Category Archives: State responds

‘The British did this to us!’

Posted on March 6, 2012 by digitaldevelopment

‘The British did this to us!’ In this Vichy poster, the mocking figure of a pipe-smoking RAF pilot looms behind a wounded French soldier and a bombed-out family. Collection BDIC-MHC. Tous droits réservés.

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‘Yesterday’s ally’

Posted on March 6, 2012 by digitaldevelopment

‘Yesterday’s ally’: a caricature of Churchill links the bombing campaign with Britain’s ‘betrayal’ of France during the battle of May-June 1940. Collection BDIC-MHC. Tous droits réservés.

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Emergency relief

Posted on March 6, 2012 by digitaldevelopment

Emergency relief: the Vichy government equipped two relief trains to bring medical assistance, food aid, clothes and a claims processing office to air raid victims. Though often hampered by damage to the rail network, the trains proved their usefulness on … Continue reading →

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Funerals (1):

Posted on March 6, 2012 by digitaldevelopment

Funerals (1): Rennes, March 1943. Collection BDIC-MHC (Agence Fulgur). Tous droits réservés.

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Official mourning

Posted on March 6, 2012 by digitaldevelopment

Official mourning: a poster following the March 1942 attack on Renault’s Billancourt plant. Collection BDIC-MHC. Tous droits réservés.

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Red Cross canteen for bombed-out families

Posted on March 6, 2012 by digitaldevelopment

Emergency relief: a Red Cross canteen for bombed-out families in the Paris suburbs. Collection BDIC-MHC. Tous droits réservés.

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Clearing up (3)

Posted on March 6, 2012 by digitaldevelopment

Clearing up (3): Mechanical diggers could be used, as here in Marseille after the raid of 27 May 1944, once there was no hope of bringing anyone out alive. But such machinery was rare, and so was fuel. In Toulon … Continue reading →

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Clearing up (2)

Posted on March 6, 2012 by digitaldevelopment

Clearing up (2): Repairing Marseille tramlines. Courtesy Archives Municipales de Marseille, 29/II/4.  

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Clearing up (1)

Posted on March 6, 2012 by digitaldevelopment

Clearing up (1): As these pictures from Marseille show, much of the effort of clearing-up, especially when there was a chance of finding anyone alive, was done by men with picks and shovels, or even their bare hands. Courtesy Archives … Continue reading →

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Transporting the wounded

Posted on March 6, 2012 by digitaldevelopment

Transporting the wounded. These five pictures show the job being done by regular civil defence workers, by nuns, and (according to the caption) by young fascists of the National-Revolutionary Youth. Collection BDIC-MHC (photo DNP). Tous droits réservés.

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