Maquis de Saint-Marcel Maquis de Saint-Marcel The Maquis de Saint-Marcel was a force of French resistance fighters, 3000 men with 200 Free French SAS (Special Air Service), during World War II operating in Brittany, Morbihan. It was created just before the Normandy landings with the objectives of preventing German army reinforcements from reaching the coast, thus facilitating the task of the allied landing forces. The Maquis de Saint-Marcel lasted only a very short time. It had been infiltrated by German spies, allowing the Germans to attack it in an ambush on 18 June 1944. After it was dissolved, the remaining resistance fighters resumed
Maquis (World War II) in the rural areas of France, resistance had a role and justification in the lives of many people "who had no ambition to hold a gun, or memorize a coded message, though as the occupation grew in its violence the pressure on the French people to defend themselves by force intensified, and the military nature of resistance came to predominate". The connection between the Vichy government and armed resistance paved the way for the eventual formation of the Maquis. The "Service du Travail Obligatoire" (S.T.O.) was enacted on 16 February 1943 but underwent various refinements and classifications. It required young