Maquis (World War II) advanced, the French Resistance rose against the Nazi occupation forces and their garrisons en masse. For example, Nancy Wake's group of 7,000 maquisards was involved in a pitched battle with 22,000 Germans on June 20, 1944. Some Maquis groups took no prisoners so some German soldiers preferred to surrender to Allied soldiers instead of facing maquisards. The Allied offensive was slowed and the Germans were able to counterattack in southeast France. On the Vercors Massif, the Maquis du Vercors rose up with some 4000 soldiers against the German occupiers, but was defeated with 600 casualties. When General De Gaulle dismissed
Ceylon in World War II help of one of their guards. Several of them fled to India, where they participated in the struggle there, underscoring what had been established before the war, that India's and Sri Lanka's independence struggles were interlinked. However, a sizable contingent remained, led by Robert Gunawardena, Philip's brother. Ceylon in World War II After the outbreak of the Second World War, in the British Crown Colony of Ceylon (modern-day Sri Lanka), the government of Sir Don Baron Jayatilaka assured the British king and his majesty's government of its continued support. The British had occupied the coastal areas of the island since