Maquis (World War II) of those bands were called "maquisards". Their image was a committed and voluntary fighter, a "combattant", as opposed to the previous "réfractaire" ("unmanageable"). The term became an honorific meaning "armed resistance fighter". The maquis came to symbolize the French Resistance. Most maquisards operated in the remote or mountainous areas of Brittany and southern France, especially in the Alps and in Limousin. They relied on guerrilla tactics to harass the Milice and German occupation troops. The Maquis also aided the escape of downed Allied airmen, Jews and others pursued by the Vichy and German authorities. Maquisards usually relied on some degree
Maquis (World War II) mystique and discourse of l"e Maquis". Politically motivated anti-fascists, immigrant workers on the run, the "réfractaires" and Spanish Civil War veterans, along with the leniency of the Vichy administration's pursuit of "réfractaires", contributed to the emergence of an aggressive movement, with a combative discourse and a romantic mystique of rural revolt. The speed with which the term ‘"maquis"’ spread was astonishing, since the concept did not exist in January 1943. By June, maquis discourse made its way from south-eastern France to the plains of northern France. The Maquis eventually became the national service, due to the large influx of young