Eclaireuses et Eclaireurs Unionistes de France badge with fleur de lis cross

Badge with the 1940 insignia of the Eclaireuses et Eclaireurs Unionistes de France {EEUdF), a Protestant division of the Boy Scouts in France (Scoutisme Français). After France surrendered to Germany in June 1940, scouting was prohibited in the German occupied north, but continued in the south under the French collaborationist Vichy regime. In fall 1943, Germany occupied the south. In the Tarn region, members of an underground fighting EIF unit, Companie Marc-Haguenau, under EIF founder Robert Gamzon, and members of Eclaireuses et Eclaireurs Unionistes de France, a Protestant division of the Scouts, under Robert Cook, formed the core of Maquis de Vabre. Also known as Corps franc de la liberation 10, they joined the French forces of the interior and American commandos to liberate Castres on August 20, 1944, capturing 4500 German soldiers. From 1940-1945, the EEUdF helped hide their Jewish brethren, assisting with false identity papers and uniforms. After the war, these actions were recognized with a Médaille de la Reconnaissance Française.