Division Leclerc: The Leclerc Column and Free French 2nd Armored Division, 1940–1946 (Elite)

"General Leclerc" was the__nom de guerre__adopted by the Gaullist officer Philippe de Hautcloque, to protect his family in occupied France. He became France's foremost fighting commander, and his armored division (the '2e DB') its most famous formation. Starting as a small scratch force of mostly African troops organized and led by Leclerc in French Equatorial Africa, it achieved early success raiding Italian and German positions in cooperation with Britain's Long Range Desert Group. Following the Allied victory in North Africa it was expanded and reorganized as a US Army-style armored division, with American tanks and other armored vehicles. Shipped to the UK, in spring 1944, it was assigned to Patton's US Third Army, landing in time for the Normandy breakout and being given the honor of liberating Paris in August 1944. Combining a thorough analysis of their combat and organization with detailed color plates of their uniforms and equipment, this is the fascinating story of Free France's most effective fighting force. The most famous division in the Free French Forces during World War II was the 2ème Division Blindée (2 DB), commanded by the legendary General Philippe de Hautcloque under his nom de guerre "Leclerc." While his command was given that designation only in 1943, its original nucleus--the "Leclerc Column"--had already been fighting in Africa since Leclerc rallied a few hundred volunteers to General de Gaulle's banner in August 1940. In July 1944 these desert veterans led the enlarged and better equipped 2 DB to Normandy for the breakout battle fought by Patton's Third Army. In late August the division liberated Paris, trading shells with German Panzers in the central boulevards; in September it won a remarkable tank battle in Lorraine; and in November it infiltrated through the Vosges hills to liberate Strasbourg on France's eastern border. The last days of the war found the division's forward elements at Berchtesgarden, Hitler's mountain refuge. This book recounts the story all the way from Leclerc's escape to London in 1940 to his sighning of Japan's surrender document on behalf of France in 1945. It is illustrated with rare photographs, and with eight new plates of color artwork detailing AFV markings, uniforms, and insignia--back cover 'General Leclerc'was the nom de guerre adopted by the Gaullist officer Philippe de Hautcloque, to protect his family in occupied France. He became France's foremost fighting commander, and his armored division (the'2e DB') its most famous formation. Starting as a small scratch force of mostly African troops organised and led by Leclerc in French Equatorial Africa, it achieved early success raiding Italian and German positions in co-operation with Britain's Long Range Desert Group. Following the Allied victory in North Africa it was expanded and reorganised as a US Army-style armoured division, with American tanks and other armoured vehicles. Shipped to the UK, in spring 1944, it was assigned to Patton's US Third Army, landing in time for the Normandy breakout and being given the honour of liberating Paris in August 1944. Combining a thorough analysis of their combat and organisation with detailed colour plates of their uniforms and equipment, this is the fascinating story of Free France's most effective fighting force. "General Leclerc" was the nom de guerre adopted by the Gaullist officer Philippe de Hautcloque, to protect his family in occupied France. He became France's foremost fighting commander, and his armored division (the '2e DB') its most famous formation. Starting as a small scratch force of mostly African troops organized and led by Leclerc in French Equatorial Africa, it achieved early success raiding Italian and German positions in cooperation with Britain's Long Range Desert Group. Following the Allied victory in North Africa it was expanded and reorganized as a US Army-style armored division, with American tanks and other armored vehicles. Shipped to the UK, in spring 1944, it was assigned to Patton's US Third Army, landing in time for the Normandy breakout and being given the honor of liberating Paris in August 1944. Combining a thorough analysis of their combat and organization with detailed color plates of their uniforms and equipment, this is the fascinating story of Free France's most effective fighting force.