The National Commission for the French Resistance Medal, set up under Article 3 of Decree no.774 of February 9, 1943, was responsible for issuing opinions on proposals for the medal.
The Order of Liberation was established in 1940 by General de Gaulle to reward civilian and military communities or individuals who distinguished themselves in efforts to liberate France and the French Empire.
Now discontinued, the Order of Liberation was established by General de Gaulle on 16 November 1940. Presented to 1,038 women and men, the Cross of Liberation was awarded according to a well-defined procedure and criteria.
The missions of the order: fuelling the nation with exemplary lives
The Law of 13 July 2018 relating to military planning propelled the Order of Liberation into the future by conferring on it a new global mission (while retaining its traditional missions): to develop the spirit of defence through the commitment of the Companions of the Liberation.
Five French communes are Companions of the Liberation.
The Order of Liberation is “intended to reward civilian and military communities or individuals who distinguish themselves in efforts to liberate France and the French Empire”.
The village of Vassieux-en-Vercors received the Cross of the Liberation on August 4, 1945. 72 of its inhabitants were massacred and all of its houses burned by a ruthless enemy.
Eighteen military units are Companions of the Liberation.
Nine were in the Army, six in the Air force and three in the Navy of the Free French Forces. They received the Cross of Liberation for their collective commitment from the early days of Free France and for their outstanding acts in combat.
Army units began to form following the appeal of 18 June 1940. These were mainly simple battalions or even simple companies, which, as the territories rallied and new volunteers came in, were gradually transformed into regiments.
Free France's air arm – the Free French Air Forces (FAFL) – was officially created on 1 July 1940. But its structured units, which each bore the name of a French province, did not truly emerge until the summer of 1941. Six of them bear the title of Companion of the Liberation.