Béthouart at Briançon — preparing Narvik

Antoine Béthouart, 50, was an elite general: graduate of Polytechnique in 1908, he had headed the Alpine Section of the École militaire de haute montagne at Chamonix in the 1920s. A veteran of 1914-1918, he had commanded in Syria from 1920 to 1925. In December 1939 he took command of the new French High Mountain Brigade, an Alpine formation raised for the Narvik Plan.

The brigade gathered 6,000 chasseurs alpins trained for winter combat, equipped with Rossignol skis, Berthier MAS 36 rifles, 81 mm mortars and 25 mm anti-tank guns. Its mission: to land at Narvik, in Norway, in March 1940, to cut the route of the Swedish iron ore shipped to Germany. The doctrine called for close cooperation with the Royal Navy for escort, support to the Norwegians, and liaison with the Polish Podhalańska Brigade, likewise earmarked for the landing.

From 20 January to 15 February 1940, Béthouart trained his brigade at Briançon, in the Hautes-Alpes: ski exercises at altitude, manoeuvres with 40 kg packs, bivouacs at -25 °C. From 15 to 28 February, the units progressively embarked at Brest aboard 4 chartered liners — the Champollion, the Mexique, the Colombie and the Ville d'Oran. But the Narvik mission was suspended on 12 March 1940: the Peace of Moscow stripped away any pretext for aiding Finland.

Béthouart had to decide his brigade's fate after the cancellation.