Corps Francs refers to units of combatants formed outside the regular army, often improvised and under-equipped, with autonomous supervision then recovered, used or integrated by a regular army.
First World War
Said of units specialized in attacking enemy trenches during the First World War.
The French had the nickname "trench cleaners". Roger Vercel in Captain Conan painted a striking portrait of these terrible soldiers.
The Italians constitute the arditi units (the Hardis). The Italian tactic was to approach within grenade range of a trench under the cover of an artillery barrage, then when the bombardment stopped, to throw numerous grenades into the trench to make the enemy believe that the bombardment was not over. Taking advantage of the confusion, they then infiltrated as a group into the trench, killing with knives and revolvers. The Italians also developed infiltration techniques with combat swimmers. The black uniform of the arditi and the skulls became the distinctive sign of these units.
The Germans, for their part, replied with the assault units, that is to say shock troops heavily armed with machine guns, flamethrowers and grenades. German tactics differed from Italian tactics in that they attacked the enemy at their weakest point by concentrating their firepower in a small area in order to infiltrate deep into the enemy disposition. The assault troops thus had to "cut" the front in several places, leaving the regular troops to clear the isolated enemy trenches. During the 1918 offensives, the German army broke through the Allied lines at Chemin des Dames. The tactical superiority of the German armies was nevertheless unable to reverse the outcome of the war. Ernst Jünger will brilliantly describe the action of the German assault troops in his post-war works.
World War II
From October 1939, free corps were formed by the French army and carried out an ambush war in front of the Maginot line. They face the German Frankish groups that protect the Siegfried Line.
Units of Corps Francs d'Afrique, fighters of Free France were formed in Morocco (then a French protectorate) in 1942, following the Allied landings in North Africa. They respond to the call of General De Gaulle. Composed of Moroccan volunteers of various origins and religions (Jews, Muslims, Christians), they fought Rommel and the Afrika Korps in Tunisia within the 5th US Army, with English equipment. They took part in the capture of Bizerte (1943).
Integrated into the 2nd D.B of General Leclerc, they were then positioned in England with a view to participating in the Normandy landings. Their history is intertwined with that of the 2nd Armored Division:liberation of Paris, fighting in Germany. List of members found in Wikipedia:Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle; Henri d'Astier de la Vigerie.
The Corps Francs d’Afrique were decorated with the Croix de Guerre.