RE: SOUTH OF FRANCE/ITALIAN OCCUPATION Writing a short story - any help with research very gratefull

Hello,

I'm writing a short fictional story as a surprise for my partner, who is presently a pilot in the RAF. Despite it being fiction, I'm very keen to be absolutely factually and historically accurate, and I would be so grateful if anyone would be willing to correct or confirm my ideas, as I'm concerned that they could be rather far fetched!

The story is based during WWII in the South of France, and I have a number of questions.

1) Was Nice occupied by the Italians for the entire duration of the war?
2) What was the situation like in Nice and the surrounding areas for the French; eg their daily lives?
3) Was there a resistance movement in Nice/the local area?
4) Did the British have any interest in that particular part of France?
5) How easy and/or likely could it have been for British troops to parachute into that area?
6) If this was possible, what sort of plane would have been used to parachute from, and where would it have come from (eg what would have been the nearest Allied airbase)
7) Could a single British plane have flown over that area at night (hypothetically speaking) and gone undetected?
8) What was the relationship between the Italians and the Germans in Nice/surrounding areas? Who was in charge, were Jewish people in that area also persecuted, and what were the attitudes of the local government/police - to whom were they sympathetic? (I read that the police in Monaco were instructed by the Crown Prince to tip people off when the Gestapo were coming, which is why I ask specifically)

I have found it very difficult to get much of a sense of the experience of the war in that part of France from general internet research, so any knowledge any of you may have would be extremely welcome.

Thanking you all in advance!

 

Thank you so much for such a speedy response! I've downloaded the book and had a provisional skim through; it does appear to be largely focussed on US activity within Italy specifically towards the end of the war, rather than life within the South Eastern corner of France for the duration of the war.

I will continue reading, however, and if you have any other suggestions as to where I can get some answers to my questions, then please do let me know!

Thanks again

 

We have at least one regular contributer from Italy. If the thread title had refered to Italy or southern France I suspect he would already have responded. I'll drop him a PM.

 

Thank you! I hadn't thought to do that but have now edited my title.

 

The Italians also had a Naval Base in Bordeaux and even issued their own stamps there (I have a set in my collection ) . Their aim was to have an access, may it be symbolic to the Atlantic. It is a little known fact ,but they hung around there from 1940 to 1943 (I don't know about 1944).

About the Nice (nizza ) aera , the Italians were at Menton and i sometimes find italian Militaria at flea markets there.

Also they occupied corsica , but they had a hard time with the Corsicans didn't like them .

Nice was a wealthy area for rich Frenchmen and even British tourists. The name French Riviera comes from the English influence there when they went to Palaces like the Negresco and made place like the Boulevard des Anglais Popular. There were many Jewish refugees there too , mainly awaiting visas to go to the USA (from 1940 to 1941) . I have a 1939 dated postcard which was written by a Jewish Austrian internee in the north of France to a friend in Nice. The one in Nice made it to the USA. When the Germans arrived in the north of France in 1940 , they captured the Austrian refugee, I don't know what happened to him . I doubt he survived.

 

IMO For southern France you must consider four "periods"
- From the French surrender in 1940 to November 1942 southern France was a officially a neutral with it's own govermnent (Vichy) so while there may have been axis influence it had some degree of idependence.
- In November 1942 Vichy was invaded by the axis, AFAIK there were Italian troops in southern France (though I don't remember any division or larger unit stationed there, have to look it up) and the Italians made a big effort at salvaging French warships scuttled at Toulon. IIRC Corsica was occupied by Italian forces (Emergenza C2) not Germans.
- After the Italian armistice in September 1943 all Italian forces were disarmed by the Germans (including Betasomm in Bordeaux). AFAIK no RSI forces were stationed in France
- In August 1944 the allied landings (Anvil-Dragoon) put an end to the occupation.
- There were some clashes between RSI units and french troops as the Fench tried to advance in the Alps in the later stages of the war.


The situation for the Jews probably got gradually worse as the Germans got more power but it was already bad even with Vichy.
Before the liberation of Corsica in September 1943 only very long ranged planes like the Sunderland could make it to the area flying out of either Malta or Gibraltar (long way to go), the Germans probably brought some radar and night fighters with them but I don't think Vichy had any though IIRC there was a heavy/night fighter unit based in Sardinia (so along the route of Malta based planes).

 

...you don't mention if you read French - here's a link to a pdf file comprising a collection of documents from the French National Archives dealing with 'repression' in the south of France eg details of a public hanging in Nice etc (page 44)

http://www.archivesnationales.culture.gouv.fr/chan/chan/musee/dossier-repression.pdf

 

Here is a great article about Menton during the war

http://www.cg06.fr/cms/cg06/upload/decouvrir-les-am/fr/files/rr75-1981-01.pdf