Maquis de l'Ain et du Haut-Jura of the Marseillaise with the crowd, they returned to their camps in the mountains. A few weeks later, the English-speaking press published the news, which it is said managed to convince Churchill of the need to arm the French resistance. Oyonnax was rewarded for its zeal by a Médaille de la Résistance which features on its coat of arms. Maquis de l'Ain et du Haut-Jura The Maquis de l'Ain et du Haut-Jura were a group of maquis fighters in the French resistance during World War II. On 11 November 1943, the Maquis de l'Ain et du Haut-Jura, on orders from
Belgian prisoners of war in World War II the war, acknowledging their continued status as war veterans during their captivity. A medal, the Prisoner of War Medal 1940–1945, was established in 1947. Belgian prisoners of war in World War II During World War II, Belgian prisoners of war were principally Belgian soldiers captured by the Germans during and shortly after the Battle of Belgium in May 1940. 225,000 men, approximately 30 percent of the strength of the Belgian army in 1940, were deported to prisoner of war camps in Germany. Large repatriations of prisoners, particularly of soldiers of Flemish origin, to occupied Belgium occurred in 1940 and 1941.