WHAT IN HELL IS A DEMI-BRIGADE?
什么是特种空勤团？
A demi-brigade (literally,“half-brigade“) is a term appearing during the French Revolution todesignate a regimental-size infantry unit. Since the old Royal Army’s regimentswere regarded as reactionary organizations by the new Republicangovernment, the latter created a new structure of roughly the same size called“demi-brigade”, since two of them regrouped were to form an infantry brigade.Napoléon later abolished the name, reinstating the old “regiment”designation. Yet, “demi-brigade” endured in the form of a designation forprovisional units usually made up of two battalions, especially withthe Chasseurs Alpins(mountain infantry) and LégionEtrangère.
字面意义上，该部队的意思是半个旅，该词起源于法国大革命的时候，被用作描述一个团级单位。因为老的皇家陆军被新的共和政府认为是反动组织，新政府组建了类似的新建制，而两个这种部队就能组成一个旅。不过后来拿破仑放弃了这种叫法，采用了原本的团的叫法。但是，半旅的叫法仍然被沿用下来，被用作两个营组成的部队，特别是法国的山地部队和外籍兵团。

ORIGINS OF THE FRENCH SAS
法国特种空勤团的起源
Just like everybody elsein 1940, General De Gaulle, although in exile in London, realized the majorrole played by the German paratroopers in the “Blitzkrieg” campaigns in France,Belgium, Netherlands & Norway. Therefore, he ordered in September1940 to form an airborne 1ère Compagnie d’Infanterie de l’Air fromthe small pool of Forces Françaises Libres (FFL,meaning “Free French Forces” and not “French Foreign Legion”)which had joined him in the UK. One month later, 50 volunteers, mostlyyoung men with more adventurous spirit than combat experience, hadanswered the call under the command of capitaine Bergé. They trained inairborne tactics and covert warfare with the British before taking part insabotage or intelligence gathering operation in occupied France. On June1941, two third of the company was transferred to the Middle-East,while the rest remained in England with the SOE.
尽管1940年戴高乐仍处于流浪在伦敦的状态，但是他意识到了德国伞兵在法国、比利时、荷兰和挪威闪击战中的巨大作用。因此戴高乐在1940年9月命令组建一支空降步兵连，从自由法国的部队中选拔人员。一个月后，主要是富于冒险精神而不是作战经验的50名年轻志愿者响应了号召，指挥被交给Berge上尉。他们先是接收空降兵的战术训练，然后被送往法国沦陷区执行信息搜集和破坏任务。1941年6月，三分之二的连队被送往中东，剩下部队则留在英国。
Bergé and his FFLparatroopers sailed to Suez in July 1941 but too small to be worth a combatoperation for the British and too precious to be wasted as mere infantry for DeGaulle, they spent the next six months champing at the bit, moving aroundbetween Egypt & Lebanon without taking part in any fight. Nowdesignated 1ère Compagnie de Chasseurs Parachutistes (CCP),their fate took an unexpected turn when a very unconventional British MajorStirling took upon himself to approach De Gaulle with a request.David Stirling, the father of the Special Air Service, hadbeen operating a small group of raiders for six months already but wasdesperately short of personnel since the British Army wasn’t verykeen on giving him any. He was, therefore, focusing on foreign contingents,especially survivors from the Crete evacuation separated from their units,hence why Australians, New-Zealanders & Greeks formed such a largepart of the initial SAS groups. Learning about the unused French paratroopers,Stirling asked De Gaulle if he could “borrow” them. But as with anythingDe Gaulle-British related, things went far from well, the French generalopposing a flat refusal, adamant that no French troops shall be placed underthe authority of a British officer. Legends have it that De Gaulle reconsideredhis position upon learning that Stirling was a Scot, not an Englishman, andtherefore honored what he considered the “oldest alliance in the world” betweenFrance & Scotland! But the patience and diplomatic talents of general Catroux,as often, are more surely to thank for that.
Berge和他的伞兵部队于1941年7月开赴苏伊士，但对于英国人来说法国人的数量太少，不足参加任何作战行动。对于戴高乐来说，他们被当作普通步兵使用又不舍得，所以这些部队只得在接下来的六个月里不断往返于埃及和黎巴嫩，但却没有参加任何战斗。现在作为第1伞兵连，这些人的命运突然迎来了转折，英国少校斯特林带着一项请求面见了戴高乐。大卫·斯特林，特种空勤营之父，已经指挥一群突击队员长达六个月时间，但是因为英国陆军对他的项目并不感冒，他苦于人员短缺。因此，他着眼于外国盟军部队，特别是那些克里特岛撤离的部队。这也是为何特种空勤营的部队里有许多澳大利亚、新西兰和希腊人。得知法国伞兵们无所事事后，斯特林迅速问戴高乐是否可以借用他们。但是就和其他戴高乐和英国人的关系一样，起步很不顺利。戴高乐拒绝了请求，坚持认为没有法国部队能够被置于英国军官的指挥之下。传说是戴高乐重新考虑了这项提议，因为斯特林并不算英国人而是苏格兰人，戴高乐重新使这个“古老的联盟”再次联合起来。但是比起传说来，促成这项事更应该归功于Catroux将军的耐心和外交天分。

大卫·斯特林
From January 1942,the 1ère CCP passed entirely under Stirling’s command asthe 3rd SAS Squadron, more commonly referred to as the FrenchSquadron. In June and July, they took an active part in the raids againstGerman airfields in Cyrenaica, including the famous raid against Sidi Haneishairfield, and Crete, where Bergé was captured. After the Second Battle of ElAlamein, with Rommel in full retreat, the SAS were unleashed in the desert withthe mission of harassing and delaying his columns. The pursuit took aheavy toll on the SAS, whatever their ranks and nationality: Stirling &Jordan, who had taken over the French Squadron from Bergé,were captured and only three French SAS patrols were still operational whenGeneral Montgomery linked up in Tunisia with the British, American & Frenchtroops coming from Algeria.
1942年1月起，第一伞兵连作为特种空勤团第3分队被交给斯特林指挥，他们更有名的称号是法国分队。6月和7月，他们参加了在Cyrenaica突袭德国机场的行动和克里特岛的行动，然而Berge在克里特岛被俘。第二次阿拉曼战役后，隆美尔全面撤退，特种空勤团被排到沙漠中不断骚扰和延缓德军部队。但是作战行动给他们们带来了惨重的损失：Berge后的指挥官——斯特林和乔丹——都被俘，当蒙哥马利在突尼斯成功打通和在阿尔及利亚的美军和法军部队的练习时，只有三支法国小队还能够执行任务。

BACK TO ENGLAND
重返英国
Just after the end ofthe campaign in Tunisia, the survivors from the French SAS Squadron wereregrouped and sent back to the UK where together with the SOE operatives& new volunteers escaped from occupied France, they were reorganized onJuly 1st, 1943 as the 1er Bataillon d’Infanterie de l’Air (BIA),renumbered 4e BIA from November 1943.Meanwhile, a 3e BIA was created at the same time withFrench volunteers from Egypt & Algeria.
突尼斯战役结束后，法国特种空勤团的幸存者们进行了重组，他们返回了英国，和SOE的干员以及逃离沦陷法国的志愿者们重新编组。1943年7月1日，他们作为第1空降步兵营重新纳入编制。1943年11月，重命名为第4空降步兵营。同时，第3空降步兵营从来自埃及和阿尔及利亚的志愿者中征召。

The two airbornebattalions trained for a year in Scotland with the British & Polishparatroopers, as well as with the SAS. On April 1st, 1944, 3e & 4eBIA were officially attached to the SAS Brigade as,respectively, the 3rd & 4th SAS Regiment,while at the same time being reorganized within the French Army as,respectively, the 3e & 2e Régiment de ChasseursParachutistes (hence 3e BIA –> 3rd SAS/3eRCP and 4e BIA –> 4th SAS/2e RCP …easy!). While 1st & 2nd SAS Regiment wereBritish and 5th SAS Regiment was Belgian, 3rd & 4thSAS Regiment together formed the Demi-Brigade SAS or DBSAS.
On May 27th, 1944,the Demi-Brigade was placed on alert under the command ofPierre-Louis Bourgoin, commander of 4th SAS. They were to be thefirst Allied troops to go into battle as part of Operation Overlord.
在苏格兰，这两个法国空降营和英国伞兵、波兰伞兵一道接受了一年的训练。1944年4月1日，第3和第4伞兵营正式加入特种空勤旅的编制，作为第3和第4团使用，同时在法军序列中也进行了相应的改组分别作为第3和第2空降兵团使用。同时，第1和第2团是英国部队，第5团是比利时部队，第3和第4团合称法国特种空勤旅。
1944年5月27日，法国部队被置于第4团指挥官Pierre-Louis Bourgoin麾下。他们将成为霸王行动中首批作战的盟军部队！

QUI OSE GAGNE!
狭路相逢勇者胜
Let’s consider onemoment Pierre-Louis Bourgoin, nicknamed for a self-explanatoryreason “Le Manchot” (meaning “One-Armed Man”). Nothing destined this schoolteacher in French Central Africa with a passion for big game hunting to becomea soldier. Yet, as soon as De Gaulle broadcasted his Appealof 18 June, he joined the FreeFrench as an infantry lieutenant. Serving with the Bataillon de Marchen°2, he fought in Syria where he got his first of many wounds. Whilerecovering, he took an interest in flying and transferred to the FAFL (FreeFrench Air Forces) as a pilot and was soon wounded again, a first time inflight by a bullet in the foot, a second time in a crash landing.Transferred to British Intelligence, he joined the SAS on its own and took partin several missions as one of them. During one such mission, his jeep wasstrafed by a German fighter and crashed in the roadside, leaving him with 37wounds and shreds of his right arm dangling from the bone. Yet, he buriedhimself in the sand to avoid detection by a German patrol, only surfacing sixhours later when hearing British voices! After being amputated from his arm andspending seven months in a hospital, he learned to shoot a pistol from the lefthand and, despite being declared unfit for parachuting because of hishandicap, joined the paratroopers. He designed a special harness allowing him tojump alone, got his paratrooper badge and took command of 4e BIA. ABritish Major in the airborne troops paid him that tribute: “That officer isso cut out for that job that it is indecent. I’m pretty sure he had his rightarm cut-off as the final touch to perfect his character. (…) He reminds me ofCaptain Achab from ‘Moby Dick’. Well, Achab was amputated from the leg, but ifone doesn’t get caught up in such detail …“. In a friendly gesture, theBritish gifted him for his combat jump in France with a unique blue-white-redchute.
昵称“一个人的军队”的Pierre-Louis Bourgoin本来是法属中非的一名教师，但是在后来成为了士兵。在戴高乐广播了6月18日号召之后，他加入了自由法国部队，成为了一名中尉军官。他在叙利亚战斗中负伤。在恢复期间，他对飞行产生了兴趣，并调到了自由法国空军，但是很快便再次负伤：先是被子弹击中脚部，然后有在飞机迫降中受伤。他后来进入英国情报机构工作，然后加入了特种空勤团并参加作战任务。在一次行动中，他的吉普车被一架德国战机掀翻，倒在路边，给他留下了37处伤口和血淋淋的右臂。不过他将自己埋在土中来躲避德军巡逻队的巡逻，在听到英国人的声音后才在六个小时后出来！他在医院里呆了七个月，装了假肢，不过他在学着用左手射击。尽管被认为不再适合空降行动，他仍然加入了伞兵。他设计了一种绑带，让他能够单独跳伞，为此得到了他的伞降勋章并获得了第4团的指挥权。连英国一位空降兵少校对他都表示十分印象深刻。作为友善的表示，英国人给他的战斗伞准备了特别的红白蓝三色条纹。

On June 3rd, Bougoin andhis officers were gathered for a briefing and told about OperationOverlord. Although they weren’t to fight on the main theater of theinvasion, they would be the first Allied troops dropped in France as part ofthe operation. Their mission was to jump on June 5th, not in Normandyitself but in neighboring Britanny, and to fix there as many divisionsfrom the German Seventh Army as possible, preventing or atleast delaying them from reinforcing the troops fighting the main Alliedinvasion. They were also to make the German believe in the possibility ofa second landing in Morbihan.
6月3日，他和军官在吹风会上得知了霸王行动。尽管他们不会再入侵的主要战场战斗，他们仍将作为盟军的首批部队重返法国。他们的任务是在6月5日伞降在诺曼底旁的布列塔尼，钉住在那里德国第七军尽可能多的部队，阻止他们增援诺曼底。他们还要让德国人相信还会有第二波在Morbihan的登陆。

OPERATIONS SAMWEST & DINGSON
行动代号SAMWEST & DINGSON
The French SAS, under800 in all, weren’t dropped en masse like the Alliedairborne divisions in Normandy. The plan was for a first wave of 36 SAS to jumpat night and make contact with the Résistance in order to set two hidden basesof operations codenamed Samwest & Dingson,where further SAS and supplies would be dropped. At the same time, small groupsof three to five men were to be dropped all over Britanny to sabotage bridges,railways, electrical or radio stations. Once their job was done, those “Cooneyparties” were to fall back on either Samwest & Dingson toregroup with the main SAS forces and then operate as a guerrilla group, hittingthe Germans by surprise wherever and whenever they could before disappearing,rearming, …. and so on. Finally, there were a few Allied officers dropped thatnight with the French SAS, in the form of Jedburgh teams: theywere secret SOE operatives, usually organized into a 3-man team (most ofthe time, one American, one British & one French) tasked with contactingRésistance groups, evaluating their military worth and needs, deliveringweapons & equipment to them by air, training and leading them into sabotageoperations.
法国空勤团只有不到800人，他们像其他盟军空降部队一样一起降落。他们的计划是第一波36名队员实施夜间伞降，和抵抗组织奖励联系，建立起SAMWEST & DINGSON两个行动基地，等待进一步补给和指令。同时，三到五名成员组成的破坏小组负责在整个布列塔尼伞降，对任何桥梁、铁路、电力和无线电设施进行破坏。一旦任务完成，这些小队将自行返回SAMWEST & DINGSON行动基地，加入大部队，开始作为游击队行动，袭扰德军。还有一些盟军军官协同法国人一起降落，这些军官是SOE的探员，他们组成3人小组负责联络抵抗组织，评估后者的军事价值和需要，并空运盟军的武器和装备给抵抗组织，带领后者进行破坏任务。
From the start, the SASgot casualties. About an hour after landing, Corporal Emile Bouétard, himselffrom Britanny and who had joined the FFL paratroopers because “it was thebest way to arrive first in France“, was wounded in a firefight with aGerman patrol and finished off by an Ost soldier. Three of hiscomrades, captured, were delivered to the Gestapo. Their fate wasto be indicative of the merciless fight in Britanny, the SAS being consideredterrorists as the FFI under Hitler’s infamous Kommandobefehl: bythe end of the campaign, the SAS will have a surprisingly high ratio ofdead compared to wounded, for many of the latter captured by the occupiers wereexecuted on the spot.
一开始空勤团就遭受了伤亡。伞降一小时后，Emile Bouétard下士便在交火中负伤，被德军东线老兵击毙。他曾经为了最快速度返回法国而加入了自由法国的伞兵部队。被俘的其他三人被送到了盖世太保。他们的命运就和布列塔尼惨烈的战斗一样，因为自由法国的部队在希特勒的“突击队命令”中被认为是恐怖分子，因此多数会被就地枪决。战役结束时，空勤团会发现他们的序列中战死者的比例远远高于负伤者。
Alerted by the BBC‘s“personal messages” (including Verlaine’s poem “Les sanglots longsdes violons de l’Automne …” informing about the imminence of thelandings and “Il fait chaud à Suez” initiating guerrilla warfare), thepartisans knew something big was up and their commander, Colonel Morice (PaulChenailler’s nom de guerre) appealed on June 6th to allvolunteers to gather at a farm near Saint-Marcel: the next day they wouldalready be 3.000, with more on the way, but mostly without weapons. As soon asthey made contact with the Résistance, the SAS realized the potential ofthe strong Briton FFI organizations and radioed London on June 8th for massiveweapon and equipment drops. From a small band, the DBSAS was alreadygrowing into a small army.
听到BBC的相关广播，抵抗组织也知道盟军即将发动一次大的行动。他们的指挥官Morice上校在6月6日向所有志愿者发出集结的号令。这些抵抗者们超过了三千人，但是多数没有武器。后来空勤团迅速了解了情况并在6月8日请求的空投。自此，法国空勤团开始逐渐扩大规模。

The SAS and FFIimmediately set to work, sabotaging infrastructures and ambushing Germancolumns. Several more SAS groups were dropped over the next day, but the coreof the DBSAS, including Bourgoin himself, jumped on June 10th:although the latter’s landing couldn’t be considered a perfect model of itstype (he had to get help to untangle himself), “Le Manchot” had managed toperform his combat jump nonetheless. During the night of June 13th to 14thalone, the RAF dropped 700 containers of weapons and ammunition: although notplanned, the amalgam was being made on the ground between SAS & FFI, withbetween 3 and 4.000 partisans equipped by mid-June. But the influx ofvolunteers from the Résistance was both a blessing and a curse for, as eager tofight as they were, they lacked both training and discipline and wereunaware of security measures (or they just couldn’t care less). Growing overproportions, the SAS bases soon attracted German attention.
空勤团和自由法国部队迅速投入了作战，开始破坏德军基建设施和伏击德军纵队。还有一些空勤团小队在第二天空降，但是法国人的主力则是在6月10日降落。6月13日至14日晚，皇家空军空投了700箱武器和弹药，六月中旬已经武装了三四千名游击队员。但是，抵抗运动志愿者的大量涌入却是一把双刃剑。志愿者们渴望战斗，但是缺乏训练和纪律，更不在意安全措施。随着作战比重不断增加，空勤团的基地开始受到德国人的注意。

THE FALL OF SAMWEST
SAMWEST的陷落
The individualinitiative of an overzealous young FFI who had switched several road signs inthe area to confuse the occupiers had the unexpected effect of … bringing aGerman staff car, completely lost, straight into the heart of Samwest onJune 10th. A short firefight ensued, in which some Germans were wounded, butmost others managed to escape on foot and alert a convoy arriving by the sameroad, as lost as their predecessors. SAS & FFI ambushed the Germanreinforcements, but Samwest was now compromised and had tobeat off another, stronger, German attack the next day. On June12th, Samwest was disbanded, its elements ordered tojoin Dingson to resume the fight. Among the casualties fromthose combats was Lt. André Botella, one of the first SAS to hit the ground onJune 5th and to set Samwest: severely wounded, he was hiddenfrom German searches and tended by the population, surviving and laterreturning to the fight. He will later make a name for himself in Indochina,being among the last men fighting at Dien Bien Phu and technically the lastofficer in French History to lead a battalion assault while making his men singthe Marseillaise, just like in the old Revolution days. He laterended up in disgrace for his part in the Algiers Coup against De Gaulle, thatsame man who had inspired him into risking his life andabandoning everything to join the Free French two decades earlier …
作为年轻自由法国战士们自发的行动，他们弄乱了不少路标来迷惑占领者们。这带来了一个意想不到的效果：6月10日一辆德军参谋车辆完全迷路，径直驶入了空勤团的总部SAMWEST。在紧接着的一段交火后，德军出现伤亡，不过大部分人设法步行逃脱，向着一列巡逻队发出了警告。盟军伏击了德国援军，但是SAMWEST也不得不在第二天面对更强大的德军部队。6月12日，SAMWEST被放弃，该部人员加入DINGSON。战斗中出现了伤亡，其中有伤者就地隐匿起来，成功在后来重新加入战斗，André Botella中尉就是其中之一。他后来在印支半岛打出名气，在奠边府战斗到最后，成为法国历史上最后一位带领营级进攻、高唱马赛曲的指挥官。他后来参与了阿尔及尔人针对戴高乐的政变，戴高乐也正是激励他参加自由法国的人，这是多么讽刺的一件事。

THE BATTLE OF SAINT-MARCEL
圣马塞尔之战
By now, the Germans werewell aware of the SAS presence and the growing FFI activity. And they weredoing everything to identify their base and strike them in the heart. To do so,the dreaded Gestapo and their French auxiliaries, theinfamous Milice, arrested and interrogated hundreds of peoplesuspected of link with the Résistance, or just entire villages located nearknown Résistance hideouts.
现在，德国人已经知道了空勤团和自由法国部队的存在。德军开始不断侦察空勤团的总部并试图发动打击。盖世太保和法国伪军开始逮捕和拷问那些被怀疑和抵抗组织有联系的人们，或者干脆逮捕整村的人，只是因为他们就在抵抗组织据点附近。

German security forceswere slowly closing on the location of Dingson. Torture,execution and deportation of civilians or captured SAS werecommonplace. On June 17th, the same scenario which happened at Samwestrepeateditself: a two-vehicle patrol from the Feldengendarmerie gotlost and ran into one of the roadblocks protecting the accesses to Dingson.All but one of the Feldgendarmen were captured or killed, butthe lone survivor managed to reach friendly lines. Dingson wasnow also compromised. Alerted, London ordered Dingson todisperse as well, yet allowed a last drop on the base thannight, delivering the DBSAS its jeep squadron (althoughseveral were damaged in the drop).
德军部队开始逐渐接近DINGSON，对平民或被俘空勤团成员的折磨、射杀变得普遍起来。6月17日，SAMWEST的历史开始重现：两辆车的战地宪兵再次迷路，闯进了DINGSON的腹地。只有一位战地宪兵成功逃脱，其他人都被击毙或者被俘。DINGSON现在也暴露了。伦敦命令DINGSON撤离，但是当天晚上命令了最后一次空投。
But the Germans wouldn’tlet the SAS disappear once again. Mostly apathetic since the firstdrops, this time they reacted quickly. At 8 AM on June 18th, Osttruppen attackedand captured the village of Saint-Marcel. Lacking reliable intel, the Germansstill believed they were just facing a few “bands of terrorists” and keptadvancing in the woods near the village, where Bourgoin had laid an ambush. Bythen, he had about 3.000 men under arms in Dingson, including 200SAS. Mowed down by accurate automatic weapons and light mortar fires, lossesamong the German auxiliaries quickly rose, forcing them to break off the attack.Bourgoin hoped it would give him a respite, but the Germans came back two hourslater with reinforcements. By the end of the day, sixinfantry battalion (mostly Ostruppen) and march companies fromseveral units, including 275. Infanterie-Division & 2.Fallschirm-Division, were engaged against Dingson.
但是德国人可不打算让空勤团又一次逃脱，他们这一次行动的十分迅速。6月18日早8点，东方营攻击并占领了圣马塞尔村。因为情报错误，德国人相信他们面前的只是一些恐怖分子，并且持续向村庄边的森林推进，而森林中有着Bourgoin设下的埋伏。在Dingson他有着3000名武装部队，其中有200名空勤团。在精确的自动武器和迫击炮火力覆盖下，德军伤亡惨重，被迫停止进攻。两小时后，德国人带着援军重新开始了进攻。自此，六个步兵营和来自第275步兵师和第2空降猎兵师的部分连队共同发起了对DINGSON的攻击。

The second assault wasbeaten-off short of the SAS’s HQ, this time with casualties on both sides. At11 AM, Bourgoin asked London for air support, which came in the form of USAAF‘sP-47 strafing any approaching German columns. The American pilots managed tostay for an hour over the SAS perimeter before returning to England, runningout of fuel. As soon as the plane had disappeared, the Germans renewed theirattack.
这一次的进攻给双方都带来了伤亡。上午11点，Bourgoin向伦敦请求空中支援，美国陆航的P47开始攻击德军纵队。美国飞行员们设法在空勤团的防线上空停留了一个小时才因油料告罄返回英国。飞机一走，德军立刻开始重新进攻。
Despite the odds, especially in terms of heavyequipment, the SAS & FFI managed to hold the Germans at bay all day, theSAS counter-attacking wherever the Germans broke the defensive ring. When nightcame, Bourgoin finally gave his men the order to disperse and hide untilcontact was made with them again.
尽管差距悬殊，空勤团和自由法国部队还是挡住了德军一整天。夜幕降临后，Bourgoin命令他的部队放弃据点，开始隐蔽起来。

LIBERATION OF BRITANNY
解放布列塔尼
When Dingson wasabandoned and the SAS & FFI went into hiding, London also lost contact withthem. In order to find out the fate of its operatives, SAS command dispatch asmall group, codenamed Operation Lost, in Britanny on June 23rd.The team soon made contact with Bourgoin, and SAS operations in the regionresumed. Although no large bases as Dingson & Samwest wereorganized again, the harassment against German troops spread all over Britanny.By August, it was estimated that 10.000 FFI had been armed and organized by theSAS & SOE and were operating in the area.
DINGSON据点被放弃后，空勤团和自由法国部队开始隐蔽起来，也失去了与伦敦的联系。为了找到所属干员的消息，空勤团指挥部派出了一支小组，在6月23日执行失踪行动。很快，联系重新建立起来。尽管类似DINGSON和SAMWEST的大型据点再也未能建立，对德军的骚扰却一直在布列塔尼发生着。8月，超过一万名自由法国部队已经被盟军武装起来。
When the Americans brokethe German front in Normandy at Avranches, Patton’s Third Army immediatelywheeled West to liberate Britanny. On arriving there, they found most of thecountryside free of Germans, the latter having fallen back on major cities& harbors, leaving the inland to the SAS and their allies. Joining theAmericans, they provided them with guides & informers, leading themagainst German strongholds which had proven too hard a nut to crack for thelightly armed SAS & FFI.
当美军突破德军防线后，巴顿的第三军迅速向西驰援布列塔尼。抵达后，巴顿的部队发现大部分乡镇地区都没有德军的踪影，因为他们已经撤退回主要城市和港口，将内陆的大部分地区留给了空勤团。加入美军纵队后，空勤团和自由法国部队开始提供向导和信息，并提供攻坚向导。
AFTER BRITANNY
布列塔尼之后
The French SAS were usedin smaller operations to contact the Résistance in Eastern France before thecountry was entirely liberated. From then, they converted to shock troops andwere engaged en masse in the Ardennes, during the Alliedcounter-attack. They ended the war in the Netherlands.
Although formed fromother units, but containing some of the original SAS, a new 1eDemi-Brigade de Parachutistes SAS was created in 1946 and sent inIndochina. After much reorganizing, disbanding, merging, … the SAS traditionremains today in the French Army with the 1er Régiment de Parachutistesd’Infanterie de Marine (1er RPIMa).
法国空勤团在之后解放法国东部的行动中也以小行动的方式接触了当地的抵抗运动。从那时起，他们便成了突击队形式的部队，在阿登地区投入反攻。终战时他们在荷兰战斗。1946年，混有其他部队的法国第1空勤旅建立并被派往印支半岛。经过很长时间的变迁，空勤团的传统仍然在今日法军第1空降步兵团中得以保留。

THE DBSAS INGAME
游戏里的法国空勤团
The Demi-BrigadeSAS is somehow a “division-story”, time unfolding through thedifferent phases: first (Phase A) comes the Britton maquis, plentyof lightly armed and inexperienced FFI with a few Jedburgh & SAS scouts ascadres, waiting for the main force. Then (Phase B) the core of the elite SAStroops jumps in to hold the ground until the cavalry rushes to the rescue. Thelatter finally (Phase C) arrives in the form of US mechanized troops breachingthrough German lines to link up with the paratroopers & partisans.
Here are some ofthe DBSAS‘ features:
虽然建制上只是旅的规模，但是随着时间展开，法国空勤团还是符合师级建制：在A阶段法国游击队的加入带来了许多轻装、没有经验的自由法国部队，他们的核心是空勤团的成员。B阶段空勤团核心抵达，等待装甲部队的支援。C阶段的装甲部队以突破德军防线的美军机械化部队形式抵达，建立起正规盟军部队和抵抗组织的联系。
· from small arms to (avery few) armored vehicles, the FFI are equipped with a mix of civilianvehicles (including the iconic Traction), old 1940 French militaryequipment (25mm AA gun, Hotchkiss HMG, H-35, Panhard, B1bis, …) either hidden or re-captured from the Germans, and captured Germanequipment (MG-34, Panzerfaust, side-cars & Kubelwagen,a few half-tracks, a handful of tanks, …).
· 轻型武装，少量包括民用车辆的载具，法制1940年制军备（25毫米防空炮、霍奇凯斯重机枪，H35坦克，潘哈德装甲车，B1 bis坦克），缴获德制武器（MG34,铁拳，筒车，半履带车，少量坦克）

· The maquis evenfields some squads of Russian Ralliés, deserters from the Osttruppen whichprovides the Résistance with some well-armed (German style) and trainedsoldiers.
· 法国游击队拥有部分俄国士兵，他们来自德军东方营的叛逃士兵，带来德制装备
· a large part of the FFItroops, as well as some SAS, are recon troops, hence easy to infiltrate or leavebehind enemy lines.
· 大量侦察部队性质的部队
· the main core of SAStroops is made of elite paratroopers, hence unaffected by the frontlinetoo. Yet, they are very lightly equipped, even for paratroopers: PIAT& 3-inch mortars being their most powerful weapons … with an occasionalhelp from off-map naval artillery.
· 部队核心为精锐伞兵，但是轻装：PIAT和3磅迫击炮就是装备极限，拥有地图外炮击支援
· aside from someFree French Westland Lysander, the famous liaison aircraftwith the Résistance, air support is provided by USAAF & RAF aircrafts.
· 来自美国陆军航空兵和皇家空军的空中支援
· its economy is quite lowin Phase A & B, with the small band of SAS & FFI having to hold whatterritory they can with the few equipment they have, until the cavalry arrivesin full forces in Phase C.
· A阶段和B阶段较低的收入，法国空勤团必须坚持到C阶段装甲部队的支援。

空勤团他们的作战区域在哪，和巴黎里的暴民不是一个组织？