Editing Free France (section)

===Composition===
{{See also|French Equatorial Africa|French West Africa|French colonial empire}}
[[File:General De Gaulle inspecting sailors on the Free French ship LEOPARD at Greenock, 24 June 1942. A10354.jpg|thumb|left|Charles de Gaulle inspecting sailors on the Free French destroyer ''[[French destroyer Léopard|Léopard]]'' in June 1942]]
The Free French forces included men from the French Pacific Islands. Mainly coming from Tahiti, there were 550 volunteers in April 1941. They would serve through the North African campaign (including the [[Battle of Bir Hakeim]]), the [[Italian Campaign (World War II)|Italian Campaign]] and much of the Liberation of France. In November 1944, 275 remaining volunteers were repatriated and replaced with men of French Forces of the Interior to deal better with the cold weather.<ref name="ordredelaliberation.fr">{{Cite web | url=https://www.ordredelaliberation.fr/en/companions/les-unites-militaires/le-bataillon-d-infanterie-de-marine-et-du-pacifique | title=''Le bataillon d'infanterie de marine et du Pacifique'' |publisher=Museum of the Order of the Liberation | access-date=28 August 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180829035112/https://www.ordredelaliberation.fr/en/companions/les-unites-militaires/le-bataillon-d-infanterie-de-marine-et-du-pacifique | archive-date=29 August 2018 | url-status=live | df=dmy-all }}</ref>

The Free French forces also included 5,000 non-French Europeans, mainly serving in units of the [[French Foreign Legion|Foreign Legion]]. There were also escaped Spanish Republicans, veterans of the [[Spanish Civil War]]. In August 1944, they numbered 350 men.<ref name="France 1994, p. 590">[[Pierre Milza]]. ''Exils et migration: Italiens et Espagnols en France, 1938–1946'', L'Harmattan, 1994, p. 590</ref>
 
The ethnic composition of divisions varied. The main common difference, before the period of August to November 1944, was armoured divisions and armour and support elements within infantry divisions were constituted of mainly white French soldiers and infantry elements of infantry divisions were mainly made up of colonial soldiers. Nearly all NCOs and officers were white French. Both the [[French 2nd Division (World War II)|2e Division Blindée]] and [[French 1st Armoured Division|1er Division Blindée]] were made up of around 75% Europeans and 25% Mahgrebians, which is why the 2e Division Blindée was selected for the [[Liberation of Paris]].<ref name="The Independent">{{cite news |url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/liberation-of-paris-the-hidden-truth-434403.html |newspaper = [[The Independent]] |title = Liberation of Paris: The hidden truth |date = 31 January 2007 |access-date = 31 January 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090421232718/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/liberation-of-paris-the-hidden-truth-434403.html |archive-date = 21 April 2009 |url-status = live |df = dmy-all }}</ref> The [[5th Armored Division (France)|5e Division Blindée]] was almost entirely made up of white Frenchmen.

[[File:Egypt - Free French Forces. A patrol of Spahis passing through a palm grove.jpg|thumb|North African [[1st Spahi Regiment]] in Egypt, 1941]]
Records for the Italian campaign show that both the [[3rd Algerian Infantry Division]] and [[2nd Moroccan Infantry Division]] were made up of 60% Mahgrebians and 40% Europeans, while the [[4th Moroccan Infantry Division]] was made up of 65% Mahgrebians and 35% Europeans.<ref name="Paul Gaujac 2003, p.31">Paul Gaujac. ''Le Corps expéditionnaire français en Italie''. Histoire et collections, 2003. p. 31</ref> The three North African divisions had one brigade of North African soldiers in each division replaced with a brigade of French Forces of the Interior in January 1945.<ref>Brahim Senouci, Préface de Stéphane Hessel. ''Algérie, une mémoire à vif: Ou le caméléon albinos''. L'Harmattan, 2008, page 84</ref> Both the [[1st Free French Division]] and 9th Colonial Infantry Division contained a strong contingent of [[Tirailleurs Sénégalais]] brigades. The 1st Free French Division also contained a mixed brigade of French ''[[Troupes de marine]]'' and the Pacific island volunteers.<ref name="ordredelaliberation.fr"/> It also included the Foreign Legion Brigades. In late September and early October 1944, both the Tirailleurs Sénégalais brigades and Pacific Islanders were replaced by brigades of troops recruited from mainland France.<ref>Gilles Aubagnac. ''"Le retrait des troupes noires de la 1re Armée"''. ''Revue historique des armées'', no 2, 1993, p. 34-46.</ref> This was also when many new Infantry divisions (12 overall) began to be recruited from mainland France, including the 10th Infantry Division {{Weasel inline|text=and many Alpine Infantry Divisions.|date=February 2022}} The 3rd Armoured Division was also created in May 1945 but saw no combat in the war.

The Free French units in the [[Royal Air Force]], [[Soviet Air Force]], and British SAS were mainly composed of men from metropolitan France.

Before the addition of the assemblies of Northern Africa and the loss of the runaways who fled France and went to Spain in the spring of 1943 (10,000 according to Jean-Noël Vincent's calculations), a report by the major state general of the Free French Forces in London from October 30, 1942 records 61,670 combatants in the Army, of which 20,200 were from colonies and 20,000 were from the Levant's special troops (non-Free French forces).{{sfnp|Muracciole|2009|pp=34–35}}

In May 1943, citing the Joint Planning Staff, Jean-Louis Crémieux-Brilhac alludes to 79,600 men who constitute ground forces, including 21,500 men from special Syro-Lebanese troops, 2,000 men of color supervised by Free French Forces in northern Palestine, and 650 soldiers assigned to the general headquarters in London.{{sfnp|Crémieux-Brilhac|1996|p=548}}

[[File:Lieutenant Colonel Charles Vaughan, Commandant Commando Depot, inspecting French troops during a parade to mark Bastille Day at Achnacarry in Scotland, 17 July 1943. H31439.jpg|thumb|French commando troops undergoing training at [[Achnacarry|Achnacarry House]] in Scotland, 17 July 1943]]
According to the tally of Henri Écochard, an ex-Free French Forces serviceman, there were at least 54,500 soldiers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.charles-de-gaulle.org/media/la-memoire/organismes/liste-FFL.xls|title=Liste des volontaires des Forces françaises libres d'Henri Écochard|access-date=5 December 2020|archive-date=16 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616210645/http://www.charles-de-gaulle.org/media/la-memoire/organismes/liste-FFL.xls|url-status=dead}}.</ref>

In 2009, in his work on the Free French Forces, Jean-François Muracciole, a French historian specializing in Free France, reevaluated his count with that of Henri Écochard, while considering that Écochard's list had greatly underestimated the number of colonial combatants. According to Muracciole, between the creation of the Free French forces in the Summer 1940 and the merger with the Army of Africa in summer 1943, 73,300 men fought for Free France. This included 39,300 French (from metropolitan France and colonial settlers), 30,000 colonial soldiers (mostly from sub-Saharan Africa) and 3,800 foreigners. They were divided up as follows:{{sfnp|Muracciole|2009|p=36}}<ref>Voir les [http://www.france-libre.net/portraits/collectifs/liste-ffl.php différentes évaluations des FFL] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304032929/http://www.france-libre.net/portraits/collectifs/liste-ffl.php |date=4 March 2016 }}.</ref>

Army: 50,000;

Naval: 12,500;

Aviation: 3,200;

Communications in France: 5,700;

Free French Forces committees: 1,900.

General Leclerc's second armored division included two units of female volunteers: The Rochambeau Group with the Army (dozens of women) and the Woman Service of the Naval Fleet with the Navy (9 women). Their role consisted of administering first aid to the first line of injured soldiers (often to stop bleeding) before evacuating them by stretcher to ambulances and then driving these ambulances under enemy fire to care centers several kilometers behind the lines.<ref>{{cite web|title=Les Filles de la DB|url=http://www.marinettes-et-rochambelles.com/|website=www.marinettes-et-rochambelles.com|access-date=2018-10-24}}</ref>

The following anecdote by [[Pierre Clostermann]]<ref>Pierre Clostermann, ''Une vie pas comme les autres'', éd. Flammarion, 2005.</ref> suggests the spirit of the times in the Free French Forces; a commander reproaches one of Clostermann's comrades for having yellow shoes and a yellow sweater under his uniform, to which the comrade responds: "My Commander, I am a civilian who voluntarily came to fight the war that the soldiers don't want to fight!"