What is it? French?

[ITALIANWARFRONT]

Thank you

[ITALIANWARFRONT]

1

[GAMS1]

Corsica symbol on a french flag and napoleonic eagle ?
Nick

[NickG]

Certainly French. N + N is a clue...Something "Nationale"...(organisation)
Could be the Corsica Island symbol...Good detective work!
During the war the Island (French possession but Italian culture) was occupied by the Italians,
so it is not connected to "Vichy" France (WW2) I believe, if it's a Corsica related shield...
however the Napoleonic style eagle was used a lot in the Vichy zone of France...So Corsicans there?

[tankredi]

Certainly French. N + N is a clue...Something "Nationale"...(organisation)
Could be the Corsica Island symbol...Good detective work!
During the war the Island (French possession but Italian culture) was occupied by the Italians,
so it is not connected to "Vichy" France (WW2) I believe, if it's a Corsica related shield...
however the Napoleonic style eagle was used a lot in the Vichy zone of France...So Corsicans there?

Nick, Corsica was occupied by Italy in November 1942 (Operation Anton) after the start of Operation Torch .
Before it was part of Vichy France.

[NickG]

Nick, Corsica was occupied by Italy in November 1942 (Operation Anton) after the start of Operation Torch .
Before it was part of Vichy France.

Good to know, so for 2,5 years the island was under the Vichy France Government after all, only later under the Italian control!
In that case to me it is Vichy related, based on the design elements, but what organisation remains a mystery!!

[GAMS1]

Certainly French. N + N is a clue...Something "Nationale"...(organisation)
Could be the Corsica Island symbol...Good detective work!
During the war the Island (French possession but Italian culture) was occupied by the Italians,
so it is not connected to "Vichy" France (WW2) I believe, if it's a Corsica related shield...
however the Napoleonic style eagle was used a lot in the Vichy zone of France...So Corsicans there?

Don't tell the people of Corsica they are of italian culture ! Unless they will bomb your house and your car ...
They are of Corsica culture !
For your info Corsica was liberated of the Axis occupation in October 43 , not in 45 .
Nick

[Semovente]

Don't tell the people of Corsica they are of italian culture ! Unless they will bomb your house and your car ...
They are of Corsica culture !
For your info Corsica was liberated of the Axis occupation in October 43 , not in 45 .
Nick

I bet Napolean is spinning in his grave.!!?....

[Dennis S]

I showed it to my French friend collector he thought it was a patch for a youth labor
Camp ( not penal ). Possibly Vichy related .

[NickG]

Yes good chance it is that! It looks Vichy to me!
A "Chantiers de la Jeunesse" sleeve badge. Formed in 1940, all young men,
upon reaching the age of conscription were required to serve in the Chantiers de la Jeunesse...
Kind of like German RAD I guess. Road repair, deforesting... dredging, all kind of labor projects...
They had a national design patch but many units came up with their own unique regional patches with
heraldic symbols of the region...
This is their national patch!

[FrenchVolunteer]

Hi,

no Chantiers de jeunesse existed in Corsica as far i know.
The population was only about +200,000 civilians.

Italian Army occuped Corsica in November 1942 up to October 1943 when the Island was liberated. 85,000 Italian and 15,000 German soldiers occupied the Island during that period, almost 1 soldier for 2 civilians.

The patch is of very rough confection.

See You

Vince

[tankredi]

Hi,

no Chantiers de jeunesse existed in Corsica as far i know.
The population was only about +200,000 civilians.

Italian Army occuped Corsica in November 1942 up to October 1943 when the Island was liberated. 85,000 Italian and 15,000 German soldiers occupied the Island during that period, almost 1 soldier for 2 civilians.

The patch is of very rough confection.

See You

Vince

liberated... well, sort of.
On September 8th Italy dropped out of the Axis and declared war on Germany.
Germans on Corsica (about 15K against about 80K Italians) started immediately to disarm Italian troops on the island.
"Liberation" operations began on September 9th when Italian troops together with Corsican partisans started to attack German troops. Especially Italian Friuli division played an important role in the campaign. Without Italian troops fighting the Germans it would have been way harder for French troops and partisans to "liberate" the island.