Figure 1.--The press caption here read, "No More Swastikas: Two cheering and shouting elderly Corsicans wave the Union Jack which replaces the hated Nazi Swastika in their town of Ajaccio, the capital of the island now held by the Allies. The minute the town fell to Allied troops, the citizens turned out for riotous celebration." The photograph was dated October 11, 1943.

Corsican history begins in antiquity. The island was known to Herodotus who described Phoenician control (6th century BC). Corsica was an Italian island until France seized it just before the Revolution (1768). There was a long history of resistance to the French and central government. Corsica remained a part of Vichy France after the armistace with the Germans (June 1940). Italian Dictator Benito Mussolini wantged Corsica as part of the spoils of war. He mounted a propaganda campaign to acquire Corsica. Hitler did not, however, agree to this. Thus ther Italins did not act until the Allied Torch Invasion of North Africa (November 1942). Mussolini dispstched 90,000 Italian troops to occupy Corscica as a fait accompli. Vichy was in no position to resist. This was a huge firces given the populatiin of Cisica was only about 220,000 pople. The Mouvement Unis de la Résistance organized in the island, but was loyal to the Free French, not Vichy. The Résistance/Maquis was supported by the OSS which dropped weapons. The rugged teraine helped the guerilla fighters hold out. The tangled foliage covering Corsica's mountainous countryside was called maquis. This came to be name given to the French resistance movement -- the Maquis. There were no imprtant action agaist the Italians who mounted no major effort to dislodge the Resistance forces in the rugged countryside. After the Axis surrender in Tunisia (May 1943), the Allies prepared to invade Sicily. Allied inteligence operations convinced the Germans that that the Allies were going to invade Sardinia. Thus the Germans reinforced the Italian army on Sardinia (July 1943). The Germans used the replacements meant for Tunisia which were no longer needed after the surrendedr there. The forceds were reconstituted the 90th Panzergrenadier, about 40,000 men. The invasion of couse came, but the Allies invaded Sicily. After the Italians surrendered nd the llies invaded Italy, the Maquis rose up against the Germans (September 9). The Free French rapidly pieced together a commando force to support the Resistance fighters--Operation Vésuve. They landed (September 14, 1943). About 6,000 men of the Free French I Corps landed on Corsica. The small French force managed to bring around many of the Italian occupation troops to the Allied side. The German treatment of the Italians on the mainland was undoutedly a factor. Their major goal was to prevent the withdrawal of the German forces on Sardinia through Corsica. The Sturmbrigade Reichsführer-SS a force of about 30,000 men was dispatched to Corsica as part of the occupation of Italy (September 1943). OKW had also sent General Fridolin von Senger und Etterlin to rescue the 90th Panzergrenadier, which was stranded on Sardinia. Von Senger's efforts were part of Plan Achse, the German operation to occupy its former Italian ally. In his case, however, his orders were to get out of Sardinia and Corsica and back to Italy. Von Senger crossed to Corsica from Sardinia with the 90th Panzergrenadier. The channel between Sardinia ad Corsica is very narrow. The Germans fought their way north to Bastia. They French were a relatively small, lighly equipped force and the Italians unwilling to heavily engage the Germans. From Bastia the distance to the mainland was much shorter and could be covered by Luftwaffe bases in southern France and northern Italy. The Germans embarked from Bastia for the mainland. The last German troops departed (October 5). Von Senger thus got the 90th Panzergrenadier and the Sturmbrigade Reichsführer-SS back to the mainland. Both were employed in the Italian campaign and largely decimated in the fighting. OKW decided not to try and hold Corsica and thus with the German withdrawl, Corsica was in Allied hands. Corsica became the first French metropolitan department liberated from the Germans. The Allies converted Corscica into a potent air base, Groups of the American 57th Bomb Wing were stationed along the eastern coast from Bastia south to Solenzara. Corsica was only a little more than 100 miles from the French coast. Thus it became the primary base for launching Operation Dragoon--the invasion of southern France (August 1944).

Created: 7:53 PM 10/11/2021
Last updated: 7:54 PM 10/11/2021