Chad in World War II

A Free French infantryman, native of the Chad colony, who was awarded the Croix de Guerre. During World War II, Chad was the first French colony to rejoin the Allies on 26 August 1940, after the defeat of France by Germany. Under the administration of Félix Éboué, France's first black colonial governor, a military column, commanded by Colonel Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque, who later was one of the first commanders to enter in Paris with a group of Spanish volunteers, and including two battalions of Sara troops, moved north from N'Djamena (then Fort Lamy) to engage Axis forces in Libya, where, in partnership with the British Army's Long Range Desert Group, they captured Kufra. A total amount of 15,000 Chad soldiers participated in World War II. (United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID fsa.8e02667)

Since World War I, southern Chad, particularly the Sara ethnic group, had provided a large share of the Africans in the French army. Chadian troops also had contributed significantly to the success of the Free French Forces in World War II. In December 1940, two African battalions began the Free French military campaign against Italian forces in Libya from a base in Chad, and at the end of 1941, a force under Colonel Jacques Leclerc participated in a spectacular campaign that seized the entire Fezzan region of southern Libya. Colonel Leclerc's 3,200-man force included 2,700 Africans, the great majority of them southerners from Chad. These troops went on to contribute to the Allied victory in Tunisia. Chadians, in general, were proud of their soldiers' role in the efforts to liberate France and in the international conflict.

The military involvement also provided the country's first taste of relative prosperity. In addition to the wages paid its forces, Chad received economic benefits from three years of use as a major route for Allied supply convoys and flights to North Africa and Egypt.

Félix Eboué

In 1940 Chad became internationally prominent when its lieutenant governor, Félix Eboué, led the rest of the French Equatorial African (AEF) federation to support Free France under Charles de Gaulle rather than the government of Vichy France. Chad became the base for Colonel Jacques Leclerc's conquest of the Fezzan (1940–1943), and the entire episode became the basis of an enduring sentimental bond between Chad and the France of de Gaulle's generation. More funds and attention flowed to Chad than ever before, and Eboué became the governor general of the entire AEF in November 1940.

Born in French Guiana of mixed African and European parentage, Eboué was keenly interested in the problems of cultural dislocation resulting from unchecked modernization in Africa. He worked to return authority to authentic traditional leaders while training them in modern administrative techniques. He recognized a place for African middle-class professionals in cities, but he opposed the migration of workers to cities, supporting instead the creation of integrated rural industries where workers could remain with their families. When Eboué died in 1944, the AEF lost a major source of progressive ideas, and Chad lost a leader with considerable influence in France.

 

Free French Chad troops in Tunisia inspected by General Phillippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque near Zagouran, Tunisia, 19 May 1943.  (Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand photo DA-03073-F)

General Phillippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque on a ridge near Djebelbima during an inspection of Free French troops in Tunisia, 19 May 1943. (Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand photo DA-03078-F)

Free French Chad troops in Tunisia inspected by General Phillippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque near Zagouran, Tunisia, 19 May 1943. (Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand photo DA-03075-F)

General Phillippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque and staff on an inspection of Free French Chad troops in Tunisia, 19 May 1943. (Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand photo DA-03074-F)

General Phillippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque and staff examine a French 75mm gun during an inspection of Free French troops in Tunisia, 19 May 1943. (Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand photo DA-03077-F)

Front line Free French Chad troops in slit trenches in Tunisia, 19 May 1943. (Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand photo DA-03076-F)

 

Charles de Gaulle is welcomed to Chad by Govenor-General Félix Adolphe Éboué (December 26, 1884 - March 17, 1944) of Free French Africa, October 1940. Governor-General Eboue, a native of French Guiana, was the first black colonial governor in Africa. As governor of the Chad colony, he was the first African leader to rally to the Free French cause. (United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID fsa.8e02672)

 Félix Éboué and General Charles de Gaulle, circa 1943.

 Félix Éboué and General Charles de Gaulle, circa 1943.

Félix Éboué.

Félix Éboué cartoon drawn by Charles Alston in 1943. (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, cataloged under the National Archives Identifier (NAID) 535672)

Operation Torch: Invasion of North Africa

An Allied convoy heads eastward across the Atlantic, bound for Casablanca, in November 1942.

Operation Torch (8–16 November 1942) was an Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa while allowing American armed forces the opportunity to begin their fight against Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy on a limited scale. It was the first mass involvement of US troops in the European–North African Theatre and saw the first airborne assault carried out by the United States (by the 2nd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment).

The French colonies were aligned with Germany via Vichy France but the loyalties of the population were mixed. Reports indicated that they might support the Allies. The American General Dwight D. Eisenhower, supreme commander of the Allied forces in Mediterranean theater of the war, approved plans for a three-pronged attack on Casablanca (Western), Oran (Center) and Algiers (Eastern), then a rapid move on Tunis to catch Axis forces in North Africa from the west in conjunction with the British advance from Egypt.

The Western Task Force encountered unexpected resistance and bad weather but Casablanca, the principal French Atlantic naval base, was captured after a short siege. The Center Task Force suffered some damage to its ships when trying to land in shallow water but the French ships were sunk or driven off; Oran surrendered after bombardment by British battleships. The Eastern Task Force met less opposition and were able to push inland and compel surrender on the first day.

The success of Torch caused Admiral François Darlan, commander of the Vichy French forces, who was in Algiers, to order co-operation with the Allies, in return for being installed as High Commissioner, with many other Vichy officials keeping their jobs. Darlan was assassinated by a monarchist six weeks later and the Free French gradually came to dominate the government.