The November 11, 1943 parade in Oyonnax is one of the most emblematic actions in the history of the Ain and Haut-Jura maquis and the French Resistance. During the Second World War, when the government of Marshal Philippe Pétain banned all ceremonies commemorating the 1918 armistice, the maquis leaders decided to ignore the ban and organize a parade through the streets of Oyonnax, in the occupied zone. The maquis suffered reprisals, and the town's mayor and one of his deputies were subsequently shot. The event was quickly publicized, notably on December 31, 1943, in a forged issue of Le Nouvelliste. The Anglo-Saxon press relayed the information, while Emmanuel d'Astier de La Vigerie himself informed Winston Churchill. It was this parade that convinced him of the need to arm the French Resistance.
After the war, Oyonnax was awarded the Resistance medal, which appears under its coat of arms.
Preparations November 11, 1943, marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of the 1918 Armistice. The French state, under the government of Marshal Philippe Pétain, banned all ceremonies commemorating the Allied victory over the German Empire. Despite the ban, leaders of the domestic Resistance decided to lay wreaths at the foot of several war memorials. The leader of the Ain maquis, Captain Henri Romans-Petit, then organized a parade to counter the image of terrorists that Marshal Pétain wanted to give the maquisards.
Tactics to deceive the occupying forces The Mouvements unis de la Résistance had called for demonstrations in several towns on November 11, 1943, laying a wreath at the Monuments aux Morts bearing the inscription “Les vainqueurs de demain à ceux de 14-18” (“Tomorrow's victors to those of 14-18”). Romans Petit, departmental leader of the Secret Army and Maquis de l'Ain, decided to go one step further and parade his maquisards in arms. The location was kept secret. The M.U.R. departmental office was not notified until the day before. Wreath-laying ceremonies are held in Bourg-en-Bresse, Nantua, Ambérieu-en-Bugey, Bellegarde, Belley, Meximieux, Hauteville, Virieu-le-Grand, Cormoranche, Montréal, Seyssel, Grièges and Saint-Rambert-en-Bugey. The inscription “Les vainqueurs de demain à ceux de 14-18” (“Tomorrow's victors to those of 14-18”) appears on each of these wreaths. In Nantua, there is also a parade of almost 300 people, ending with the singing of La Marseillaise.
The town of Oyonnax was chosen because of the intense activity of the local secret army. The demonstration was prepared by Noël Perrotot, Élie Deschamps, and Gabriel Jeanjacquot, all three Oyonnaxiens who knew the town well. Two men were charged with securing and neutralizing the town. They were Henri Girousse and Édouard Bourret, who obtained the support of the police commissioner and the gendarmerie captain, as well as the neutralization of the telephone exchange.
Uniforms and weapons The maquisards were each dressed in a leather jacket, green breeches, belt, and beret. These uniforms were taken from the first major action carried out by the maquis under the leadership of Henri Romans-Petit: the capture of the Chantiers de la Jeunesse supply depot in Artemare, on the night of September 10, 1943.
In order to present the image of a well-organized troop, and thus ensure the uniformity of their weaponry, some maquisards paraded with fake wooden “Sten” machine pistols they had made themselves.
The November 11, 1943 parade
Around midday on November 11th, some two hundred maquisards from the Ain and Haut-Jura regions, under the command of Colonel Henri Romans-Petit, took possession of the town of Oyonnax. They marched to the war memorial, to the sound of the bugle, with the French flag at the head. They laid a wreath in the shape of a Lorraine cross bearing the inscription:Tomorrow's victors to those of 14-18. During the parade, security is provided by masked maquisards. These are Oyonnaxiens charged with watching the crowd for any militiamen or collaborators. The mask, a white cloth with two holes for the eyes, slipped under the beret, served to conceal the identity of the maquisards in order to avoid reprisals against their relatives living in the commune.
After a minute's silence, and a Marseillaise sung with the crowd, they set off again, singing “Vous n'aurez pas l'Alsace et la Lorraine” (You won't have Alsace and Lorraine) as they joined the trucks taking them back to their camps in Montagne.
Simultaneous actions On the same day, a wreath bearing the same inscription - “Tomorrow's victors to those of 14-18” - was also laid at the war memorials in Nantua, Belley, Hauteville, Meximieux, Seyssel and Saint-Rambert-en-Bugey.
In Bourg-en-Bresse, before sunrise, the sector's maquis leader, André Levrier, and his companions went to the plinth where a bust of Edgar Quinet had stood before it was taken away by the Germans, and set up a bust of Marianne stamped with the letters “RF”, for République française, and a French flag with a Lorraine cross. At the same time, a group went to the war memorial to lay the gerbe. When this was discovered, the Germans had everything removed.
Consequences of the parade
Media consequences An eminently symbolic and media event, the November 11, 1943, parade in Oyonnax had a major impact in France and abroad. The event was covered by André Jacquelin (text and photos), the only journalist from the Ain maquis. A film was also shot by maquisard Raymond Jaboulay, son of Henry Jaboulay.
André Jacquelin's report was published in the December 1943 issue of Bir Hakeim, “a monthly Republican newspaper published in spite of the Gestapo, in spite of the slave-owner-gauleiter Laval and the Vichy government”.
The event was also reported on December 31, 1943, in a forged issue of Le Nouvelliste, a collaborationist Lyonnais daily (banned from publication after the war for collaboration). Produced by the Mouvements unis de la Résistance and with a print run of 30,000 copies, this newspaper was distributed between 5 and 7 a.m. at newsstands and newsagents in Lyon by Groupes Francs de la Résistance lyonnaise, the real copies being confiscated on the grounds of censorship.
Contributors to this apocryphal, unsigned issue included Marcel Grancher and Pierre Scize, Henry Jaboulay, possibly Eugène Pons, Yves Farge and Jacques Bergier. The articles and photographs were published in the Anglo-Saxon press, notably by the New York Times.
Reprisals The Vichy government received a report from the intelligence services on November 13, 1943, which stated:[...] this day of November 11, 1943, determines quite exactly how little regard is paid to the present government [...] It seems useful to note, with regard to the incidents in Oyonnax, the strong impression made on the population of this town by the parade of the “Jeunes du maquis”. [...] Faced with the political events that are shaking up our territory and our empire, some people are not ruling out the possibility, in the near future, of a swift restoration of order, thanks to these cohorts led by specifically French officers.
- Report from the Direction Centrale des Renseignements Généraux, November 13, 1943.Fearing that the maquisards would attract public sympathy, the government decided to carry out two successive repressive actions in the Haut-Bugey region. The first mobilized a 500-strong group of reserve mobile groups (GMR) on November 18, 1943, to attack the Granges camp. However, the only route to the farm was difficult to access, and return fire forced the troops to retreat to retreat. A second attack was planned with 1,500 GMR. One of the maquis leaders who organized the November 11th parade, Élie Deschamps, learned that some GMR leaders feared this new attack against the maquis, as they estimated its strength at a thousand men. However, there were only 90 men at the Granges farm at the time of the first attack. Élie Deschamps contacts an officer of the Garde Mobile, whom he calls Vincent. Vincent was in charge of the troops attacking the farm. The two men reached an agreement: the camp would be evacuated at the time of the attack. The GMR will then be able to recover a weapon and underground newspapers as proof of their victory. The Germans were not fooled by the GMR's ineffectiveness, so they decided to organize a roundup to dissuade the population from helping the maquis. The roundup took place in Nantua, where they indiscriminately arrested 120 men aged between 18 and 40, including schoolchildren. They were sent to Compiègne and then to the Buchenwald concentration camp. Doctor Émile Mercier, denounced as the leader of the Secret Army's Ain sector C5Note 1, was taken in tow by the Sipo/Sd. He was shot at Maillat.
Political consequences A few weeks later, the Anglo-Saxon press reported on the parade. In London, Emmanuel d'Astier de La Vigerie himself informed Winston Churchill. It was the November 11, 1943 parade in Oyonnax that is said to have convinced Winston Churchill of the need to arm the French Resistance. Other consequences of the parade occurred in the following months: Oyonnax mayor Paul Maréchal and his deputy Auguste Sonthonnax were shot in December 1943. Oyonnax was rewarded for its attitude and enthusiasm with the Resistance medal beneath its coat of arms.
Parade participants Parade participants included maquis leaders and men from the Morez and Corlier camps. The organization of the parade is described below. +(Groupe franc protection)
Roger TantonOfficials(Groupe franc protection)
René MérigneuxHenri Petit,
alias Romans
(Ain Maquis Leader)Henry Jaboulay,
alias Belleroche
(Regional Maquis Leader) (Groupe franc protection)
Louis Cini(Groupe franc protection)
Francis HérinCharles Mohler, alias Duvernois
(Deputy Regional Chief)Lucien Bonnet, alias Dunoir
(Deputy Regional Head, sector R1)(Groupe franc protection)
Maurice ChevalierGuard of the flag(In charge of Groupe Franc Protection) Pierre Chassé, alias LudoJean Chevalier Raymond MulardRoger Grelounaud(Groupe franc protection)
Raymond MassacrierCharles SartoryMarcel Grummault Jean Vandeville(Groupe franc protection)
Michel JacquetCliqueMarcel Lugand Stéphane VighettiPhilippe CurtetWreath bearersMarius RocheJulien RocheRené EscoffierSectionsOfficer 1st section
Jean-Pierre de Lassus Saint-Geniès, alias Legrand1st section - Morez camp
Officer 2nd section
Pierre Marcault, alias Marco2nd section - Morez camp
Officer 3rd section
Henri Girouss3rd section - Corlier camp
Closing officer
Jean Vaudan, alias Verduraz
Composition of Sections 1 and 2 of the Morez camp
Georges Alloin Pierre Assadas Marc Bayon Robert Bernachon Jean Billard Victor Bolcato René Bonnaud Georges Carroz Jean Caufiez Georges Cerciat Ferutio Charadia Noël Chavasse Jean Chevalier Maurice Chevalier Louis Cini André Clément Eugène Collet Colombel Raymond Comtet Philippe Curtet Maurice Demia Raymond Denton Maurice Dubois Eugène Dubost Roger Dur Henri Durand René Escoffier Christian Finaly Marcel Garden Honoré Girolamy René Golay Roger Graver Roger Grelounaud Jean Grosclaude Marcel Grummault René Guillemot Francis Herin Alfred Innocent Michel Jacquet Pierre Jacquet Paul Jubelin Paul Marcel Kosperzack Auguste Legodec Jean Lemine Paul Linsolas Pierre Marini Raymond Marmont Raymond Massacrier Eugène Mathys Jean Mauget René Merigneux Alexis Mongin Jacques Mulard Raymond Mulard André Murtier Marcel Musset René Niogret Henri Orset Georges Page Roger Page Aimé Parjoie René Pechu Élie Perret Roger Perrin René Plantier André Plasse Jean Pouillard Roger Pradat Jean-Pierre Prospero Marcel Rendu Marcel Rochas Julien Roche Marius Roche Jean Rousse Charles Sartory Gabriel Sinardet Roger Tanton Pierre Thedenat Jacques Therond Jean Tisserand Georges Tosi Jean Vandeville Georges Verdaud Stéphane Vighetti Raymond Vincent Maurice Vuillard Jean-Baptiste Zwenger
Composition of Section 3 of the Corlier camp