![De Gaulle-OWI](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/De_Gaulle-OWI.jpg)
The Order of Liberation (french: Ordre de la Libération) is a French
Order which was awarded to heroes of the
Liberation of France
The liberation of France in the Second World War was accomplished through diplomacy, politics and the combined military efforts of the Allied Powers of World War II, Allied Powers, Free French forces in London and Africa, as well as the French R ...
during
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 ...
. It is a very high honour, second only after the ''Légion d’Honneur'' (
Legion of Honour
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...
). Very few people, military units and communes were ever awarded it; and only for their deeds during World War II. A different order, the ''
Médaille de la Résistance
The Resistance Medal (french: Médaille de la Résistance) was a decoration bestowed by the French Committee of National Liberation, based in the United Kingdom, during World War II. It was established by a decree of General Charles de Gaulle on 9 ...
'' ("Resistance Medal"), was created and awarded for lesser but still distinguished deeds by members of the
Resistance.
History
The ''Order of Liberation'' was established by
General de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...
in order n° 7, signed on 16 November 1940 in
Brazzaville
Brazzaville (, kg, Kintamo, Nkuna, Kintambo, Ntamo, Mavula, Tandala, Mfwa, Mfua; Teke: ''M'fa'', ''Mfaa'', ''Mfa'', ''Mfoa''Roman Adrian Cybriwsky, ''Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture'', ABC-CLI ...
, the capital of ''
France Libre
Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile ...
'' from 1940 to 1943. The object of the Order was to "reward people, of the military or civilian communities, who will have distinguished themselves in the task of liberating France and her Empire".
There were no restrictions as to age, sex, rank, origin or nationality; nor any regarding the nature of the deeds, other than their exceptional quality.
The Order has a single rank, the title of ''
Compagnon de la Libération
The Order of Liberation (french: Ordre de la Libération) is a French Order which was awarded to heroes of the Liberation of France during World War II. It is a very high honour, second only after the ''Légion d’Honneur'' (Legion of Honour) ...
'' ("Companion of the Liberation").
General de Gaulle, founder of the Order, was the only ''Grand Maître'' ("Grand Master") of the Order.
The Order was usually bestowed by the traditional French military ceremony of "prise d'armes". The recipient was summoned forward by rank and name, and given the insignia while being commended thus: ''Nous vous reconnaissons comme notre Compagnon pour la libération de la France dans l’honneur et par la Victoire'' (“We acknowledge you as our companion for the Liberation of France, in honour and by Victory”).
The last awards to French citizens, units and communes were made on 23 January 1946. Awards to foreign nationals were made until 1960.
The last living Companion,
Hubert Germain, died in 2021 aged 101. He will be eligible, should he wish to, to be buried in the crypt of the
Memorial to Fighting France, where a tomb was set aside for the last Companion.
Award description
The medal of the Order is called the ''Croix de la Libération'' ("Cross of Liberation"). It is a 31 mm wide by 33 mm high rectangular bronze shield bearing a 60 mm high vertical
gladius
''Gladius'' () is a Latin word meaning "sword" (of any type), but in its narrow sense it refers to the sword of ancient Roman foot soldiers. Early ancient Roman swords were similar to those of the Greeks, called '' xiphe'' (plural; singular ''xi ...
on its
obverse
Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ''o ...
. On the blade of the gladius: a black enamelled
Cross of Lorraine
The Cross of Lorraine (french: Croix de Lorraine, link=no), known as the Cross of Anjou in the 16th century, is a heraldic two-barred cross, consisting of a vertical line crossed by two shorter horizontal bars. In most renditions, the horizont ...
(symbol of the
Free French Forces
__NOTOC__
The French Liberation Army (french: Armée française de la Libération or AFL) was the reunified French Army that arose from the merging of the Armée d'Afrique with the prior Free French Forces (french: Forces françaises libres, l ...
). On the reverse, in Latin: a relief inscription in bold letters on four rows, ''PATRIAM SERVANDO VICTORIAM TULIT'' ("By serving the Fatherland, he/she achieved Victory").
The award is suspended by a rectangular loop through the
hilt
The hilt (rarely called a haft or shaft) of a knife, dagger, sword, or bayonet is its handle, consisting of a guard, grip and pommel. The guard may contain a crossguard or quillons. A tassel or sword knot may be attached to the guard or pommel. ...
of the gladius to a 36 mm wide silk
moiré green ribbon with 4 mm wide black edge stripes and 1 mm wide black longitudinal stripes, 11 mm from the edges. Green represents hope, black represents mourning, symbolizing the state of France in 1940. The ribbon at first had diagonal black stripes, but the Order was only awarded in that form during August–September 1942.
Recipients
The individuals, units and communities listed below were awarded the Order of Liberation
A total of 1,061 Crosses of Liberation were awarded:
* 1,038 to individuals;
* 18 to units of the Army, Air Force and Navy;
* Five to cities:
Nantes
Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...
,
Grenoble
lat, Gratianopolis
, commune status = Prefecture and commune
, image = Panorama grenoble.png
, image size =
, caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...
,
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 ...
,
Vassieux-en-Vercors
Vassieux-en-Vercors is a commune in the department of Drôme in southeastern France.
The town is known for its assistance to the French Resistance during World War II, for which it was awarded the Ordre de la Libération.
Geography
The villa ...
, and l’
Île de Sein
The Île de Sein is a Breton island in the Atlantic Ocean, off Finistère, eight kilometres from the Pointe du Raz (''raz'' meaning "water current"), from which it is separated by the Raz de Sein. Its Breton name is ''Enez-Sun''. The island, ...
.
Individual recipients
Amongst the 1,036 Companions of the Order, 65 were killed before the end of the war (8 May 1945) and another 260 received the distinction posthumously. Members of the French resistance, especially the more famous ones, often received the Order under their ''
nom de guerre
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
''.
Seven women were awarded the title:
*
Andree Peel
*
Berty Albrecht
Berty Albrecht (15 February 1893 – 31 May 1943) was a French feminist and Resistance martyr.
Life
Albrecht was born Berthe Wild in Marseilles on 15 February 1893 to a middle-class Protestant family. She married the Dutch banker Frédéric Al ...
, co-founder of the movement ''Combat'', who died in the prison of Fresnes in 1943
*
Laure Diebold
Laure Diebold, sometimes written ''Laure Diebolt'' (10 January 1915 – 17 October 1965) was a high-profile female member of the French Resistance during World War II. She was also the private secretary of Jean Moulin before being arrested th ...
, liaison agent of the "Mithridate" network and secretary to
Jean Moulin
Jean Pierre Moulin (; 20 June 1899 – 8 July 1943) was a French civil servant and resistant who served as the first President of the National Council of the Resistance during World War II from 27 May 1943 until his death less than two months l ...
, deported.
*
Marie Hackin
Marie may refer to:
People Name
* Marie (given name)
* Marie (Japanese given name)
* Marie (murder victim), girl who was killed in Florida after being pushed in front of a moving vehicle in 1973
* Marie (died 1759), an enslaved Cree person in Tr ...
, died at sea in February 1941 on a mission
*
Marcelle Henry of the VIC escape network, died shortly after returning from deportation
*
Simone Michel-Lévy, of the Postmen Resistance, died while deported
*
Émilienne Moreau-Evrard
Émilienne Moreau-Evrard (4 June 1898 – 5 January 1971) was a French heroine of World War I, a high-profile female member of the "Brutus" Resistance network during World War II and later, a member of the Provisional Consultative Assembly. Mo ...
, hero of the First World War, agent for the "Brutus" network and later member of 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 ...
Nearly 10% of the recipients of the Order were younger than 20 at the beginning of the war. The youngest,
Mathurin Henrio
Mathurin Henrio (16 April 1929, in Baud – 10 February 1944, in Baud)Order of the Liberation websiteMathurin Henrio(Retrieved 11 September 2013) was a young French resistance fighter who was shot dead by German soldiers for refusing to answe ...
, was 14 when he was shot dead by Nazi officers for refusing to answer questions on the whereabouts of
Maquisards.
The Order was re-opened twice to honour foreign personalities who helped liberate France:
* Former Prime Minister
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
(1958)
* King
George VI
George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952. ...
(1960, posthumously)
File:André Bollier.JPG, Resistance fighter André Bollier
André Bollier (May 30, 1920 – June 17, 1944) was a member of the French Resistance during World War II.
Bollier was born in Paris and enrolled in the École Polytechnique in 1938. He was called up for military service after his first year of s ...
, a posthumous recipient of the Order of Liberation
File:Pierre Clostermann.jpg, Fighter ace Pierre Clostermann
Pierre Henri Clostermann (28 February 1921 – 22 March 2006) was a World War II French fighter pilot.
During the conflict he achieved 33 air-to-air combat victories, earning the accolade "France's First Fighter" from General Charles de ...
, a recipient of the Order of Liberation
File:Dwight D. Eisenhower as General of the Army crop.jpg, General Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
, a recipient of the Order of Liberation
Military units
Military units as a whole have been awarded the title of ''Compagnon de la Libération''.
On 18 June 1996, at Mont Valérien, the 18 military units which had been awarded the Cross of Liberation were given a green and black
fourragère
The ''fourragère'' () is a military award, distinguishing military units as a whole, in the form of a braided cord. The award was first adopted by France, followed by other nations such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, and Luxembourg. Fou ...
by President
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...
.
''Armée de Terre''
* ''Bataillon de Marche n°2''
*
13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade
) and veteran foreign regiments (french: Anciens régiment étranger, link=no) of the Legion, in case of the CEPs, BEPs & REPs, the context reference is referring to the paratrooper veterans (french: Anciens legionnaires parachutistes, link=no) ...
* ''Bataillon d’Infanterie de Marine et du Pacifique''
* ''
Régiment de marche du Tchad
The ''Régiment de marche du Tchad'' (RMT, " ''Ad hoc'' Regiment of Chad") is a mechanised unit of the French Army, belonging to the ''Troupes de Marine''. It is part of the 2nd Armoured Brigade. Formerly garrisoned north of Noyon it was moved ...
''
*
2nd Colonial Infantry Regiment
*
1st Colonial Artillery Regiment
* ''1/3ème Régiment d’Artillerie Coloniale''
*
1st Moroccan Spahi Regiment
* ''
501e Régiment de chars de combat''
''Marine''
*
Sous-marin ''Rubis''
* Corvette ''
Aconit''
* ''
1er Régiment de Fusiliers Marins''
''Armée de l’Air''
* ''1ère Escadrille de Chasse''
* ''
Régiment de Chasse Normandie-Niemen''
* ''2ème Régiment de Chasseurs Parachutistes de l’Armée de l’Air''
* ''Groupe de Bombardement Lorraine''
* ''Groupe de Chasse Ile-de-France''
* ''Groupe de Chasse Alsace''
Cities
*
Nantes
Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...
: awarded on 11 November 1941
Heroic city which, since the crime of capitulation, has opposed a fierce resistance to any sort of collaboration with the enemy. Occupied by German troops and subjected to the harshest of repression, has given to the French, by numerous individual and collective actions, a magnificent example of courage and fidelity. By the blood of her martyred children, showed to the whole World the French will for national liberation.
*
Grenoble
lat, Gratianopolis
, commune status = Prefecture and commune
, image = Panorama grenoble.png
, image size =
, caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...
: awarded on 4 May 1944
Heroic city at the vanguard of the French Resistance and of the fight for liberation. Draped in her pride, despite the arrest and the massacre of her best sons, put up a fierce fight to the Germans at every instant. Despising the interdictions given by the invaders and their accomplices, demonstrated on 11 November 1943 her certainty of Victory and her will to take part in it. On 14 November, and on 2 December 1943, responded to the reprisals and the execution of the chiefs of the Resistance movements by the destruction of the ammunition depot, barracks, power plants and factories used by the enemy. Has served the Motherland well.
*
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 ...
: awarded on 24 March 1945
Capital faithful to herself and to France, demonstrated, under the enemy occupation and oppression, and in spite of the voices of abandonment and treason, her unshakable resolution to fight on and to win. By her courage in the presence of the invader and by the indomitable energy with which she sustained the harshest of trials, deserved to remain as an example for the entire Nation. On 19 August, in cooperation with the Allied and French armies, stood up to drive away the enemy through a series of glorious fights which began in the ''Cité'' and swiftly spread to all points of the city. In spite of heavy losses sustained by the French Forces of the Interior
The French Forces of the Interior (french: Forces françaises de l'Intérieur) were French resistance fighters in the later stages of World War II. Charles de Gaulle used it as a formal name for the resistance fighters. The change in designation ...
fighting within her, liberated itself through her own efforts and, united with the vanguard of the French Army that came to her rescue, has, on 25 August, reduced the German to his last stands and made him capitulate.
*
Vassieux-en-Vercors
Vassieux-en-Vercors is a commune in the department of Drôme in southeastern France.
The town is known for its assistance to the French Resistance during World War II, for which it was awarded the Ordre de la Libération.
Geography
The villa ...
: awarded on 4 August 1945
Village of the Vercors which, thanks to the patriotism of her inhabitants, totally sacrificed herself for the cause of the French Resistance in 1944. Main parachuting centre for the Allied air force on the plateau, always helped by all means possible the military of the Maquis in the gathering of arms. Violently bombed on 14 July, attacked by 24 German gliders on 21 and 22 July, had 72 of her inhabitants massacred and the entirety of her houses burned down by a merciless enemy. Martyr of her faith in the resurrection of the Motherland.
*
l’Ile de Sein: awarded on 1 January 1946
Confronted by the enemy invasion, refused to abandon the battlefield which is hers: the Sea. Sent all of her children to fight under the flag of Free France
Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile ...
, becoming the example and symbol of all Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...
.
See also
*
Musée de l'Ordre de la Libération
The Musée de l'Ordre de la Libération is a military museum located in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France. The museum is dedicated to the Ordre de la Libération, France's second national order after the Légion d'honneur, which was created ...
*
List of Companions of the Liberation
Gallery
File:Collier grand maitre Ordre de la liberation.jpg, The Grandmaster Collar of the Order of Liberation
File:1er modèle Ordre de la liberation.jpg, The first model of the Order of Liberation
File:Croix--de--la--liberation.jpg
References
External links
Official website of the Chancellery of the Order of the LiberationFrance PhaléristiqueWinston Churchill & the Ordre de la Libération - UK Parliament Living Heritage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ordre de la Liberation
Civil awards and decorations of France
Companions of the Liberation
Military awards and decorations of France
Recipients of the Order of Liberation
Awards established in 1940
1940 establishments in France