) •Henri Pascal (1920–1989) •Antoine Perez (xxxx–1943/Place of death: Munich / "München-Stadelheim") •Marcel Pitois (xxxx–1943/Place of death: Munich / "München-Stadelheim") •Louise Pitois (xxxx–1945) •Louis Richer (xxxx–1943/Place of death: Munich / "München-Stadelheim") •Maurice Ripoche (1895–1944/Place of death: Cologne / "Köln-Klingelpütz") •Jules Rochelle (xxxx–1943/Place of death: Munich / "München-Stadelheim") •Pierre Servagnat (1911–1995) •Georges Wauters (1904–1990) •Francois Wetterwald (1911–1993)

History

Members

See also