Hubert Germain, the last surviving member of the Order of the Liberation who died last month, will be buried with a Cross of Lorraine, symbol of the Resistance.
When general Charles de Gaulle, exiled in London, called on his countrymen in June 1940 to rise up against German occupation of France and the puppet pro-Nazi Vichy regime, his words inspired resistance not only in mainland, but also thousands of kilometres away across the Atlantic, in the French-governed islands of the Caribbean. On Martinique, many young men and women made perilous crossings to the British islands of Dominica and Saint Lucia to join up with the Free French Forces and fight in Europe. These are some of their extraordinary stories, told in picture-portraits by photographer Sylvain Demange and historian Sylvie Meslien, and which are part of an exhibition now showing in the Martinique capital Fort-de-France.
Cécile Rol-Tanguy, who joined the WWII French Resistance movement against German occupation and who along with her husband Henri became a prominen tmember, died on Friday at the age of 101 at her home in central France, just as Europe commemorated the 75th anniversary of the surrender of Nazi forces.
