LES DOUANIERS DANS LA BATAILLE DE FRANCE 1939-1940

1939, the year France plunged into a new world conflict, was a third black year for customs officers. After 1870 and 1914, the Military Customs Corps was mobilized once again. Like their predecessors, this third generation of customs officers fulfilled their duty, living up to the motto "Honor and Fatherland" of their flag.

These officials carried out military border surveillance during the "Phoney War," and in the East, customs officers served as guides for the Free Corps in carrying out incursions into enemy territory.

On May 10, 1940, under pressure from the enemy, the customs brigades of the East, then the North, were ordered to return fire. Some battalions managed to reach the South. Others were eventually captured without being able to use their meager weapons.

But in May and June, with their backs to the wall, customs officers went above and beyond their call of duty. Courageous officials distinguished themselves, notably at Boulogne-sur-Mer, Calais, in the fortified camp at Dunkirk, and in the defense of Fort Larmont near Pontarlier. Some officers lost their lives for France, while others were wounded and maimed.

As a consequence of the armistice, the customs battalions were likely disbanded on June 27, 1940. These soldiers, forgotten after the war, were nonetheless not without merit. This book seeks to retrace the curious and little-known journey of these military customs officers during the dramatic period of 1939-1940.