The fighting in the Jura mountains: Mijoux-La Faucille
From the morning of 18 June, the Germans advanced along 2 axes!
Par Claude Grosjean
Coming from Lons-le-Saunier, elements of the 13th reconnaissance battalion, followed by the 3rd motorised battalion of the 93 infantry regiment (IR 93), advanced along 2 axes:
To the west, they crossed Oyonnax and occupied Châtillon-en-Michaille, in order to take the bridges over the Rhône.
To the north, they occupied Saint-Claude, then Mijoux, in order to seize the Col de la Faucille, then Gex.
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On the evening of 18 June, a motorised element of the 230th Demi-brigade Alpine de Forteresse (DBAF) moved on the Col de la Faucille, held by elements of the 440th Régiment de Pionniers (RP).
At dawn on the 19th, the Alpins set up a major roadblock below the pass on the wooded foothills of the road to Mijoux.
German reconnaissance vehicles coming up the road from Mijoux came up against the blockade and suffered casualties.
Taking cover in the blind spots of the road, they tried to overrun the road from above, but to no avail. Unable to break through, they turned back.
The French returned to the pass in the evening, to protect elements of the 440th RP as they continued to destroy the road over the pass to Gex and the road to Divonne.
The Germans stationed at Mijoux abandoned their attack on the pass and left the village at the end of the day, heading for Châtillon via the Mijoux valley.
