Anyone who knows the Vercors knows its breathtaking landscapes, sweeping views and spectacular mountain roads. For passionate motorcyclecyclists alone, that is already enough to make the region unforgettable. But for those fascinated by Second World War history, the Vercors adds a powerful story. During the war, it became the largest Resistance stronghold in France and the scene of one of the fiercest German anti-Resistance operations in Western Europe.

Located between the Isère and Drôme departments, the Vercors is a mountain massif that can be seen as a natural fortress. During the Second World War, around 4,000 Resistance fighters gathered here. From 1942 onward, it offered shelter to refugees, adventurers and men avoiding forced labour in Nazi Germany. This group of former soldiers and civilians, known as the maquis, aimed to disrupt German forces in southern France ahead of the expected Allied landing in Provence. The plan was endorsed by General de Gaulle in London, but it ended in tragedy.

Immediately after D-Day, the maquis in the Vercors began preparing for action. Their success depended on receiving enough weapons and ammunition by airdrop. Without them, they could not hold out for more than a few days against German forces. They hoped for a swift Allied invasion of southern France, Operation Dragoon, but it came too late. The Germans moved first.

After several local attacks, beginning with the Milice — the pro-German police force of the Vichy regime — on 16 April, the maquis was overwhelmed on 21 July 1944 by 10,000 German soldiers, including Gebirgsjäger and Fallschirmtruppen, under General Pflaum. It is considered the largest Wehrmacht repression operation against Resistance fighters in Western Europe during the Second World War. More than 600 maquisards and 200 civilians were killed.

Michiel Janzen organises Battlefield Tours by motorcyclecycle through the Vercors. Since late 2023 he has lived in Lyon and has visited the Vercors region many times.