France Archives

France

Before the Battle of the Bulge: Forming the 551st “GOYAs”

By Donald Roberts II

By summer’s end 1944 Adolf Hitler, along with much of his staff, began to realize that Germany was in serious danger of losing the war. Read more

A painting by Jean Watteau (1684-1721) shows French infantry on the march, complete with donkeys and camp followers.

France

The Duke of Marlborough Unleashed at the Battle of Ramillies

By Vince Hawkins

The War of Spanish Succession, fought between 1701 and 1711, witnessed the emergence of some of Europe’s greatest military commanders. Read more

Thick sulphurous smoke pours from the flaming wreckage of a B-17 bomber in a French field.

France

The Hidden Freedom Trail

by Adam Lynch

A few moments after his stricken Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber tore apart, co-pilot Ralph Patton hurriedly put his bail-out plan into action. Read more

Napoleon Bonaparte, commanding the French Army of Italy, issues orders during an assault over a bridge at Lodi. At one point in the struggle, Bonaparte led a charge himself. The victory here gave much confidence to both commander and army.

France

Napoleon’s Italian Campaign: A Year Against the Odds

By Jeremy Green

The newly appointed 26-year-old commander-in-chief of the French Army of Italy arrived at Nice headquarters on March 27, 1796. Read more

Rifles in hand, a French patrol proudly poses for the camera in front of a log blockhouse fortification atop a rocky outcrop in Belgium.

France

On May 10, 1940, a daring group of German parachutists descended on the mighty Belgian fortress of Eben Emael, compelled its surrender, and opened the way for the German Army’s drive into Belgium. Read more

France

Philip vs Edward at the Battle of Crécy

By Robert Suhr

Philip of Valois, for long have we made suit before you by embassies and all other ways which we knew to be reasonable, to the end that you should be willing to have restored unto us our right, our heritage of France, which you have long kept back and most wrongfully occupied.” Read more

Early 15th-century Italy was a caldron of warfare from which mercenaries like Bartolomeo Colleoni could make a name and a fortune. Below is a 1432 battle between Florentines and Sienese.

France

Bartolomeo Colleoni’s Art of War

By Jonathan North

Bartolomeo Colleoni was a Renaissance success story. A simple mercenary, he rose from obscurity to the most important position on the Italian peninsula: commander-in-chief of the armies of Venice. Read more

Led by Charles VIII, the French enter Florence, Italy. Charles invaded Italy in September 1494, using his powerful artillery to reduce fortifications where he met resistance. The Army arrived at Pisa in November, followed by Florence, before reaching Naples in February 1495.

France

Battle of Fornovo: Rising to Crush an Invader

By Jonathan North

Fifteenth-century Renaissance Italian political life was a heady mix of intrigue, provocation and dispute, backed by limited wars and border raids. Read more

France

Undisputed King: The Battle of Tewkesbury

By David Alan Johnson

King Edward IV could not have asked for better news. On the evening of May 3, 1471, his scouts reported that the army of his Lancastrian archrival, Queen Margaret of Anjou, was camped a few miles south of the abbey town of Tewkesbury with its back to the River Severn. Read more

France

Eleventh-Hour Peril: The U.S. Naval Escape from China

by Eric Niderost

On November 11, 1941, the U.S. Navy gunboats USS Luzon and Oahu were ordered to “make quietly all preparations within the ship for a cruise at sea.” Read more

Shortly after a surrender to U.S. forces, German officers hand out rations of bread to hungry soldiers.

France

The German 11th Panzer Division: Giving Up the Ghost

By Brig. Gen. Raymond E. Bell Jr.

It was an impressive sight. Upon the reviewing stand as honored guest was General Dwight D. Read more

Donning camouflage, a team of OSS operatives lands ashore. Despite initial skepticism, the OSS more than proved its worth during numerous operations in Italy and North Africa.

France

OSS Operation Ginny

By Don Smart

The three rubber dinghies struggled through the rough surf in the pitch black night toward an inhospitable stretch of rocky beach. Read more

Portrait of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, painted c. 1618 by Peter Paul Rubens.

France

The Battle of Grandson

By Eric Niderost

On Friday, September 28, 1473, Charles, Duke of Burgundy arrived at Trier to meet with the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III. Read more

France

Roncesvalles and the Birth of Chivalry

By Don Hollway

The Age of Chivalry brings to mind knights in shining armor and damsels in distress, along with traveling troubadours and minstrels singing chansons de geste, “songs of deeds,” telling of feats of arms and labors of love. Read more

France

Napoleon Bonaparte & the Patriotic War of 1812

By Frank Quinn

For many, the fascination of military history lies in the “What if …” What if Hitler had not ordered the Luftwaffe to shift from bombing RAF airfields to bombing London in 1940? Read more

A newly decorated group of French soldiers poses for a photo while wearing the 1915 “Adrian” helmets.

France

Militaria: WWI Helmets from French Troops

By Peter Suciu

Thick metal helmets were used since ancient times to offer protection to their wearers in combat and are among the earliest forms of armor. Read more

France

Bridegrooms of Death: The Spanish Foreign Legion

by John W. Osborn, Jr.

Spanish Legionaries charged into battle crying, “Long Live Death.” They sang of being “the Bridegrooms of Death” and proved they meant it with over 10,000 killed and 35,000 wounded. Read more

France

The Duke of Marlborough at Malplaquet

by Herman T. Voelkner

England’s survival hung in the balance. She had only recently clashed with an imposing Continental alliance, in a futile war characterized by unprecedented slaughter on obscure fields in Flanders. Read more