Evening star., 1944-05-21
Highly Organized Secret Army Signal Rise in Force

tain gorges where thousands Of men
can remain in complete concealment.
This area is we'll known to thousands
of American soldiers of the last war
who spent leaves at the big Army rest
center at Aix-les-Bains.
The men of the maquis have orders
not to engage in face-to-face fighting
with the occupying troops, owing to
the obvious disadvantages of equipment
and numbers under which they would
find themselves. They are taught to
ambush the enemy, infiict such losses
as they can, and fade away. Watch
must be kept around the camps "a
hours day, for the Germans now are
making large sweeps through the
French countryside to clean out the
maquis groups before an Allied landing.
When the long heralded invasion
starts 1t is the plan of the maquisards
to disrupt enemy supply and communi-
cation lines. This is work which nor
mally would be done by parachutists.
The men of the maquis should be able
to carry it out much better, due to their
intimate knowledge of the countryside.
The Secret Army of France.
Occasionally, when there are German
raids, they must fight rear guard ac-
tions to enable as many of their men
as possible to escape. It is in con-
nection with such ARRAYS that they
most frequently are mentioned in news
dispatches. When they are cornered
they know how to make the enemy
pay heavily for his victory. Enemy
aviation, fame throwers, field artillery
have been brought into action against
maquis camps in the Haute Savoie.
The Germans now shoot all maquisards
they can lay hands on. They are or
dered to take no prisoners.
The maquisards are aged from 18 to
60, with the younger men naturally
greatly in the majority. They are the
vanguard of the secret army of France
AS of1cially a part of the French
Army as the divisions now serving in
Italy or under intensive training in
North Africa. They are in close touch
not only with London but with the
Committee for National Liberation at
Algiers Some Of them have been sent
out OF France, chosen by their COM
rades to represent the various branches
OF the Resistance movement in the con-
sultative assembly at Algiers.
Maquisard Hero.
Philippe Henriot Simon, aged "a. il
described here as a quite typical ma
quisard. He has just been awarded
posthumously the Order of Liberation.
the highest French decoration of this
war, which corresponds to the Ameri-
can Congressional Medal. He was the
leader OF one of the most intrepid
groups in the Haute Savoie.
The medal was accompanied by the
following citation: A magnificent leader
OF the Resistance, he continued the
battle without interruption from June,
1910. He was made prisoner and es-
capped three times. He created and
led group which was legendary in
the Haute Savoie for its daring and
It's sense Of honor. On December %,
ls43, he killed three Germans who were
trying to arrest him, one Of them g.
major. He was seriously wounded in
the course of this encounter, but never
theless did not cease to lead his group
in the struggle against traitors, mi
ltiamen, agents of the Gestapo and
German troops.
In the course of an action during
the last days of January he was
wounded once again, made prisoner
and taken away with three bullets in
his stomach under guard of As Ger
man soldiers. His group tried to re-
lease him when he was already in a
coma. The Germans had been warned
OF the attempt, and captured and exc
cuted IA out of Is on the spot. Simon
a hero who fell on the field of honor
was an incarnation of the inf1exible
spirit of the Resistance movement.
Rigid Membership Qualifications,
When man joins up in Frances
great hidden army of the maauis" it
is like joining secret society with very
rigid membership qualifications
He swears a solemn oath to cut him