French Paratroops in France '40 Gold?

[2-81 Armor]

The French had established two groupes d'infanterie de l'air in 1937 -  the 601e GIA and the 602e GIA. Each groupe consisted of an air transport squadron and a company of airborne infantry. They were part of the French Air Force and recruited from metropolitan personnel.

In September of 1939 both groupes were training in North Africa. They returned to France shortly after the outbreak of the war. In March the two companies contributed personnel to a compagnie de marche which was assigned to 27e DI in Alsace (just off the eastern edge of the France 40 map). The compagnie de marche conducted successful raids against German outposts throughout March and April before being withdrawn from the front. In May 1940 the French paratroopers were at Lyon except for a detachment from the 601e GIA which provided security for Vuillemin's headquarters outside Paris. Neither group saw combat during Fall Gelb or Fall Rot. They were sent to Algeria in June to avoid capture.

They are not represented in the OOB as they didn't see any fighting and were deployed well off the map area.

Thanks for the fast answer Mike. It helps clear up a little mystery for me...now I know what happened to them in May-June 1940. I always wondered what they were doing when the German attack came. Short answer seems to be nothing very useful. A waste of some high morale and well trained troops even if their numbers were small.