MovieChat Forums > Hogan's Heroes (1965) Discussion > LeBeau

LeBeau

posted 10 years ago by NeedysBoy
10 replies | jump to latest

When France signed the armistice in 1940, how come LeBeau wasn't released?

 "Maybe it's another dimension. Or, you know, just really deep." --Needy

[–] darryl-tahirali 10 years ago

When France signed the armistice in 1940, how come LeBeau wasn't released? - NeedysBoy

What do you mean? Explain.

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"He not busy bein' born is a-busy dyin'." - Bob Dylan

[–] NeedysBoy 10 years ago

In 1940, Germany blitzed France, and the French government surrendered; so French prisoners should have been released. I bet France freed any German soldiers it held...

 "Maybe it's another dimension. Or, you know, just really deep." --Needy

[–] darryl-tahirali 10 years ago

Yes, but France surrendered to Germany in May 1940. It remained occupied until the summer of 1944 (not counting Vichy France here). Why would Germany release prisoners? Particularly when the terms of the armistice stated specifically that French prisoners would remain so until the cessation of hostilities:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_prisoners_of_war_in_World_War_II

Also, and unless someone has more backstory on LeBeau, I always thought that he was in the Free French Air Force, so his fighting was done after the armistice, after De Gaulle had organized the Free French forces.

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"He not busy bein' born is a-busy dyin'." - Bob Dylan

[–] NeedysBoy 10 years ago

Thanks for the link!

That was very informative.

 "Maybe it's another dimension. Or, you know, just really deep." --Needy

[–] darryl-tahirali 10 years ago

You're welcome!

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"He not busy bein' born is a-busy dyin'." - Bob Dylan

[–] Tim-Buktu 10 years ago

LeBeau was Free French serving under DeGaul.

[–] Calisun71 10 years ago

I've wondered about this too. You notice he wears a shoulder patch that says France and has the French tricolor. That signified him as Free French to distinguish him from a Free Pole or Czech

[–] Calisun71 10 years ago

I've wondered about this too. You notice he wears a shoulder patch that says France and has the French tricolor. That signified him as Free French to distinguish him from a Free Pole or Czech

[–] woodpusher 9 years ago

How does that differ from pre-1940 French soldiers?

[–] cowgoesmoo 8 years ago

I'm not an expert by any means on French uniforms. I did some googling of French uniform images. I've found that French Foreign Legion and Free French uniforms had the "France" shoulder patch and tricolor while the pre-1940 uniforms had the tricolor only. Oddly, the couple of full-color Free French Air Force uniforms were blue, not the brown that Le Beau wears. Then again, Le Beau is a corporal so he likely was a ground crewman and not a pilot.

My search certainly wasn't exhaustive, just what I found in 3-5 minutes of looking.