This book tells how, sometimes at the cost of their lives, young French people refused defeat and especially the odious armistice of June 22, 1940. Some of these future commandos who suffered German oppression, then the harassment and lies of Vichy propaganda decided to leave France sometimes by deserting from the French Navy for example. These men, in love with freedom and patriotism who were in France chose to join England or North Africa via Francoist Spain where they were interned for more or less long periods in the sinister camp of Miranda de Ebro. Of the entire French army, only a very small number of soldiers joined the free forces, such as the sailors who deserted from the French battleship Richelieu, which was being refitted in the United States, or those from the French Antilles squadron, which was nevertheless commanded with an iron fist by Admiral Rober, the High Commissioner, who remained loyal to Pétain and his government until the end. Upon their arrival on British soil, they were imprisoned for interrogation at the Patriotic School in London. This approach made it possible to detect potential Vichy or Reich spies. Once this ordeal was over, the escapees chose which branch they wished to serve in. It was common for the youngest, under 18, to choose the Navy. For others, it was the paratroopers and commandos, believing that at the time of the landing, they would be the first liberators of the homeland. Those who joined these elite units participated in Operation Overlord and landed on June 6, 1944, on the beach at Colleville-sur-Orne, which became Colleville-Montgomery by decree of June 14, 1946. All these exceptional testimonies have been brought together in this 200-page book, including photos, illustrations, and maps that explain in detail their paths toward the fight for the liberation of their country. These men belonged, for the most part, to the 1st Battalion of Marine Commando Fusiliers, which later gave birth to the maritime force of Marine Fusiliers and Commandos.
