Narvik in France

Aix-en-Provence

With historical reenactors from the association Forty Four Memories in 9th DIC uniform, a unit of the Free French Forces that took part in the liberation of the region in 1944.

Aix: Film / Inauguration of Place de Narvik, May 4, 1969.

Annecy

With historical reenactors from the association Histoire et Mémoire Militaire Alpine, dressed as Alpine Chasseurs who joined the Maquis.

When the 27th BCA was dissolved in 1942, most of its officers joined the secret army and became essential elements of the armed resistance until the liberation of Annecy on August 19, 1944.

Surrounded by the Resistance, the German garrison surrendered—largely because it believed a false report broadcast by Swiss radio claiming that the maquis numbered 15,000 fighters, which was of course not the case.

Haute-Savoie is the only department in France that was entirely liberated by the FFI (French Forces of the Interior)alone.

Annecy: Film / The Chasseur maquis fighters and the liberation of Annecy.

Beauvezer

In this small municipality, mayor Brice Garnier, a former officer of the French Army, is particularly attached to our history and to the duty of remembrance. I know him well, and when I spoke to him a few months ago about our project “Narvik in France,” he immediately felt he could contribute to bringing this glorious page of our military history back into the light.

Beauvezer is a small village in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, and the Alps were at the heart of the Norwegian campaign through the creation of the High Mountain Brigade, which included six battalions of Alpine Chasseurs from across the region.

Almost 80 years after the first “Rue de Narvik” in Grenoble, the circle closes again in our mountains.

On February 7, 2026, we gathered to inaugurate the symbolic “Passage de Narvik” in Beauvezer. Rune Edvardsen, mayor of Narvik, made the trip, highlighting how strong the ties between Narvik and France remain—even 85 years later. He was accompanied by his Director of Culture and members of the Vinterfestuka team.

On the French side, local officials and residents were present, but the memory of the Alpine troops was also represented by historical reenactors from the association AHVAE (Association d’Histoire Vivante et d’Archéologie Expérimentale) in Narvik 1940 Alpine Chasseur uniforms, as well as the FRESM (Federation for the Outreach and Mutual Support of Mountain Soldiers), led by its president, General Vincent Pons.

At the end of the ceremony, Alain Fine, one of our reenactors, told us about Jean Dulla, a young soldier of the 14th BCA, killed on May 17, 1940, and buried in Narvik.

Originally from the small village of Peira Cava in the hills behind Nice, Alain discovered a memorial plaque there that had been placed by members of his motorcycle club. After contacting Dulla’s family, he honored him at that memorial together with the village mayor.

He then gave us a small amount of soil from Jean Dulla’s birthplace, so that we could symbolically place it on his grave in Narvik. We will do so as soon as the snow that covers his gravestone each winter has melted.

Beauvezer: Photos / Jean Dulla.

Belley / Chazey-Bons / Virieu-le-Grand

With historical reenactors from Cristal 7 – From the Ain Maquis to the 6th BCA, dressed as FFI resistance fighters and Alpine Chasseurs of the 6th BCA.

Also present at the ceremony in Chazey were the sub-prefect of Belley, the mayors of Chazey-Bons and Virieu-le-Grand, the representative of the ONM, former mayors of Chazey, the president of the National Association of Veterans of the 8th BCP and the Diables Bleus of Lyon, flag bearers from alpine units and patriotic associations.

These three neighboring municipalities are linked through their common connection to Narvik. In the Bugey region, the entire 1940 Expeditionary Corps gathered, trained and acclimatized before departing for Brest and embarking for Norway.

In early February, battalions of the new BHM (High Mountain Brigade) arrived around Belley. At the end of March, the newly formed 13th DBMLE joined them, and the area became known to the troops as the refreshment zone.

The units later departed successively for the port of Brest, many leaving from Virieu station, whose square was later named Place de Narvik.

On February 28, 1940, at Chazey-Bons, Colonel Béthouart gathered the six battalions of the BHM for the first time and presented them to the Commander-in-Chief of the French Armed Forces, General Gamelin.

It was here that the municipality and the associations of former Alpine Chasseurs built a monument commemorating the BHM and the victory at Narvik.

Belley / Chazey-Bons / Virieu-le-Grand 1: Photos / Alpine Chasseurs in the Bugey before departure for Norway.

Belley / Chazey-Bons / Virieu-le-Grand 2: Photos / The monument and its inauguration in 1990.

Briançon

With historical reenactors from the association Souvenir Sauvegarde et Histoire Militaire du Briançonnais, and during the ceremony at the war memorial, patriotic associations and their flags, Mrs. Barnéoud (deputy mayor of Briançon), as well as children from Carlhian-Rippert School accompanied by their headmistress.

Briançon claims the title of the highest city in Europe, and in these Alpine mountains the Chasseurs once again played a key role in history.

The historic regiment here was the 159th Alpine Infantry Regiment (159 RIA), also known as 15/9, which was stationed there for nearly 200 years. During the Second World War it fought both against the Germans in northern and eastern France and against the Italians locally.

At the end of the war, together with the Free French Forces, and including veterans of Narvik in its ranks, it advanced into Austria under the command of General Béthouart.

The Square de Narvik in Briançon was inaugurated on May 3, 1974, in the presence of the Norwegian ambassador, during the annual congress of the Narvik veterans’ association. As we symbolically did again this year, they also held a ceremony at the city’s war memorial.

Briançon: Film / Inauguration of Square de Narvik in 1964.

Brest

You will notice that Rue de Narvik is written both in French and in Breton (a preserved regional language), much like in our region where signs appear in Norwegian and Sami.

Here we are with historical reenactors from the association Brest 44, dressed as Alpine Chasseurs – Narvik 1940, ready to embark for Norway.

Rue de Narvik, which leads to the port from which all the troops departed for Norway in 1940, was inaugurated on April 12, 1970, during the annual congress of the Narvik veterans’ association.

All the forces that fought victoriously at Narvik departed from the Port of Brest in April 1940.

Brest 1: Film / Embarkation of the expeditionary corps.

Brest 2: Film / Inauguration of Rue de Narvik.

Evian

With historical reenactors from Passion Patrimoine Gessien, dressed as soldiers of the 179th Alpine Fortress Battalion.

This unit was part of the Army of the Alps, which — like the expeditionary corps in Norway — could claim not to have been defeated in 1940.

The 179th distinguished itself particularly in the defense of Fort l’Ecluse against the Wehrmacht in June 1940, surrendering only on orders well after the armistice had been signed.

Rue de Narvik was inaugurated on May 20, 1973, during the annual congress of the Narvik Veterans Association, many of whose members were from Savoy.

Grenoble

With historical reenactors from the association Les Conflits de l’Oubli, dressed as Alpine Chasseurs of the 6th BCA, along with two former Alpine Chasseur officers from the Federation for the Outreach and Mutual Support of Mountain Soldiers.

Grenoble is a key city in the history of the Alpine troops and was among the first to give the name Narvik to one of its streets, in 1948.

Grenoble: Photos / From 1940 to 2026 – the 6th BCA and the Chasseurs’ flag.

La Ciotat

With historical reenactors from the association Forty Four Memories in 1944 13th DBLE uniform.

Boulevard de Narvik was inaugurated in early June 1955, in the presence of the mayor and a delegation of Norwegian veterans of Narvik.

La Ciotat: Photos / Then and now.

Lançon-Provence

With historical reenactors from the association Forty Four Memories in colonial infantry uniforms from 1940 and 1944.

In Lançon, we meet the children of Mr. Antoine Toran, mayor of the city from 1965 to 1995 and a former combatant, Alpine Chasseur at Narvik.

Lançon: Photos / Antoine Toran, former mayor and Alpine Chasseur at Narvik.

Malestroit

With historical reenactors from the associations FDABCCC29 (Departmental Federation of Armored Cavalry – Combat Tanks – of Finistère) and LBMG (Les Bunkers Mémoire de Guerre), dressed in Polish and French uniforms from 1940.

On Rue de Narvik stands the monument commemorating the Polish Podhale Rifle Brigade, which was formed in this village before departing to fight in Norway alongside French forces within the Expeditionary Corps.

After the invasion of September 1939, the Polish government took refuge in France along with 32,000 soldiers. By early 1940, with the addition of 50,000 immigrants of first, second or third generation, an army of more than 80,000 men was reconstituted in France. One of the first brigades to be reformed would take part in the liberation of Narvik.

Malestroit: Film / On April 10, 1940, at the site of the current monument, the brigade received its flag and the soldiers swore an oath to the President of the Polish Republic in exile in France.

Martigues / Laveira

A particular story awaits us in this town and in this photo, where you can see no Rue de Narvik. Yet it was here, on July 3, 1965, in the presence of Narvik veterans, that a beautiful Place de Narvik was inaugurated in front of the Hôtel des Gens de Mer, which at the time hosted many Norwegian sailors manning tankers coming from Norway.

Unfortunately, over time, changes in the oil port and the development of safety measures made the hotel unusable because it was located in a high-risk industrial zone. It disappeared, and Place de Narvik disappeared with it. This area, turned into wasteland, was eventually sold to a petrochemical company and became an industrial site in its own right.

In the photo, Ms. Sophie Bertran de Balanda, architect and urban planner, tells us this very special story, about which she has written a book (HOT… le jardin des gens de mer, histoire d’une disparition).

Martigues / Laveira: Film / Inauguration of Place de Narvik in 1965.

Nice

Ceremony at the stela dedicated to the expeditionary corps and the victory of Narvik, in the presence of numerous patriotic associations (including veterans of the Alpine Chasseurs), representatives of the city of Nice and the Alpes-Maritimes department, the Honorary Consul and Vice-Consul of Norway in Nice, representatives of the French Navy and the departmental military delegate, as well as historical reenactors from the association AHVAE dressed as Alpine Chasseurs of Narvik 1940.

The city of Nice was historically a garrison town for Alpine Chasseurs, notably the 6th BCA, which fought at Narvik in 1940. The Narvik veterans’ association, which had a strong local section in Nice, initiated the construction of this stela, inaugurated on March 31, 1956.

Originally located near the railway station in an area later redeveloped, the stela was moved and highlighted again at its new location, which was named Jardin de Narvik on May 28, 2011.

Born January 20, 1915, Jean Manesero served as an Alpine Chasseur in the 12th BCA at Narvik in 1940. In 2010, he was one of the last survivors of the 1940 campaign and returned to Narvik for the 70th anniversary commemorations. Speaking on Norwegian television, he said: “Now I can die.” Yet in 2011 he was still present to inaugurate the renewed stela in the new Jardin de Narvik. He passed away later that same year, on November 22.

Nice 1: Photo / Section of the Narvik veterans’ association.

Nice 2: Film / Commemoration at the former Square de Narvik.

Nice 3: Film / Jean Manesero on Norwegian TV NRK in 2010.

Nice 4: Photos / Installation of the stela in the new Jardin de Narvik.

Oyonnax

With historical reenactors from Cristal 7 – From the Ain Maquis to the 6th BCA, dressed as FFI resistance fighters.

The Ain Maquis was one of many resistance groups operating in mountainous and forested areas that were difficult to access.

After the Narvik campaign, many Alpine Chasseurs returning from Norway joined and led these maquis groups, formed by young French men who wanted to continue the fight and refused to go to Germany for the STO (Compulsory Labour Service).

The group became famous in 1943, when it decided to commemorate November 11 in Oyonnax, which was under German occupation.

Arriving in trucks, the resistance fighters secured the town’s entrances and marched through the streets in formation to the war memorial, where they laid a wreath in the shape of the Cross of Lorraine, symbol of Free France.

In 1944, after the Provence landings, a large part of this maquis re-formed the 6th BCA, which had fought at Narvik and later accompanied the 1st French Army all the way to Austria.

Some young Frenchmen sent to the STO were deported not only to Germany but also to Norway.

Three of them — aged 21 to 23 — were interned at the Susendal camp in the municipality of Hattfjelldal. They escaped but were recaptured a few days later, on August 19, 1944, executed and buried in the forest without any marker.

In 1946, they were exhumed and placed in the cemetery of Sørvollen, alongside 27 Soviet prisoners. In 1962, at the request of the French government, their remains were transferred to the Narvik cemetery and placed beside the 119 soldiers killed in the 1940 campaign, under a single gravestone bearing their three names:

– Alfred Corbineau

– Léon David

– Georges Gonin

Oyonnax 1: Film / The November 11, 1943 parade in Oyonnax.

Oyonnax 2: Photos / Three French STO prisoners buried in Narvik.

Plougonvelin

Ceremony at the National Memorial to Sailors who died for France, with the president and members of the association Aux Marins, the president and flag of the Union Nationale des Combattants section of Ploudalmézeau, and the Honorary Consul of Norway in Brest.

On June 15–16, 2015, the association Aux Marins was present in Narvik to sign, together with Le Souvenir Français and the city of Narvik, a charter ensuring the preservation in our cemetery of the plaque commemorating the 128 sailors lost from the destroyer Bison, sunk at Namsos on May 3, 1940, during the Norwegian campaign, before the second part of the expeditionary corps moved toward the Narvik region.

It is an opportunity to link the memory of the soldiers who fought at Narvik with those who had previously fought at Namsos.

It is also a reminder that the destroyer Milan fought in the Narvik fjord, where it was struck by a bomb on May 22 during a German air attack.

Plougonvelin 1: Documents / The Navy in Norway – 1940 / Namsos / Bison / Milan / Memory of Narvik and Plougonvelin.

Plougonvelin 2: Film / 80th anniversary commemoration with the mayor of Namsos and a representative of Le Souvenir Français.

Riez

With members of the folklore group Lou Colostro in traditional Provençal costumes.

Here we chose to make a nod to Narvik and its French Festival of 1956, which was at the origin of the Vinterfestuka we know today.

On the one hand, we draw a parallel between the Rallar costumes worn during our festival and these French regions that continue to preserve the memory of their local history and traditional clothing.

During the French Festival of 1956, a parade of French regional costumes (including that of Provence) was presented by young women from Narvik.

Photos: Traditional Rallar costumes and the parade of French regional costumes during the French Festival of 1956.

Saint-Étienne

With members of the Friends of the Mining Museum Association dressed as miners.

Another nod to Narvik: Saint-Étienne was a mining city (coal) from the 13th century until 1983.

Just like the mining activity in Kiruna, which led to the creation of Narvik, the life of these two cities revolved around mining.

In 1955, the mayor of Narvik Sverre Øvergård, accompanied by a delegation of Norwegian veterans from Narvik, visited Saint-Étienne and received a miner’s lamp as a gift — a powerful symbol.

During preparations for the Normandy landings, the Allies attempted on May 26, 1944 to destroy the railway installations in Saint-Étienne that were vital for the Germans. Unfortunately, inaccurate bombings destroyed a large part of the city, causing 1,000 deaths and 2,000 injuries among the population.

The city was liberated on August 20 without battle, as German troops fled before the arrival of Free French and Allied forces.

Saint-Étienne: Photos / The 1955 visit and miner’s lamp offered to the mayor of Narvik, and various photos of the mining history and the 1944 bombing.

Saint-Michel-de-Chabrillanoux

With historical reenactors from the association Le Clan d’Helvie dressed as Vikings.

Here we chose to make a historical nod by highlighting the earliest relations between France and Norway, and more generally Scandinavia, from where the Vikings came to visit us — not always peacefully — in those times.

However, this village chose to give the name Narvik to this small square and stone path because a former Narvik veteran lived here: Albert Dejours, an Alpine Chasseur of the 14th BCA, who later served as mayor of the municipality for more than 30 years, until 1983.

After Narvik, Albert Dejours joined the Resistance, and in 1944 he joined the 159th Alpine Infantry Regiment, fighting in the Alps and later in Austria under the command — as in 1940 — of General Béthouart, Commander-in-Chief of the French Forces and later High Commissioner of the French Republic in Austria until 1950.

He left for posterity his war diary, recounting his adventure in Norway in 1940.

Photos: Albert Dejours.

Sciez

Ceremony at the monument honoring the expeditionary corps in Norway, in the presence of the current mayor and his predecessors (including the one who initiated the monument), elected officials, presidents of patriotic associations and their flag bearers, and the local population.

Several young men from this village and the region had fought at Narvik — and somewhat surprisingly in Haute-Savoie, some had served in the French Navy.

In fact, it is not so surprising: having spent their lives navigating Lake Geneva, they already knew how to sail and likely longed for more distant horizons.

The monument was inaugurated on May 8, 1999, in the presence of Odd Andreassen, mayor of Narvik.

Sciez: Photos / Inauguration of the commemorative monument.

Suresnes / Mont Valérien Memorial

Ceremony in front of the high relief commemorating the victory at Narvik. Present were students from the Norwegian section of the International School of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, the president and the flags of the local branches of the associations Le Souvenir Français and Rhin et Danube, officers of the Alpine Chasseurs, representatives of the city of Suresnes, the granddaughter of General Béthouart (who commanded the Franco-Polish forces at Narvik in 1940), and the Vinterfestuka team.

Requested by General de Gaulle, the memorial honors the memory of all those who died for France between 1940 and 1945. Stretching more than 100 meters in length, it consists of a 12-meter Cross of Lorraine, symbol of Free France, surrounded by 16 high reliefs corresponding to 16 tombs located in the crypt. These symbolize the many forms of combat against the enemy through the names of battles, actions, forces or specific places – including Narvik. The memorial was inaugurated on June 17 and 18, 1960 by General de Gaulle.

Suresnes: Film / Inauguration of the Memorial.

Toulon

With historical reenactors from the association Forty Four Memories in 1944 Free French 13th DBLE uniform.

Rue de Narvik was inaugurated on April 23, 1961, in this city which was liberated on August 27, 1944, notably by the 13th DBMLE, which had fought at Narvik in 1940 and later became the first unit of the Free French Forces. It was the return to France of the 13th DBLE, which had left in June 1940.

Toulon: Film / Liberation of Toulon.

Valence / Guilherand-Granges

With historical reenactors from the association Drôme 44 in various uniforms related to the history of the war and liberation in the region:

– US 1944, orderly, Nurse and 82nd Airborne
– French armored lieutenant and liaison soldier 1940
– Commando Kieffer, Liberation 1944
– Gendarme of the Vercors Maquis
– The personal uniform of Captain Tournissa, French pilot 1940

Gendarmes often played an important role in the Resistance, despite – and often thanks to – their official position within the institutions of the Vichy government.

The gendarmerie brigade of La Chapelle en Vercors was the only constituted gendarmerie unit to be awarded the Medal of the Resistance.

Captain Jean Tournissa, known by the Resistance pseudonym Paquebot, was parachuted into the region on the night of July 6–7, 1944, with the mission of preparing an airfield for Allied aviation. He was killed in action in the region on August 28, 1944.

Valence / Guilherand 1: Photos / The gendarmerie brigade of La Chapelle en Vercors.

Valence / Guilherand 2: Photos / Captain Tournissa.

Villefranche-sur-Mer

With historical reenactors from the AHAVE (Association d’Histoire Vivante et d’Archéologie Expérimentale), dressed as Alpine Chasseurs of Narvik 1940, the representative of the city of Villefranche, the pennant of the 22nd BCA veterans’ association and the mountain troops, several former Alpins, and the Honorary Vice-Consul of Norway in Nice.

The Jardin de Narvik was inaugurated on April 1, 1956, during the annual congress of the Narvik veterans’ association, in the presence of its honorary president, General Béthouart, who had commanded the 24th BCA in this same town before the war.

Villefranche: Photos / Commander Béthouart, head of the 24th BCA from 1928 to 1930

Yvetot

There is probably little history here, with these residential buildings named Narvik, alongside others named Oslo. Yet it is no coincidence that after Oslo, the first Norwegian city name chosen was Narvik, as it is deeply rooted in the French collective memory.