The Free French Epic From Chad to the Rhine

The milestone commemorated in the airmail issue shown in the legendary wartime epic of the Free French forces under General Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque, textually captured by the motto "Du Tchad au Rhin" (From Chad to the Rhine). This issue honors the military odyssey that began in late 1940 when the African colony of Chad rallied to General de Gaulle. Under Leclerc's leadership, this diverse force of colonial and metropolitan soldiers embarked on an arduous trans-Saharan campaign, capturing the strategic oasis of Kufra in 1941, where they swore the historic "Oath of Kufra" vowing never to lay down arms until the French flag flew over the cathedrals of Metz and Strasbourg. The column fought its way through the Fezzan desert, linked up with Allied armies in Tripoli, and was reorganized into the famous French 2nd Armored Division (2e DB). This division went on to play a vanguard role in the liberation of Paris, the fulfillment of the Kufra oath in Strasbourg, and the ultimate crossing of the Rhine into Nazi Germany, providing a foundational narrative of military redemption and imperial solidarity for post-war France.