Slitherine

Suggestion of another CAMPAIGN EVENT –> Just after the Mourzouk scenario… (to respect the timing )

Title: “Tremendous cavalry charges!”

Text:
“A Free French unit, the “Escadron de Spahis marocains” from captain Paul Jourdier (reinforced by volunteers from Egypt and Levant) has joined the 4th Marhattes of the 5th Indian Division in Sudan, at the border with Eritrea.

Since the 10th December 1940, this “Escadron de Spahis” undertakes daily reconnaissance patrols on horseback in the Italian lines. In fact, he is doing some absolutely remarkable things.

Our horsemen command the admiration of our allies, as daring reconnaissance is followed by skillfully manoeuvring and by charges on horseback, sometimes even sword in the clear.

For example, on the 2nd January 1941, at Umbrega, Paul Jourdier and his squadron fought against an Italian party several times greater in number, inflicting heavy losses. During this fight, the Spahis delivered one of the last charges to the sabre of the French cavalry!

Later, on the 18th January 1941, at Om Ager, the Jourdier squadron fought again successfully against a much larger enemy, accomplishing there a decisive reconnaissance mission in preparation for the British offensive towards Keren...”

With one of the following pictures:
https://www.google.ch/imgres?imgurl=htt ... 4270878485
https://www.google.ch/imgres?imgurl=htt ... Q..i&w=740
https://www.google.ch/imgres?imgurl=htt ... 4288040837


Paul Jourdier:
https://www.google.ch/search?q=l%E2%80% ... AQ596aDq1M

ColonelY wrote: ↑Sun Mar 15, 2020 7:41 am

Zekedia222 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 14, 2020 9:47 pm Gabon is mostly savannas, from what I remember in 7th Grade geography, so maybe mostly open terrain with tree decorations, probably with jungles on the border with Congo.

Well, not quite actually. The savannahs are into the east and south only (so out of the main theater of action for us) .

Map: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File ... uselang=fr

In fact, Gabon is said to be more than 80% covered by forest.

As a result, the Gabonese soil is hardly used for agriculture and breeding, so Gabon is largely dependent on imports for its food.

As far as the forest is concerned, there is traditionally a distinction between the Okoumé forest (coastal basin & Crystal Mountains) - which occupies, by the way, the western 2/3 of the territory - and the forest without Okoumé. Economic distinction, because Okoumé is the most important species in the wood economy (2nd economic sector of the country after the petrol). Okoumé is a soft wood, easily unrollable and floatable, which was an advantage in a country where the routes for heavy transport have long remained riverine (you can see on the first map I made available on Gabon that there are indeed many rivers ) .

In fact, it is even said that Gabon has the highest rate of forest area per capita in Africa... which allows it to maintain a remarkable fauna and flora , but that's another story!

Ahh. My mistake.

No worries.

And another event, another:

(to put, as usual, at the good place with respect to timing )

Title: "The Léopard's claws!"

"24 February 1941: The Free French destroyer Léopard damages a U-Boat in the Atlantic; it’s the very first victory of the FNFL (i.e. “Forces Navales Françaises Libres”) against the Kriegsmarine".

Ah, I've (almost) found what I was searching:

"From the 11st December 1940, the French battalion (the "1er Bataillon d'Infanterie de Marine") distinguished itself in the battle of Sidi Barrani, then on the 22nd January 1941 in the assault on the defences of Tobrouk."
-> This is already clearly known by us now...

-> But this is (partly) that I was searching:
"There [so in Tobrouk!] he [the "1er BIM"] took a thousand sad, cunning and dirty Italian prisoners: Winston Churchill was able to announce, then, in the House of Commons the capture of Tobrouk by the British and Free French forces."

So Churchill himself has said few words about this and couldn't deny the impact of those few Frenchies! We knew already that they've opened a breach into the defenses, but we can now add as well the capture of about a thousand of Italian prisoners! (By a single battalion!)

And he has said few words about this on the BBC, but I haven't succedeed so far in finding its quote...

The contribution of the Free French forces in Tobrouk, although of course more or less proportional to their number, hasn't been negligible at all.

Some words about this should be added in the text of "Major Victory", "Minor Victory", etc. once the scenario "Mini-Tobrouk" is finished.

Campaign event: “Djibouti’s not rallying!” – between the Keren scenario and the Massaoua scenario

As text, maybe something like:

“The Free French would have had a much greater impact in the Eritrean campaign if they had been joined by the French Somali Coast, with its garrison of 10’000 well-armed men, its port of Djibouti and its railway terminus from Addis Ababa.

This should be obvious, considering that Free French were ”only” able to commit a few thousand troops in Eritrea and that the new strategic perspectives which could then have been offered to them.

To try rallying the French Somali Coast to the cause of France, General de Gaulle has sent there General Legentilhomme, who was already the superior commander of the French troops in the French Somali Coast in 1939. He was in Djibouti when, on 18th June 1940, in his “General Order No. 4”, he denounced the armistice (requested by Pétain on 17th June) and announced his intention to continue the war on the side of the British Empire. However, isolated, he left the Somali Coast on 2nd August 1940 to join General de Gaulle and return to England, for which he was stripped of his French nationality by decree of the Vichy government. On 31st October, he arrived in England…

Unluckily, the French Somali Coast remains still loyal to Vichy’s government. But fortunately, the General de Gaulle had also foreseen this possibility.”

As promised, here is more info about the units during the battle of Keren (2nd phasis):

KEREN scenario:

Battle map: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bataille_ ... 941-en.svg

This may help as well: https://www.google.ch/imgres?imgurl=htt ... 4341730729

And this probably too: https://www.google.ch/imgres?imgurl=htt ... 4345432210
--------------------
Initial Italian defense plan:
The Italians had indeed very wisely arranged their defences. They had six Italians battalions (10th and 11th grenadier regiments, 3rd alpine battalion and 3rd bersaglieri battalion) forming the Savoy division, and five colonial brigades with two battalions of Eritrean or Ethiopian Ascaris, three groups of native cavalry and 99 pieces of artillery, 67 of which were light.

These forces were articulated into three groups of three battalions each occupying from south to north the heights immediately west of Keren, namely: Mount Sanchil (1’784 m), Mount Laal Aniba (2’048 m), the Cubub Massif (1’447 m) and Mount Ab Aurès (1’845 m).

These heights commanded the valleys that were followed by the roads and tracks coming from Kassala, the cavalry groups locked the passages.

A reserved element of two battalions was massed 1 km east of Keren in a central position.

The artillery had good observation posts and, the intelligence bulletin tells us, "the enemy is taking advantage of this situation to bombard our reserves, rest areas as well as our forward positions".

To stop the attempts to overrun the position, two fixed guard flanks, one of two battalions, occupied the area of Mount Falesteh - Zelabe Point south of Keren.

The other to the north, with a brigade of three battalions and a cavalry group, occupies the Engiahat and bars the Pig Valley. An outpost is held at Cub-Cub in an easily defensible location. Finally on the road from Keren to Asmara, a two battalion brigade straddling the road, at Habib Mentel, guards the rear.
--------------------
Italian defenses on the 24th March 1941 (so roughly at the beginning of the Keren scenario):
-> according to wiki (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of ... _of_battle AND the Italian version of it):

- Northern Sector (facing the Free French and some Indian brigade): 2nd Colonial Brigade, 6th Colonial Brigade, 12th Artillery Group
- Begana–Zelale–Falestoh Sector: Combined Colonial Battalion, 105th Colonial Battalion, remnants 52nd & 63rd Battalion, 1 Battery, 106th Artillery Group
- Dologorodoc–Sanchil Sector: 50th Colonial Battalion, "Uork Amba" Alpini Battalion, Combined 57th/85th Colonial Battalion, Combined 51st/56th Colonial Battalion, 21st & 46th Batteries, 5th Artillery Group (65 mm/17 guns)
- Mount Sanchil Sector: 1st Grenadiers Battalion, 3rd Bersaglieri Battalion (both part ot the 11th Regiment “Granatieri di Savoia"), 10th Battery, 5th Artillery Group
- Mount Amba Sector: 5th Colonial Battalion, 106th Colonial Battalion, 11th Black Shirt Legion (44th, 150th and 170th battalions), 3rd Carabiniere Company, Artillery Group (100 mm/57 howitzers)
- Sama Sector: 36th Colonial Battalion, 41st Colonial Battalion
- Garrison Commander's Reserve: 99th Colonial Battalion, 132nd Colonial Battalion, 15th Squadron, Cavalry Group
--------------------
For the Allies units, wiki as well may help: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of ... _of_battle

What is really interessant for us, it’s the presence of these units in support of the Free French (who severly lack heavy artillery at that time): “4th motor machine-gun company” of the Sudan Defence Force, one Battery from “25th Field Regiment”, Royal Artillery (Indian 4th Infantry Division) and the “12th Field Company Queen Victoria's Own Madras Sappers & Miners”…

And it is known as well that some British bombers have helped the Free French during this battle...

For this campaign, some Free French commanders:

(Philippe) Leclerc (it’s a nickname!): https://www.google.ch/imgres?imgurl=htt ... 4347987729 or https://www.google.ch/imgres?imgurl=htt ... 4348015381 or the first colored picture of him (see one of the few previous posts )

(Ralph) Monclar (it’s just a nickname!): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File ... uselang=fr
or https://www.google.ch/imgres?imgurl=htt ... 4347629139

(Marie-Pierre) Koenig: https://www.google.ch/imgres?imgurl=htt ... 4347826238 or https://www.google.ch/imgres?imgurl=htt ... 4347887143

(Edgar de) Larminat: https://www.google.ch/imgres?imgurl=htt ... 4348128482 or https://www.google.ch/imgres?imgurl=htt ... 4348146500 or https://www.google.ch/imgres?imgurl=htt ... 4348158776

(Paul) Legentilhomme: https://www.google.ch/imgres?imgurl=htt ... 4349355870

(Jean de Lattre de) Tassigny: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jean ... (1946).jpg
This one (not yet seen) was a brilliant French commander during World War II. As part of Operation Dragoon in 1944 (!), his French Army B captured over 28,000 Germans and liberated Marseilles and Toulon. (He also conducted several brilliant campaigns in the First Indochina War, winning impressively at the Battle of Vĩnh Yên in 1951.)


Operation Dragoon in 1944, with the French Army B liberating Marseille and Toulon, taking many prisoners on its way... this is another scenario to be added later!

ColonelY wrote: ↑Mon Mar 16, 2020 8:49 am For this campaign, some Free French commanders:

FYI, to save you some time and effort, Colonel:
Bruce (and Erik) does no mods. That means no new units, no new specs and no new commanders beside whatever's included in the stock game.

GabeKnight wrote: ↑Mon Mar 16, 2020 9:53 am

ColonelY wrote: ↑Mon Mar 16, 2020 8:49 am For this campaign, some Free French commanders:

FYI, to save you some time and effort, Colonel:
Bruce (and Erik) does no mods. That means no new units, no new specs and no new commanders beside whatever's included in the stock game.

Aw, I didn't know about this story of "stock game" for commanders... And I was precisely about to put some pictures of general Catroux.

Well, thanks for this info.

Just for reference, a colonial brigade is composed of 2-3 regular infantry battalions, as well as a mountain gun battery.

SYRIA-LEBANON CAMPAIGN, or OPERATION EXPORTER (8th June – 12nd July 1941):

Suggestion for a campaign event before the (first ) scenario...
It actually depends on the fact that Rachid Ali had left the country to take refuge in Germany the 31st May. So, if one should choose to use instead the following text for the scenario description of the very first scenario related to the Syria campaign, then it should be modified accordingly...


Suggestion of title: "Crystal clear!"

“It's simple, the Orient, well, it's complicated!

In 1941, many people are interested in the Levant, including of course the French, who are there because of a mandate given to France by the League of Nations (so it's normal!), and the British, who have never wholeheartedly supported France's presence in the Middle East (it’s a fact!).

For us to have a chance to make a more important contribution to the common war effort and to maintain France's position, Damascus (Syria) and Beirut (Lebanon) must join the Free French forces. Alas, due to Vichy's political maneuvering, no spontaneous rallying is to be expected. And shall we fail, the British will end up taking our place in the Levant - if the Axis won't dominate there!

The Germans, victorious in the Balkans, have just snatched Greece from the Greeks and the English, dominating now the Mediterranean from Palermo to Rhodes and at this very moment threatening the English position in Egypt; moreover, some intel indicate that they could soon attack Russia...

The Vichy's French, collaborating with the Germans, have sent weapons and supplies to Rachid Ali, whose rebellion in Iraq has left the English troops besieged around their airfields.

Still worse, most of the Vichy's French troops in Syria and Lebanon are moving towards their southern border, while landing areas for the Germans which are going to come behind them have already been chosen...

If we let the Germans settle in Syria, then Turkey will be surrounded and, therefore, risks allying itself with the Axis. In addition, the Germans could launch an operation from there against Russia and/or attack the British in Egypt - at least by massively bombing the Suez Canal, through which all British supplies currently transit.

If this total disaster is to be avoided, action must be taken!”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Au total, les Alliés engageraient moins de forces qu'il ne leur en serait opposé. Sur ces bases défectueuses, il fallait, pourtant, agir et en finir. L'ultime décision fut prise. La tragédie allait commencer." (quote from "Mémoires de guerre", 1st volume, général Charles de Gaulle; i.e. "In total, the Allies would commit fewer forces than would be opposed to them. On these flawed bases, however, there was a need to act and get it over with. The final decision was made. The tragedy was about to begin." )

SYRIA-LEBANON CAMPAIGN, or OPERATION EXPORTER (8th June – 12nd July 1941):

For this one, a(n important) choice must be previously made:

1. Either a big (or huge) map covering all this campaign (which was quite long) with then a second issue, i.e. shall this long scenario map highlight “only” the southern part or the entire Syria? (See the 3rd map “just” below.)

2. A handful of “little” scenarios with only the actual battles where the Free French have been engaged, all those battles having been maximum several days long.

It might be easier to go with the second option, as well more coherent, I think, with the beginning of our Free France campaign…

But the second option would imply that we won’t in principle see any naval action… In fact, it is commonly accepted that the war at sea was not a major part of Operation Exporter, although some significant actions were fought. Anyway, considering the relatively small naval forces involved (in total about 5 cruisers and 8 destroyers for the Allies versus 2 destroyers and 3 submarines for the Vichy’s France) would that be a problem?

I will vote for the second option, although of course this choice is not (really) mine.
-------------------------------------
It was the Vichy’s France (of Henri Dentz) + Germany (air support only!) versus the Allies (of Archibald Wavell): In principle about 18’000 Australians, 9’000 British, 5’500 Free French (commanded by Paul Legentilhomme – who failed to bring diplomatically Djibouti under the Free France flag) and 2’000 Indians against at the very least about 8'000 French reinforced by about 25'000 Syrian and Lebanese... (According to the Memories of de Gaulle, there should actually have been (much) more French soldiers, so at least around 30'000, and a little less Syrian and Lebanese. See the latest event - I think de Gaulle had some good reasons to find it somehow "bitter"... )

The Vichy’s forces had many more planes than the Allies (with reinforcements from some of their planes who had travelled from Northern Africa, being refueled by the Germans on their way and with reinforcements of German planes as well; the British planes were bases on Palestine for the most of them but on Cyprus as well), although not well protected in terms of AA-guns and many of those were thus destroyed on the ground. The Vichy’s tanks were 10 times as many as the tanks of the Free French… The Vichy’s French have concentrated most of their troops in the South, whereas some of their local units, likely to rally the Free French, were kept more in the North, so far away from action!

Etc.
Now, there is no point in rushing with info, particularly on this part of the Free France campaign, if we don’t know which option will prevail, because it would then be partly useless anyway…
-------------------------------------
“The attack plan of the Allies was to take place along 3 axes from Palestine: the first went along the coast as far as Beirut (Lebanon); the second, farther east, went to Damascus (Syria); the third, in the middle of the mountains to cover the flank of the two previous axes.” -> should be part of the (first) scenario description and/or the (first) scenario briefing…
-------------------------------------
During the SYRIA-LEBANON CAMPAIGN, or the OPERATION EXPORTER, several battles have been fought. According to wiki, they were:

1. As parts of the advance on Beirut from Palestine: the Battle of the Litani River (9 June), the Battle of Jezzine (13 June), the Battle of Sidon (13–15 June) and the Battle of Kissoué (15–17 June);
2. As part of the advance on Damascus from Palestine: the Battle of Damascus (18–21 June);
3. As part of the advance on Beirut and Damascus from Palestine: the Battle of Merdjayoun (19–24 June);
4. As part of the advance on Palmyra and Tripoli from Iraq: the Battle of Palmyra (1 July);
5. As part of part of the advance on central and northern Syria from Iraq: the Battle of Deir ez-Zor (3 July);
6. As parts part of the advance on Beirut from Palestine: the Battle of Damour (5–9 July) and, finally, the Battle of Beirut (12 July)…

If wiki is to be trusted about this: (and we’ve already seen that it has sometimes forgotten to mention the Free French – but there it should be fine at least, well, anyway)

The Free French are believed to have been involved “only” in the Battle of Kissoué (Syria; 15–17 June), the Battle of Damascus (18–21 June) and the final Battle of Beirut (Lebanon; 12 July).

So, this part of the Free France campaign could be represented by 3 scenarios, each one covering one of those three battles…
-------------------------------------
Few pictures:
A truck with Free French troops entering Syria: http://www.france-libre.net/site/wp-con ... 5-big1.png
A supply truck joining the 13e Demi-brigade de Légion étrangère: http://www.france-libre.net/site/wp-con ... 4-big1.png
The general Catroux giving some distinction to brave officiers: http://www.france-libre.net/site/wp-con ... 3-big1.png
-------------------------------------
Few maps already:
Map of operations: http://www.france-libre.net/site/wp-con ... 2-big1.png
Or this one (just go down one page to find the map!): https://books.google.ch/books?id=fiW8Bw ... re&f=false
And this one, which shows the advance of Indian units once Rachid Ali has lost in Irak: https://www.egaliteetreconciliation.fr/ ... 14083.html
This one shows Kissoué and, in the back, Damascus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of ... 941_en.svg

And some more historic events to add again more depth, more flavor:


Event: “Rachid Ali’s escape to Germany!”

Maybe, with “Crystal clear!” as campaign event before the first scenario, then this one maybe around the third of the first scenario of the Syrian campaign... Historical event!

Text:
“Rachid Ali was routed and abandoned his country on 31st May. This has opened the gates of Syria to the Allies via the desert and the Euphrates. As for Turkey, it has refused to let Vichy reinforcements cross its territory. With all this, the Germans no longer seemed in a hurry to get new forces into Arab countries... in fact, they even withdrew the planes they had sent from Greece.

From then on, the only Vichist reinforcements to arrive in the Levant after the fighting had begun were two French air squadrons that had come from North Africa via Athens, where the Germans had welcomed them and refuelled them.”

-> which could then be actually going together with the evacuation, in game, of the last German planes in Syria… (Thus the interest to not make this appear too soon within this scenario, to let them do something - by the way the Germans are known to have bombed Damascus once the Allied have captured this city. Have they just come back from Greece to achieve this? Something to spawn in game, then... Or just another historic event once Damascus is taken? )
--------------------------------------------------------------
Then an event just before the end of the last scenario about this Operation Exporter (historical event):

Title: “Perfidy!”

Text:
“To prepare the text of the armistice, during the meeting held on 19 June at the home of Sir Miles Lampson, and attended by Wavell and Catroux, General de Gaulle drafted the text of the conditions that seemed acceptable to the Free French and suitable for those opposite.

The next day, unpleasantly surprised: the text retained by the British government and already sent to Dentz (the Vichy's Commander in Chief of the Army of the Levant) was in no way similar to the one the Allies had agreed to!

1. It was not any longer at all question of the Free French; it was just as if it was being proposed to Dentz to entrust Syria to the British!

2. The soldiers and civil servants of the Levant were going to be repatriated en masse and with authority; but de Gaulle needs to keep as many as possible with him!

So there, de Gaulle set out on a more or less diplomatic crusade to have his rights respected and to protect those of France!”
--------------------------------------------------------------
A campaign event just after the last scenario about the Syrian campaign and the next scenario on another theater of action:

Title: “Bitter victory!”

Text:
“Our general has been intractable, thus there was a lot of arguing going on.

It was not until July that the agreements of 19 June were respected by the British, somewhat "interpreting" the text they had signed with those of Vichy.

Thanks to de Gaulle's tenacity, and besides at the peril of the alliance with the British, the flag of the Free France now flies over Damascus and Beirut.

Moreover, de Gaulle can finally send his officers to retrieve some equipments and rally some troops among the defeated Vichy's forces.

So, 127 French officers and 6'000 French non-commissioned officers and soldiers join us, plus the Syrian and Lebanese elements which are reconstituted, thus adding yet 290 officers and 14'000 men. That's how the Free France has finally gained about 20'000 fighters after this fratricidal struggle.

But thanks to the delaying imposed by our British ally, it's almost too late: only a fifth of the remnant French Vichy's forces has been able to join our ranks, because the others are being evacuated by Vichy's ships. Indeed already 25'000 officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the French army and air force are slipping away on the horizon, together with one of our assets...”

(Numbers taken from the Memories of General de Gaulle... )

So, let's review, shall we?

The first part of the Free France campaign may look like this:

1. Dakar, in Senegal, Operation Menace (23-25 September 1940)

2. Gabon campaign, part 1, two columns marching against Lambaréné (27 October - 5 November 1940)

3. Gabon campaign, part 2, landing of the third column in front of Libreville (8 - 10 November 1940)

4. "Mini" Sidi Barrani, in Egypt, begin of Operation Compass, Free French helping to open the way (10 - 11 December 1940)

5. Mourzouk, in Lybian Sahara, raid vs Italian airfield and fort (10? - 11 January 1941)

6. "Mini" Tobrouk, continuation of Operation Compass, Free French still helping (21-22 January 1941)

7. Leclerc's column ambushed in desert (somewhere in-between, timewise)

8. Kub Kub, one French battalion taking a strong Italian position and thus opening the way towards Keren (21-23 February 1941)

9. Koufra, in Lybian Sahara, followed by a famous oath (end of February? - 1/2 March 1941)

10. Keren, the main (mountain) lock in Erithrea (23-27 March 1941)

11. Massaoua, great French push and final great capture in Erithrea (7-8 April 1941)

12. Kissoué, begin of Operation Exporter, first serious fight for the Free French in Syria (15–17 June 1941)

13. Damas, continuation of Op. Exporter (18–21 June 1941)

14. Beyrouth, in Lebanon, last battle of Operation Exporter (12 July 1941)

15. Etc.

+ including many historical events (some campaign events and some events within scenarios)...


So, there should be definitely enough matter right now to start building up the first part of the campaign, when the developers have time to work on it, of course.

Anyone know of or interested in making an invasion of Madagascar scenario? British vs. Vichy French/Colonial troops? I had thought that Free French fought in this campaign, but upon further research, alas, that is not the case.

This could be very interesting and, in my opinion, could be added (respecting the chronology - it lasted from May to November 1942...) to the Free France campaign for two reasons:

1. It has (to my knowledge) never been done before and would certainly be a challenging scenario...

2. It will also allow us to talk about why it was done without the Free France and what was the reaction of the Free French...

So this will complete the overview, give a good picture of what Franco-British relations were like at the time.

ColonelY wrote: ↑Wed Mar 11, 2020 11:10 am

Igor1941 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 10, 2020 10:05 pm Battle of Madagascar

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Madagascar

Nice, with some historical background because actually the Free French forces weren’t going to be allowed to participate in this battle!

But one could anyway play this Battle of Madagascar (then officially known as "French Madagascar") from a British perspective and thus see few nice "historical event" as well to talk a little about it...

Oh yeah, it should probably be made once the time has come.

The Battle of Madagascar will even allow us to mention a little bit... the Japanese!

The D-Day Landings on the Normandy beaches took place on June 6, 1944, led by 57,500 American soldiers, 58,815 Brits, 21,400 Canadians, and just 177 Frenchmen! A tiny but elite commando force the history books have long forgotten. [ might make a cool scenario ] https://france-amerique.com/en/the-177- ... -of-d-day/ <<<< INFO LINK

gunny wrote: ↑Thu Mar 19, 2020 8:49 pm The D-Day Landings on the Normandy beaches took place on June 6, 1944, led by 57,500 American soldiers, 58,815 Brits, 21,400 Canadians, and just 177 Frenchmen! A tiny but elite commando force the history books have long forgotten. [ might make a cool scenario ]

It would be a cool scenario, for sure.

And later, after the direct Landings, the Free French had committed up to several armoured divisions to help fight the Germans.

More info here (only in French ): https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arm%C3%A9 ... mbattantes
This link presents us as well two nice maps: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... uselang=fr (Rhine and Danube: 31 March - 18 April 1945) and https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... uselang=fr (Rhine and Danube: 19 April - 7 May 1945)... Another nice opportunity to make awesome scenarios.