Papers unearthed by the BBC reveal that British and American commanders ensured that the liberation of Paris on 25 August 1944 was seen as a "whites only" victory. BBC NEWS | Europe | Paris liberation made 'whites only'
Not surprised at all, considering the segregation of the US armed forces. However, I think the above report is erroneous in claiming that the pressure came from the British too. They may not have put up any objections, but their attitude and experience of non-white troops extended back hundreds of years and they had no issue with using Commonwealth troops where and whenever the situation dictated. The pre-condition set by the Americans also extended to the proposed invasion of Japan, when the British were told that their participation would only be allowed if they used British, and other white Commonwealth troops. The documents clearly show that they told that Indian troops would not be allowed to participate. Though De Gaulle was a pragmatist, and made Churchill and Roosevelt look like stick in the muds, he was also aware of his reliance on the US. But he had full knowledge of the reliance France had on the African troops, and troops like the Moroccan Goums had the same reputation as our Gurkhas. As the report mentions, during 1940, France had thousands of black troops who faught against the German invasion, in both completely African, and mixed units. Many of these troops fought extremely bravely, and were a real headache for teh Germans. And in retaliation, thousands were murdered. This is all very well researched and highlighted in Hitler's African Victims: The German Army Massacres of Black French Soldiers in 1940: Amazon.co.uk: Raffael Scheck: Books And recently a French film was released called Indigenes, which has had a profound affect on the French consciousness, and their awareness of their colonial troops' contribution - and France is no different from Britain, and the the majority of this country's awareness of the contributions of the Commonwealth nations.
More on the aforementioned Goums Mountain Warriors: Moroccan Goums in World War II (Stackpole Military History): Edward L. Bimberg: Amazon.co.uk: Books Goumier - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
