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
Bombing of Sofia in World War II Luftwaffe pilot (kommandeur I/JG 5) who was killed in the sky over Radomir, while defending Sofia. He was the only foreign pilot killed in battle while defending Bulgarian airspace during World War II. He was part of the Jagdgeschwader 5 "Eismeer" fighter wing. Bombing of Sofia in World War II The Bulgarian capital of Sofia suffered a series of Allied bombing raids during World War II, from late 1943 to early 1944. United Kingdom and the United States declared a token war on Bulgaria on 13 December 1941. The Southern Italy-based Allied air forces extended the range of their strategic