"Division Leclerc" Topic

"'General Leclerc' was the nom de guerre adopted by the Gaullist officer Philippe de Hautcloque, to protect his family in occupied France. He became France's foremost fighting commander, and his armored division (the '2e DB') its most famous formation. Starting as a small scratch force of mostly African troops organised and led by Leclerc in French Equatorial Africa, it achieved early success raiding Italian and German positions in co-operation with Britain's Long Range Desert Group. Following the Allied victory in North Africa it was expanded and reorganised as a US Army-style armoured division, with American tanks and other armoured vehicles. Shipped to the UK, in spring 1944, it was assigned to Patton's US Third Army, landing in time for the Normandy breakout and being given the honour of liberating Paris in August 1944. Combining a thorough analysis of their combat and organisation with detailed colour plates of their uniforms and equipment, this is the fascinating story of Free France's most effective fighting force."

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Amicalement
Armand

Looking forward to that one!

Glad you like it my friend!. (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

I, for one, will be near the front of the line to get this when it becomes available.

I expect there may be much in it for the wargamer. At least, the types of wargamers who's games I see (and so frequently praise) around here.

I have made some effort to study Leclerc and his campaigns. I have in my collection an original limited edition book published in Paris in 1947 on his campaigns, written "Par vue de ses compagnons" (from the viewpoint of his companions), which has many photos from personal collections and hand-drawn maps of the campaigns. The descriptions of the capture of Koufra are particularly compelling. I can't imagine being able to wargame it and get the results he got -- doesn't mean I wouldn't want to try (have tried once), but it's really a "not to be believed" kind of story. Should have been made into a movie starring Bogart.

One interesting aspect of the book I have is the very open descriptions of the intelligence they received from the British Ultra intercepts. The level of openness is not seen in later histories, until Ultra was declassified in the … I want to say late 1990s? I guess this short-run book in French made it past any efforts to keep the details under wraps.

In any case -- merci, Armand. Bien trouvé, mon vieux.

-Mark
(aka: Mk 1)

A votre service mon cher ami!. (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

This is a particularly good book on what can be a very confusing subject. 2e DB and its predecessors changed composition so many times. Always caught my imagination after seeing "Is Paris Burning?" over and over on DVD , plus several reads of the book. Finally got the French version "Paris, Brule t'il?" which gets rid of the awful dubbing.

Marvellous modelling subjects. Why did I give away my M10, Le Malin? This is very good on unit history and vehicle markings.

Notice they changed the cover? First issued with the same Sherman photo used in their "Liberation of Paris", now has Berchtesgaden instead.

I am amazed at any mention of Enigma and Ultra, as above. FFL did have a terrible reputation amongst the Anglo Americans for security breaches, during the war. Funny enough Magic was openly discussed as soon as the war ended. Code breaking in WWI ditto. The point here of course was that the German cipher machine made the code unbreakable….or almost….. NATO did not want too many questions arising in opposition camps re their own secure communications.