Taciturn, aging Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, placed by Adolf Hitler "at the permanent disposition" of the French Chief of State, last week clapped hundreds of suspect Frenchmen in jail, tightened frontier surveillance and ordered confiscation of radio sets. Rundstedt had something new to contend with: partisan warfare.
When Rundstedt's armies occupied Vichyfrance, many small "Robin Hood" bands, composed mostly of workers, began operating in the outskirts of large cities. Their underground newspapers issued instructions, coordinated the activities of the different groups. Short, deadly raids and sabotage increased, French partisans, unlike those in...
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