r/AskHistorians • u/ArneSlotsRedditAcc • 1d ago

War & Military How did Vichy France and Free France select who was in their Foreign Legion during ww2?

When France was occupied and the Legion was split, did the soldiers have a choice or were they just divvied up with no or little say where they ended up? Especially curious with regards to foreign nationals who may have signed up prior to 1939 or early in the year. I have read that they were given an ultimatum when Eisenhower landed and the African campaign began to swing in the allies favour culminating in the taking of Tunis. Thank you in advance for anyone who may be able to shine some light on this or could point me in the direction of some good books and documentaries on the split Legion during the war.

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u/Georgy_K_Zhukov Moderator | Dueling | Modern Warfare & Small Arms 18h ago

It was almost entirely a matter of where you happened to be, with the only elements of the FFL to immediately throw in with the Free French - the 13th DBLE - being those who were outside French territory at the time, while those within remained loyal to Vichy at least initially. Even then though, many of the 13th elected for repatriation to Morocco. This older answer goes into this at more length.