How Railway workers helped Liberate France – French Railway Resistance



In today’s video, we take a look at the time French railway workers managed to help free their country from German oppression simply by (not) doing their job.

Please subscribe for more

This video falls under the fair use act of 1976.
This video is available to use under the appropriate Creative Commons Licence.
Any images used that fall under any Creative Commons Licence belong to their respective owners.

Picture & Information References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A9sistance-Fer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railway_sabotage_during_World_War_II
https://www.dday-overlord.com/en/battle-of-normandy/resistance

Mémorial de la Shoah/ Ronald Rosbottom
https://wwwp-lives.blogspot.com/2021/06/french-resistance-in-normandy.html
Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-751-0067-34 / Kropf / CC-BY-SA
Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-H28708 / Heinrich Hoffmann / CC-BY-SA
Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-074-2852-36A / Reitzner / CC-BY-SA 3.0
Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1989-107-24 / Koll / CC-BY-SA 3.0

source

35 thoughts on “How Railway workers helped Liberate France – French Railway Resistance”

  1. The predecessor of the CIA would actually send manuals to France on how to be as unproductive as possible, so this was far from exclusive to the railways (even if them being inefficient was particularly bad for the Nazis). These manuals included tips like "don't restock toilet paper frequently enough", "hold unnecessary meetings", "let your tools wear out", and also an uncomfortable amount of ways to start fires.

    Reply
  2. This reminds me of a sabotage incident in the city where I live in France (Chalon sur Saone) Where in 1944 an allied bombing struck a rail yard, which had multiple trains that we're stuck due to sabotaged tracks. One of if it contained a lot of explosive material called Cheddite, there was also other trains like one that was filled with Jewish prisoners. The bombing strucked the chessite-filled train and caused a massive explosion that not only wiped out the yard, but it destroyed countless homes and buildings next ro it. Idk for the killcount but everyone in the yard was killed.

    Reply
  3. So you're saying to combat the way the British government are hammering British people in to the ground, I should drop the fires from mainline trains and make important paper work vanish? Got it 🤣😂

    Reply
  4. As frightening as the consequences are if caught by the Guards or the crosshairs, I can imagine there must been a certain thrill to knowingly cause chaos on the rail network in order to help liberate your country. With the 11th just three days away, I like how this is this year's Veterans Day video and a continuation of the "De Spooktrein" video you did last month.

    Reply
  5. Speaking of destroying railway infrastructure during the war a US submarine on their flag has a Japanese train on their kill list you have to look it up it’s honestly a pretty amazing story

    Reply
  6. Wow, I’m laughing at how funny all these acts were to stop the Germans from getting anything done that these brave people did at risk for their lives and anyone and everyone’s else’s lives on their side of that makes sense. Like I loved hearing all these things that got done and respect those that put their lives on the line to get these things done for their freedom ect.

    Reply
  7. Let’s be honest when an imperial government has occupied your country you’re not going to perform at your best. The only time railwaymen would have done their job during those times would have been when under Deutsche threat

    Reply
  8. An excellent little film, honouring very gallant, ordinary heroes. The French film Battaile du Raile gives an excellent account of what they got up to – actually acted by real cheminoux who were reprising things many of them had done for real only a few months earlier. For lovers of steam trains, its worth watching for the engines alone. One reason the film 'The Train' was shot in black and white was, apparently, in tribute to the earlier film – the real incident on which 'The Train' was based involved the kind of 'missing waybills' sabotage you refer to.

    Another good story concerns the special transporter wagons needed for carrying, in particular, Tiger tanks. These were stored 'safely', as the Germans thought, in country goods yards down in the south west of France. The local Resistance of course knew exactly where they were and 'courting couples' would go for cycle rides into the nighttime countryside, drain the oil from the wagon's axleboxes and repack them with grinding paste supplied by the British……. When Hitler finally gave the order to unleash the Tigers, the flat cars were hose de combat by the time they reached the loading points…….

    Reply
  9. "Let's see, new application… Says here you've worked with us before but were let go for too many accidents?"
    "Yes sir, but I've had some time to work on things since then and-"
    "Forget all that, son, you're hired!"

    Reply

Leave a Comment