Freeing France: The Allies, the Resistance, and the JEDBURGHs

Abstract

General Dwight D. Eisenhower used the Forces Francaises de l'Interieur to conduct a guerilla war against German forces during the Allied campaigns in France. The study below examines the Allied politics, the nature and the development of the French Resistance, and the actions of the German forces in France to evaluate how useful the deployment of 93 JEDBURGH teams were in their role to conduct an effective guerilla war aiding Allied military objectives. Disagreements between President Franklin D. Roosevelt and resistance leader General Charles de Gaulle led to Eisenhower's inability to get the most out of the effort. Under certain conditions, Eisenhower and the French with British and American support achieved limited success. Eisenhower's recognition of de Gaulle's authority over the Resistance and his and his insistence on placing a French commander in charge of the effort proved to be the single greatest factor in the successes gained with the JEDBURGHs.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2008
Accession Number
ADA488406

Entities

People

  • Benjamin F Jones

Organizations

  • University of Kansas

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Biomedical
  • C4I
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Birds
  • Civil War
  • Combat Areas
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Employment
  • Geography
  • International Law
  • International Relations
  • Military History
  • Military Organizations
  • Military Science
  • National Politics
  • Personnel Management
  • Recreation
  • Second World War
  • Warfare

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • International Relations and European Studies
  • Irregular Warfare and Special Operations Cyberspace Operations against Adversarial Threats.
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.