Maquis de l'Oisans

During the Second World War, the Oisans maquis was an important center for the French Resistance, in the Oisans region between the Belledonne range and Grenoble to the north, the Grandes Rousses massif of the Alps and the Croix de Fer pass to the east, the Drac valley to the west and the Barre des Écrins and the Provencal Alps to the south. Oisans contains and follows the Romanche valley from its source to its confluence with the Drac. Topographically, the Romanche basin (a tributary of the Isère) is a particularly deep valley. Situated between Grenoble and Italy, it contains one of the few roads between the Mediterranean and Switzerland that allow traffic to flow towards Italy. Anticipating an Allied landing in Provence, the German army wanted to keep this route open as a path of retreat to Italy . In addition, they needed to ensure the supply of aluminum and magnesium from the "Lower Romansh" to Germany. The Oisans and its roads were thus doubly strategic for the Germans, as soon as they occupied the south of France. The Oisans maquis, from November 1943 onwards, coordinated the Resistance within the city of Grenoble as well as in the mountains, the only group in the historic region of the Dauphiné (and perhaps in all of France) responsible for both urban and mountain combat. On 22 June 1940, the French government signed the armistice. Certain officers or military cadres continued fighting, forming troops and Resistance groups. This was the case of Lieutenant André Lespiau: after having been ordered to the 9th Colonial Towed Artillery Regiment (9e régiment d’artillerie coloniale tractée) for his conduct at fire in June 1940, he joined the head office of the Colonial Troops in Fréjus, then joined the Armée Secrète (Secret Army) in the Var. There, he was christened "Lanvin". He would later become famous as "captain" of about 1,500 men of the Oisans maquis. From the end of November 1942 on, the ranks of the maquis swelled with the introduction of the Service du Travail Obligatoire (STO).