Free French Africa

The peoples of free French Africa were heavily involved in the war effort. Ten Marching Batallions[lower-alpha 1] were formed there from December 1940 to January 1943, each composed of six hundred to eight hundred men. At the cost of heavy losses, they distinguished themselves on various battlefields.

The Second Marching Batallion, or the Ubangi-Shari Batallion, particularly stood out at the Battle of Bir Hakeim, where it became the first land-based unit to become a member of the Order of Liberation. The Third Marching Batallion of Chad, was the only unit among French forces to take part in the East African campaign.[2]

French plane in Africa during the Second World War.

The strategic military situation of Free French Africa offered Free France and the Allies a vast support and communications base in the heart of Africa. As a result, air transport and other infrastructure were widely developed. Seven airports were renovated or built, including the Fort-Lamy and Pointe-Noire airports, completed in 1942.[2] The Brazzaville to Beirut airline was put into service in October 1941.[2]

Allied air force planes arrived disassembled and packed in crates, were rebuilt at Takoradi in the British Gold Coast colony, and transited through Chad, where they were able to stop at the new Fort Lamy airfield, before reaching the Middle East theatre of operations. Twenty thousand planes flew in or through Africa; 3,000 landed at Fort Lamy in 1942.[2]

Road infrastructure was also improved. New roads were built totaling 10,000|kilometers. The main priorities were military, towards the operational fronts. These were the Douala-Bangui-Jubba axis, connecting Ethiopia and the fronts of the East African Campaign; the Bangui-Fort-Lamy transverse axis, which was passable in all seasons; and the Fort-Lamy to Faya-Largeau axis for the Libya Operations Front and the Western Desert Campaign.[2]

French Equatorial Africa is nicknamed the "Cinderella" of French possessions in Africa, being less rich than North Africa or French West Africa. The four territories making it up are not of equal importance. Chad has vast regions of steppe and mountains, especially useful from a military point of view.[3] Gabon and French Congo produce oilseeds and wood. The population is quite large in Ubangi-Shari and Chad.[3] The Congo–Ocean Railway provides transport to the port of Pointe-Noire.[4]

French Cameroon, which was not part of French Equatorial Africa, joined Free France at the end of August. It is comparatively richer, with considerable and varied production, including citrus, cocoa, wood palm and various other resources. Its demographic potential is also important, with already 2.4 million inhabitants in 1936.[3]