After the Nazi occupation of France Defeated fallen on hard times. Two-thirds of French territory had been occupied by German troops. Being under the yoke of Nazi occupation, the freedom-loving French people do not ceased to struggle against them. To finally break the will of the French people to resist, the German fascist occupation forces and the Vichy government established in France, the bloody regime of violence. They cover the country concentration camps, driven into the underground all democratic organizations, fire and sword to suppress the slightest manifestation of discontent with the Hitler 'new order'.
The French people could not tolerate a situation. He all actively involved in the struggle for freedom of France, for the triumph of democracy. The heroic struggle of the Soviet Union against Nazi Germany intensified resistance to the French people of German-fascist occupiers. Strength of the resistance movement outside the metropolis were consolidated under the leadership of the French National Committee in London. The growth of anti-fascist sentiment is increasingly felt in the army. After the shameful surrender and armistice many French military pilots were still in the parts subject to government Petain. But, finally convinced that the remains of French aviation gradually transformed into an appendage Hitler's war machine, many of them did not want to be traitors to the French nation. True to their homeland, they were getting into the ranks of fighters under the banner of the Free French. In late 1942, the French volunteers – 14 pilots and 58 Aircraft Mechanics – arrived in the Soviet Union to continue the fight against the enemies of their country together with the Red Army.