Philippines German domination Adolf Hitler built in Europe The idea that Pétain served as a shield protecting France from the much worse fate suffered by Poland, Yugoslavia, and other German-occupied countries was mostly a postwar myth created by his supporters and apologists It was never the German Führer’s intention that France should find a dignified role in his proposed New Order To assume that he did and that craven collaboration would save the best of France from German depredation was Pétain’s cardinal error In fact, even without total victory elsewhere the Germans denuded France of its military assets, ignored its imperial interests, retained its POWs for years, wrecked and subordinated its economy, deported nearly 650,000 of its young people to work in the Greater Reich as forced laborers, and killed as many French Jews as it could For all that, even as France was liberated by the Western Allies during the Normandy campaign, Pétain continued to collaborate with the Nazis, the true national enemy and foreign occupier Pétain’s popularity briefly rose in the spring of 1944 as the French experienced heavy Western bombing and thousands of deaths in advance of Operation OVERLORD Fears of all kinds increased as the Résistance and Milice Franỗaise both grew more violent, and Germans became more vicious and murderous as Germany’s cause failed and her armed forces grew weaker Pétain visited Paris in April, making his first trip north of the Vichy demarcation line He was compelled to leave France for Germany as the Western Allies and Free French advanced following the breakout from Normandy in July He was taken to Sigmaringen in Germany, probably against his will When Germany was invaded in its turn, Pétain voluntarily returned to France via Switzerland, surrendering on April 26 He was tried on charges of treason, convicted, and sentenced to death on August 15, 1945 His age and past service to the nation, especially at Verdun, were taken into account by General Charles de Gaulle There was also the matter of deep national discomfiture over how many French had behaved during the Vichy years and confusion as to what constituted collaboration or resistance That conduced to commutation by de Gaulle of Pétain’s death sentence Condemned to life imprisonment instead, he was imprisoned on the Ỵle d’Yeu off the French coast He died there in 1951 See also Blum, Leon; Laval, Pierre; Maginot Line Suggested Reading: Marc Ferro, Pétain (1987) PETARD See Hobart’s funnies PETSAMO-KIRKENES OPERATION (1944) See Finland PHAYAP ARMY early 1942 The Thai expeditionary army that intervened in Burma in PHILIPPINES At the start of 1941 the Philippine Army had 10 weak divisions in reserve, but only a few active duty or trained or armed units The Navy and Air 845