Maquis du Mont Mouchet Maquis du Mont Mouchet The Maquis du Mont Mouchet were a group of French resistance fighters during the Second World War. Based at Mont Mouchet, its goal was to delay the convergence of German forces in the south of France with those in Normandy, in order to aid the allies in the reconquest of France. The Germans, having discovered the maquis, made several attacks up until May 1944 with about 3,000 men and using aviation and armoured units. The maquisards fought back fiercely. Little information is available on the German forces. Historians have identified some units: These were reinforced from:
Maquis (World War II) who have given up trying to live a normal life[...]. They totalled about 48,000". A popular maquis band, the "Maquis de l'Ain", was captained by Henri Petit (alias Romans), who organized a network of camps in the dense forests in the mountainous regions of "le Bugey" and the lower regions of "la Bresse", without creating a fixed camp. This gave “primacy to isolation from all habitation, but also to sites which permitted hasty retreats”. The enemy would not be able to surprise the maquis because the views from the hills were extensive, but some enjoyed this advantage and stayed in