The maquis of Ain and Haut-Jura are groups of French resistance fighters and foreigners who operated and found refuge in the mountains and forests of Bugey and Haut-Jura during World War II.
These groups began to form as early as the beginning of 1943, when unpopularity towards the Vichy regime increased due to the forced requisition of workers for the compulsory work service. The organization in the form of camps is the work of Henri Romans-Petit who distributed these people in different isolated farms on the reliefs of Haut-Bugey. A military organization is set up, notably thanks to the creation of a cadre school in Montgriffon, in June 1943.
Several notable actions are carried out during the history of the maquis. The first large-scale ones are the seizures of the supply depots of the Youth Work Camps in Artemare then the Army supply in Bourg-en-Bresse in September 1943. The landmark event of the maquis of Ain and Haut-Jura is the organization of a parade on 11 November 1943 in Oyonnax by a troop of about two hundred maquisards, on the day marking the anniversary of the Armistice of 1918. The event is reported in the clandestine press as well as on London radio, offering the Resistance a concrete existence in the eyes of the French population and the Allies.
Considered terrorists, these groups are the target of strong repression. Initially, the objective of destroying the maquis is entrusted to Vichy forces: punctual and targeted operations take place regularly. In a second phase, from the end of 1943, faced with the growing power of the maquis, the Wehrmacht attempts to annihilate the maquisard camps. Several operations are carried out by the Germans in February, April and July 1944. Despite human and material losses, the resistance holds and sabotage takes place on road and rail communication axes to slow down the advance of German convoys. The department of Ain is liberated in September 1944, putting an end to the armed struggle of the department's maquisards.
History Creation Beginnings of resistance in Ain
The occupation of France by Nazi Germany during World War II led to the division of French territory into two parts subject to different legislations. Between June 1940 and November 1942, the department of Ain was included in the free zone under the Vichy regime,. except for Pays de Gex which was part of the forbidden zone. Laws were put in place as early as 4 October 1940 to place "foreigners of Jewish race" in French internment camps. As persecutions intensified towards the end of 1942, part of the population decided to assist the victims of these persecutions and formed the first groups of civil resistance.
As early as 1941, students from in Bourg-en-Bresse united to try to oppose the Vichy regime. In October, they formed a group of six people whose actions were the distribution of leaflets and clandestine newspapers. Other students joined the organization, which would count up to thirty members by the end of the year. The movement expanded thanks to boarders who created groups in their home communes of Pont-de-Vaux, Nantua, Bellegarde-sur-Valserine, Oyonnax and Belley. The group acquired the name "Forces unies de la jeunesse" in November 1942.
At the same time, the occupier set up the Relève, the purpose of which was to send French workers to Germany to participate in the Reich's war effort, in exchange for the promise of releasing prisoners of war. This workforce consisted of volunteers, who were promised good wages and good food. From the end of 1943, this voluntary participation was replaced by a "compulsory work service", commonly abbreviated . To escape it, many refractories decided to hide.
At the end of 1941, Henri Petit was engaged in the in Saint-Étienne. During the Christmas holiday, an independent resistant, , a market gardener-horticulturist from the commune of Ambérieu-en-Bugey, went there to visit his parents. The two men met and exchanged their views on the situation. Their common commitment led Henri Petit to discover the organization of the Resistance in the department of Ain. Marcel Demia told him about the young refractories he had placed in isolated farms and the difficulties he encountered in his organization. Henri Petit arrived in Ain at the end of 1942. and began to help STO refractories find refuge with local inhabitants. He also encouraged them to find work.
Establishment of camps
At the end of 1942, STO refractories were hidden in groups of two or three around the villages of Aranc, Montgriffon and Corlier. In Montgriffon, in January 1943, the number of refractories increased in the farm of Les Gorges to about twenty members. This abandoned and isolated farm was located at the bottom of a ravine, in the immediate vicinity of a large sloping meadow and a stream. The nearest hamlet was that of Résinand. The framework and military instruction organization set up in this camp, although less populated than other refuge camps, made it the first maquis camp.
To organize this first maquis camp in the department of Ain and manage the arrival of new refractories, the departmental leaders of the Secret Army sought a military leader through . None of the demobilized officers from the various regiments in the department or local Secret Army leaders came forward to carry out this mission. The regional directorate of the Mouvements unis de la Résistance was called upon and a meeting held in 1943 at the in Bourg-en-Bresse confirmed Henri Romans-Petit as leader of the maquis of Ain and Haut-Jura.
In May 1943, on Mont de l'Avocat near the commune of Izenave, gathered STO refractories and a few volunteers from the communes of Villereversure and Bourg-en-Bresse. The shelters were rudimentary and consisted of a few corrugated iron sheets recovered near regional agricultural operations as well as branches. This camp was nicknamed "Bir-Hakeim" and also became the refuge for four Spanish Republicans working on a farm. Supplies were provided by peasants from Izenave and the "Turc brothers" living in the commune of Corlier.
On the night of 9 to 10 June 1943, at the granges of Faysse between Aranc and Boyeux-Saint-Jérôme, Henri Romans-Petit organized the first meeting with the twenty people gathered on Mont de l'Avocat, with the aim of organizing the maquis. This place was designated to be the depot for clothing and supplies. Fearing discouragement on their part, he placed them in the farm of Les Gorges, following the advice of Marius Chavant, deputy mayor of the commune of Montgriffon. The latter had the advantage of being a geographical location favorable to the implementation of attack strategies. Lacking financial means to buy food, he let the others who had work stay with farmers or artisans while remaining in contact with them.
Development Training
In April 1943, Henri Romans-Petit created a cadre school at the farm of Les Gorges near Montgriffon. It was the first structure in the region intended to train maquisards. It was run by Pierre Marcault. and aimed to train the various maquis leaders. Henri Romans-Petit's wish was to recruit officers and non-commissioned officers from the demobilized Armistice Army to frame the camps. Applications were rare, as maquisards had a reputation as terrorists.
On 14 July 1943, many resistants gathered at the Terment farm to celebrate the national holiday despite the prohibition by the Vichy regime. The first maquis groups were thus formed and the graduates of the cadre school distributed in different camps in Granges, Cize, , Corlier and . These were Pierre Marcault, , then, later, in August 1943, Lieutenant and Aspirant who were active officers. The cadre school closed at the end of July 1943, but Pierre Marcault continued instruction at the Morez camp of which he was in charge.
Henri Romans-Petit quickly became the leader of the maquis organization and organized the different camps by limiting the number of occupants to sixty men. The regional deputy chief of the Secret Army, , as well as the president of the departmental directorate of the United Movements of the Resistance, René Greusard decided, during a meeting at the Buffet de la gare in Bourg-en-Bresse in August 1943, to confirm Henri Romans-Petit as leader of the maquis of Ain. He was tasked with placing under his authority the refractory camps that had formed spontaneously in the department.
In September 1943, to manage the flow of new arrivals and try to unmask possible infiltrators, new recruits were received at the Mont camp near Nantua, a so-called sorting center placed under the authority of Gabriel Even. From its creation, all maquis candidates passed through the sorting center. The objectives were to prevent the infiltration of militiamen into the maquis camps and to retain only men whose physical and mental capacities were sufficient. After validation of physical tests and interrogations, the selected men were directed to the various camps in the department.
The cadres distributed their tasks to the instruction of the young, which lasted a month and was to allow them to adapt to maquis life, but also to camp guard.
First actions
The first maquis groups were very poorly armed. Part of the armament came from the Résistance-Fer movement which received from the British army as early as 26 October 1942, stocks of explosives and weapons. The group needing only explosives to carry out their actions, the weapons were made available to the resistants of Ain, The first parachute drops of supplies and weapons intended for the maquis arrived from the beginning of 1943.
The first actions of the maquisards consisted of aid provided in particular to local populations or to resistants, a few armed engagements but also various sabotages against the Nazi occupier. These actions allowed recognition by the populations and an increase in recruitment. Henri Romans-Petit and his cadres set up a precise schedule where roles were clearly defined. In addition to guard duty and military instruction, daily physical exercises kept the men alert.
The railway stake was already known at the beginning of 1943. The first attacks against railway lines took place in spring 1943, they would multiply thereafter.
The first large-scale action carried out under the direction of Henri Romans-Petit was the seizure of the supply depot of the Youth Work Camps in Artemare on the night of 10 September 1943. The commando, after meticulous preparation and in a few minutes, took the uniforms that the maquisards would use during the 11 November 1943 parade. Eighteen days later, the maquisards attacked the Army supply in Bourg-en-Bresse. The operation was prepared by Henri Girousse, who had the idea of letting himself be locked in the warehouse one evening. He noted the location of the supplies to allow a quick maneuver the next day. On the evening of the operation, the ten tons of supplies were loaded in less than twenty minutes into the trucks.
Terrorism accusations Interventions of the and the French Militia From the summer of 1943, operations aimed at searching for refractories to the were carried out. The first was planned for 28 June 1943 on the Retord Plateau. The gendarmerie brigade of Nantua joined the departmental service of the Direction centrale des renseignements généraux of Ain and 72 mobile reserve guards (GMR). The gendarmes of Brénod were designated to serve as guides for the . But there was complicity between most of the gendarmes of the commune and the maquisards installed on the plateau. A strategy was put in place to avoid confrontation. The gendarmes guided the to the Gros-Turc farm which had been occupied by the maquis three months earlier. A fire was lit there to make believe that the premises were occupied, and during the approach of the gendarmes, a group was to fire in the air and cause the flight of the thinking they were outnumbered.