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The French Resistance Medals, 1939-1945 (La Résistance Française)
Welcome to our illustrated guides on French medals. We have compiled them from actual examples from our collection, the aim being to make it easier to identify the different models of each individual award, as well as giving details of when each medal was instituted. As time permits, we will be adding further categories to cover more areas of interest.
This collection is for the Second World War (World War 2) medals of the Resistance and the people who were interned or deported.
The French Resistance (La Résistance Française) were small groups of armed men & women, known in the countryside as the Maquis, who undertook acts of sabotage & guerrilla warfare against the occupying powers. They also played an important role in helping allied soldiers & airmen who had become trapped behind enemy lines. The allied invasions in Normandy & Provence were significantly assisted by the Resistance’s gathering of military intelligence on the German defences as well as direct action on the electrical power grid, transportation facilities and telecommunications networks. Their estimated strength at the time of D-Day was in the region of 100,000 members.
Many members were killed in their endeavours to help both their own country and the Allies, torture often being used by not only the German Gestapo, but also by the Vichy paramilitary group, the Milice (militia), which had close collaborative ties with the Nazis. After France was liberated in June 1944, the French executed many of the Miliciens for their collaboration.
We hope you enjoy this collection of medals.
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Medal of the Resistance (Médaille de la Résistance)
The medal was created on 9 February 1943 by ordinance of the Comité National Français to recognise the ‘remarkable acts of faith and courage which, in France, in Europe and abroad contribute to the resistance of the French people against the enemy and his accomplices since 18 June 1940’. The date 18 June 1940 is that of the famous appeal by General de Gaulle to the French People.
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Medal of the Resistance, Officer (Médaille de la Résistance, Officier)
Identical to the medal above but with the Rosette on the ribbon denoting the Officer of the Medal of the Resistance.
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Cross of the Volunteer Combatant of the Resistance (Croix du Combattant Volontaire de la Résistance)
The Cross was created on 15 April 1954 to recognise those who participated for a minimum of three months prior to 6 June 1944 in one of the combatant resistance groups and was attributed by a National Commission attached to the Ministry of Former Combatants.
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Medal for Deportees and Interned Resisters (Médaille des Déportés et Internés Résistants), 1939-1945 with ‘Interne’ bar
The medal was instituted on 6 August 1948 to be awarded to those who qualified as internees for acts of resistance. On 6 January 1955, an amendment allowed its award for similar acts during World War I.
Stripes on ribbon vertical for Deportees
Stripes on ribbon diagonal for Internees
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Medal for Deportees and Interned Resisters (Médaille des Déportés et Internés Résistants), 1939-1945
The medal was instituted on 6 August 1948 to be awarded to those who qualified as deportees for acts of resistance. On 6 January 1955, an amendment allowed its award for similar acts during World War I.
Stripes on ribbon vertical for Deportees
Stripes on ribbon diagonal for Internees
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Medal of Deportation and Internment, on Internees’ ribbon with Internees bar (Médaille de la Déportation et de l’Internement, sur le ruban des Internés avec barrette ‘Interné), 1940-1945
The medal was instituted on 9 September 1948 to recognise those interned for political reasons during World War II and could only be awarded to those in possession of a Political Internees card. In 1955, the award of the medal was extended to those who had suffered a similar fate during World War I.
Stripes on ribbon vertical for Deportees
Stripes on ribbon diagonal for Internees
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Medal of Deportation and Internment, on Deportees’ ribbon with Deportees bar (Médaille de la Déportation et de l’Internement, sur le ruban des Deportees avec barrette ‘Deporté), 1940-1945
The medal was instituted on 9 September 1948 to recognise those deported for political reasons during World War II and could only be awarded to those in possession of a Political Deportees card. In 1955, the award of the medal was extended to those who had suffered a similar fate during World War I.
Stripes on ribbon vertical for Deportees
Stripes on ribbon diagonal for Internees
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Medal of the Resister (Médaille du Réfractaire)
The medal was instituted on 21 October 1963 to honour those French citizens who were conscripted by the Service du Travail Obligatoire (Compulsory Labour Service) and forced to work in Germany.
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Medal for the Resistant Patriots of the Rhine and Moselle (Médaille du Patriotes Résistant à l’Occupation du Rhin et de la Moselle), 1939-1945
The medal, together with the more commonly-found Medal for the Proscribed Patriot (Médaille du Patriot Proscrit), was created on 27 December 1954 to be awarded to French residents of Alsace-Lorraine who resisted the annexation of the two departments by the German Third Reich in 1940.
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Medal for the Proscribed Patriot (Médaille du Patriot Proscrit), 1939-1945
The medal was created on 27 December 1954 to be awarded to French residents of Alsace-Lorraine arrested and interned in camps after the annexation of the two departments by the German Third Reich in 1940. Recipients were required to be in possession of a Patriot Proscrit card attributed by an Inter-departmental Commission.
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Medal of Liberated France (Médaille de la France Libérée)
The medal was created by the decrees of 12 September and 7 October 1947 to be awarded to the returning Free French and Allied forces who had made a notable contribution to the liberation of France.
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Medal for Voluntary Service in Free France (Médaille des Services Volontaires dans la France Libre)
The medal was created on 4 April 1946 to ‘commemorate the voluntary service rendered by civil and military French and foreigners who engaged in the Free French Forces prior to 1 August 1943 or served Free France effectively, whether in the territories under the authority of the National Committee in London or in foreign countries before 3 June 1943’. The medal was awarded to Free French forces, including legionnaires and colonial forces in North Africa who engaged Rommel’s Afrika Korps.
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Franco-British Cross of Honour (Croix d’Honneur Franco-Britannique) 1940-1944
The award was originally created by the Association Amicale Franco-Britannique in 1933 to reward work in fostering closer relations between the two countries. This version of the Cross was awarded to Free French forces and members of the French Resistance for outstanding acts whilst based in, or supported from, Britain during World War II.
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Franco-British Cross of Honour, Officer (Croix d’Honneur Franco-Britannique, Officier) 1940-1944
Identical to the medal above but with the Rosette on the ribbon denoting an Officer of the award.
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Medal of the National Federation of Combatant Prisoners of War (FNCPG), with barbed wire bar (Médaille de la Fédération Nationale des Combattants Prisonniers de Guerre (FNCPG), avec barette de barbelés)
The Federation was founded on 5 April 1945 and adopted its charter on 8 August 1945 but had its origins in the centres set up to help former prisoners of war and their families even before the full liberation of France, especially by the Mouvement National des Prisonniers de Guerre et Déportés (MNPGD), a clandestine organisation through which liberated or escaped prisoners of war made an important contribution to the French Resistance.
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Medal of Honour of the Groupings of Combatant Resisters and Medics of the Liberation (Médaille d’Honneur des Groupements de Résistants Combattants et Sanitaires de la Libération)
The medal was awarded after the end of World War II by the Resistance Movement to those who had been active as combatants or front-line medics in the French Resistance in occupied France during the war. The medal is rare.
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Medal for the Liberation of Metz with ‘Metz’ bar (Médaille de la Libération de Metz avec sa barrette ‘Metz’), 1944
The medal was instituted by the Conseil Municipal of the city of Metz on 12 December 1944 to be awarded to Free French and American (Third Army under Lieutenant General George Patton) soldiers and members of the French Resistance units who were combatants in the operations to liberate the city between 1 September and 25 December 1944. The medal is rare.
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Medal of Recognition for the Victims of the Invasion (Médaille aux Victimes de l'Invasion), 1914-1918
The medal was instituted on 30 June 1921 to be awarded in recognition of those taken hostage, held as political prisoners, made homeless, deported or otherwise subjected to brutal treatment as a result of the German invasion. The medal is rarely found.
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