Didn't Ernest Hemingway claim to have beat the French into Paris with a jeepload of his pals?charles adams wrote:The only reason I thought of US is because an Amei Inf Div was on the outskirts and was told to stop awaiting the arrival of the French troops. American recon patrols had been inside Paris, how far I don't know and as officialy it didn't happen I doubt we will ever really know.
The official AHF Allies & Neutral States quiz thread
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Michael Emrys
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Re: Troops in Paris
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charles adams
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Hemingway
Hemingway was OSS during the war. He did claim and there is a lot of evidence to back him up that he, his OSS team and the FFI group that he was working with went to Paris to help with the liberation of the city. HOWEVER he never claimed to have liberated or had the capibility to liberate the city.
There was a US Inf Div that was on the outskirts of the city that could have gotten the job done a lot quicker than it was. The division was told to halt by Ike as a result of a demand by De Gaulle(sp) that the troops to liberate the city had to be French. Before the French (2nd Armord, I think) were even alerted an American Armored Div also arrived and were also ordered to stop. Because of this order a lot of civilians died.
Before my wife died her best friend's mother was a member of the FFI and took part in the battle for Paris. She was a messenger and it was her job to carry messages back and forth all over Paris and the surrounding towns under the noses of the Nazis. After word reached FFI headquarters in Paris that American troops were just outside the city she was sent with a note from the Commandant pleading for the Americans to come in and give them much needed support. Evette carried the reply back. The reply to the note was that De Gaulle was sending French troops and they were just to hold on. Evette made four more round trips thru the lines each message begging for help in the form of men weapons, ammo and medical assistance. Each time the answer was offically NO because of De Gualle.
The American troops finally received permission to conduct light recon patrols and were ordered to be ready to move as soon as the French entered the city. Several unit commanders inturppreted their orders a little to liberaly. A corridor was final shot through the German lines that allowed supply and medivacs. The Americans "Reconed" a rather large portion of the NW side of the city clearing out the German forces other than some snipers.
Evette led a "Recon Patrol" consisting of a full rifle company backed by its Battalion and Regimental slice and a platoon of tanks to within 4 blocks of the city center. They assisted the FFI in clearing out the Germans and provided security for the cleared areas. Only after the French started driving into the city the the Americans offically entered. According to her some 40 Amercians were killed and 30 more wounded on this "Patrol"
Another point of interest. Evette said that a 10 in 1 contained the first real meat that she had eaten in over a year. Food especaily meat was and had been very scarce in Paris for almost a year. Many people mainly the poor had to resort to eating dogs, cat and such rodents as they could catch. Most families considered themselves lucky it they had meat once a month and it was usually dog or cat. She blamed the SS, Gestopo, the Vichy and collaberators for funneling the meat to their own uses and to Germany. The restraunts that catered to the Germans(senior officers and administers) were seldom short of anything it the price was right.
There was a US Inf Div that was on the outskirts of the city that could have gotten the job done a lot quicker than it was. The division was told to halt by Ike as a result of a demand by De Gaulle(sp) that the troops to liberate the city had to be French. Before the French (2nd Armord, I think) were even alerted an American Armored Div also arrived and were also ordered to stop. Because of this order a lot of civilians died.
Before my wife died her best friend's mother was a member of the FFI and took part in the battle for Paris. She was a messenger and it was her job to carry messages back and forth all over Paris and the surrounding towns under the noses of the Nazis. After word reached FFI headquarters in Paris that American troops were just outside the city she was sent with a note from the Commandant pleading for the Americans to come in and give them much needed support. Evette carried the reply back. The reply to the note was that De Gaulle was sending French troops and they were just to hold on. Evette made four more round trips thru the lines each message begging for help in the form of men weapons, ammo and medical assistance. Each time the answer was offically NO because of De Gualle.
The American troops finally received permission to conduct light recon patrols and were ordered to be ready to move as soon as the French entered the city. Several unit commanders inturppreted their orders a little to liberaly. A corridor was final shot through the German lines that allowed supply and medivacs. The Americans "Reconed" a rather large portion of the NW side of the city clearing out the German forces other than some snipers.
Evette led a "Recon Patrol" consisting of a full rifle company backed by its Battalion and Regimental slice and a platoon of tanks to within 4 blocks of the city center. They assisted the FFI in clearing out the Germans and provided security for the cleared areas. Only after the French started driving into the city the the Americans offically entered. According to her some 40 Amercians were killed and 30 more wounded on this "Patrol"
Another point of interest. Evette said that a 10 in 1 contained the first real meat that she had eaten in over a year. Food especaily meat was and had been very scarce in Paris for almost a year. Many people mainly the poor had to resort to eating dogs, cat and such rodents as they could catch. Most families considered themselves lucky it they had meat once a month and it was usually dog or cat. She blamed the SS, Gestopo, the Vichy and collaberators for funneling the meat to their own uses and to Germany. The restraunts that catered to the Germans(senior officers and administers) were seldom short of anything it the price was right.
SiG I wrote:Given the nationality of the poster I would guess they weren't just veterans of the Spanish Civil War but more exactly Basque veterans. Many of them were forced to flee Spain after the nationalist victory and they probably settled in France.
Am I right?
Absolutely!!!
Some of the leading tanks (keeping aside the discussion of the whereabouts of the decision to make the french the "forcefully" liberators of their capital) were manned by Spanish and Basque veterans of the civil war. As you know, the French used to christen their tanks and AFVs with names of locations of differents battles of their past. Some of those tanks were named "Guadalajara", "Gernika"... not too French, are they?
Greetings from a Basque to a Romanian.
Being honest I will give half a correct answer to Necros and Sig I.
Who's giving us the next question?
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Aufklarung
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Did somebody say "Google"?
regards
A
?ww2aircraft wrote:...flying in defence of Chartres area until June 16...
regards
A
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Aufklarung
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Damn you, Basajaun. Now I'm eating Bananas and drinking Vodka!! 
Ok
I'm a large Allied ship (Launched 1936).
I was fatally hit on a memorable June day.
I was ultimately sunk by a submarine.
Another ship of a different class had it's originally-designated name changed to mine after I was sunk.
What was my replacements' original name?
Hint# That name was finally used (ship X launched 1944) and used recently (1998) on a modern ship that looks alot like the original and replacement.
confused?
regards
A
Ok
I'm a large Allied ship (Launched 1936).
I was fatally hit on a memorable June day.
I was ultimately sunk by a submarine.
Another ship of a different class had it's originally-designated name changed to mine after I was sunk.
What was my replacements' original name?
Hint# That name was finally used (ship X launched 1944) and used recently (1998) on a modern ship that looks alot like the original and replacement.
confused?
regards
A
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Aufklarung
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- Location: Canada