1st Free French Brigade, 8th Army

[thedoctorking]

Just opened up the Torch to Tunisia scenario and I'm not seeing the 1st Free French Brigade, the heroes of Bir Hachiem and Himeimat Ridge. They were attached to 7th Armoured, so maybe they are hidden in there somewhere? Anyway, for guys with an avenue in Paris named after them, it would be nice if they featured by name in such a complex and granular game.

[Denniss]

I have no info on the Torch OOB but according to Wiki the three french brigades were merged to form the 1st mot div which appears as fully-equipped reinforcement unit some weeks after game start.

[JeffroK]

Found on an excellent Axis History Forum thread, translated from French so a bit garbled.(His English is better than my French!)
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic ... 4&start=15

I think it shows that 2 battalion sized units fought on the Mareth Line operations before returning to be part of the Division when formed.
- Period of november 30, 1942 to june 8, 1943
- the two Free French Lights Divisions (I think this s/be Brigades)stay five months near Gambut
- BIMP ( 1e Bataillon d'Infanterie de Marine et du Pacifique)in action with the VIIIth British Army joins the Leclerc's Column
in South of Tripoli (january 27, 1943). BIMP and Flying Column
participate at the Médéline's combats
- January 24, 1943 : BM4 joins the 2e DLFL
- February 1st, 1943 : the two DLFL are dissolved and the Premiere Division Française Libre is created (two Brigades) in addition to one
Brigade n°4 : Cl Raynal (creating in Tahag with volounteers of
French Somalia)
- April 18, 1943 : Operation " Vulcain" : Division leaves Gambut to Tunisia's Front
- May 1st, 1943 : First DFL in action in Zaghouan's mountains (1e BIMP rejoins the mai 7, 1943)
- May 10, 1943 : 1st Brigade in action in Djabel Garci, 2nd in Takrouna's village
- May 13, 1943 : Axis Force surrounder in Tunisia (300 000 men)
- May 20, 1943 : Allies in Tunis

[JeffroK]

L Force & the Free French Flying column which fought at Medenine & Mareth consisted of

L FORCE
http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/etexts/WH2B ... Bar16a.jpg
Two troops armoured cars
One squadron self-propelled guns
Eleven other guns of various types
Anti-tank regiment
Anti-aircraft guns
Two reconnaissance companies
Five lorried companies
One Greek squadron

FREE FRENCH FLYING COLUMN
Two armoured car squadrons
One tank company (11 Crusaders and 2 Shermans)
Two platoons infantry

It fought with the NZ Division but was part of 4 Armoured Bde.

http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarl ... 76-mention

http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/etexts/WH2B ... Bar16a.jpg

[thedoctorking]

My father was a part of that unit. An ambulance driver with the 1ère BFL from Bir Hachiem to Alamein, then the 1ère DFL, then transferred to the Régiment des Tirailleurs Sénégalais de Tchad. He was wounded in the last weeks of the Tunisian campaign, went to an American hospital in Algiers, and met my mom.

[Great_Ajax]

1re Brigade Francaise Libre is part of the 1st FF Motorized Division which was formed shortly after El Alamein.

L Force is in the scenario and the Free French Flying Column “Colonne Volante” is included as part of 4th Light Armoured Brigade's OB.

Trey

[Joel Billings]

ORIGINAL: thedoctorking

My father was a part of that unit. An ambulance driver with the 1ère BFL from Bir Hachiem to Alamein, then the 1ère DFL, then transferred to the Régiment des Tirailleurs Sénégalais de Tchad. He was wounded in the last weeks of the Tunisian campaign, went to an American hospital in Algiers, and met my mom.

Sounds like there's a movie in that story. [:)]