''Résistance-Fer'' ( French; Railway-Resistance, or "Iron-Resistance") was a French Resistance group against the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

occupation of France during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. This specific movement was essentially composed of French railway workers from the

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (, , SNCF ) is France's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the Rail transport in France, country's national rail traffic along with th ...

and played an active role in the French Resistance. The Résistance-Fer concentrated its activities on: * reporting the movement of German troops to the Allied forces * the

sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, government, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, demoralization (warfare), demoralization, destabilization, divide and rule, division, social disruption, disrupti ...

of railway infrastructure and rolling stock

Personnel

Jean-Guy Bernard, Louis Armand and Jean Marthelot established the group in 1943 with the help of the director of the SNCF Albert Guerville and of the Cohors-Asturies and Emilie Plouviez groups. Résistance-Fer formed part of the network of Forces Françaises Combattantes which was part of the Délégation Générale. After the arrest of Jean-Guy Bernard in January 1944, Armand took charge of the group under the control of

Jacques Chaban-Delmas Jacques Chaban-Delmas (; 7 March 1915 – 10 November 2000) was a French Gaullist politician. He served as Prime Minister under Georges Pompidou from 1969 to 1972. He was the Mayor of Bordeaux from 1947 to 1995 and a deputy for the Gironde ''d ...

Philippe Leroy Philippe Marie Paul Leroy-Beaulieu (15 October 1930 – 1 June 2024) was a French actor. He appeared in over 150 films between 1960 and 2019, and worked extensively in Italian cinema, as well as in his native country. After an early career as ...

was named head of the movement in northern France while Louis Lavignon, part of

Combat Combat (French language, French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent Conflict (process), conflict between multiple combatants with the intent to harm the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed (Hand-to-hand combat, not usin ...

, led the group in the southeastern Rhone-Alpes region in 1944. He was arrested on May 17, 1944, and died in the deportation camp of Neuengamme.

Activity

The actions of Résistance-Fer were especially effective during 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, Free French forces in London and Africa, as well as the French Resistance. Nazi Germany in ...

. Immediately before and after the Allied invasions during

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

and

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

in 1944, the sabotage of rail transportation became more frequent and proved highly effective first in preventing German troop deployments to the front and later in hindering their retreat. For participating in the Resistance, 150 Résistance-Fer agents were shot and approximately 500 deported, with approximately half dying in deportation.

Recognition

On 17 May 1945, General

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

praised the group: "The railway men and women of the Résistance-Fer have fought, regardless of the risks, during the entire occupation with persistence, courage and discipline for France and freedom". Their activities featured in René Clément's film

La Bataille du Rail LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smi ...

(1946), which opened the first post-war Cannes film festival, a film which is credited as being produced by them, with permission of the Centre Nationale de la Resistance, (CNR). SNCF named locomotive BB 6572 ''Résistance-Fer'' in their honour.

External links

Website of resistants from Polytechnique

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Resistance-Fer French Resistance networks and movements