The history of SNCF is closely linked to that of France. And in World War II some 10,000 railway men and women were killed in action—bombed, shot or deported. To honour their sacrifice we wanted to be part of commemorative events in 2024 and 2025 celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings, the Liberation of France and, ultimately, victory. Through our support for Mission Libération, SNCF was both a sponsor and a carrier for part of the audience attending international ceremonies in Normandy on 6 June 2024. And special exhibitions were also organized in a few of our train stations.

Mission Libération is a Public Interest Group set up by the French government to organize 
events in 2024 and 2025 commemorating the 80^th anniversary of the Normandy landings, the Liberation of France and the Victory of 1945. The programme honours “those who rose up, those who suffered, and those who fought to liberate France”.
 

Ceremonies include commemorations of both WWII landings (in Normandy and in Provence), and the Liberation of Paris (25 August 2024) and Strasbourg (23 November 2024). They also celebrate the role of the French Resistance, and many other events throughout France.
 

Three exhibitions in SNCF railway stations are organized under the Mission Libération programme:

• Two shows at Caen station: “1944 - 2024, a memory to share. 80th anniversary of the Normandy Landings”, in partnership with the SIPA—Ouest France group; and “Caen station’s key role in railway resistance”, through 30 August 2024.
• An exhibition at Bayeux station: “80th anniversary of the Normandy Landings. Bayeux, summer 1944”, in partnership with the town of Bayeux, with photographs from the Imperial War Museum in London. 
• An exhibition at Paris-Montparnasse station dedicated to railway workers in the Resistance and the 80th anniversary of the Liberation of Paris, in partnership with the Musée de la Libération de Paris, the Musée du Général Leclerc and the Musée Jean Moulin, from 15 May to 30 August 2024.
   

Tributes to the role of railway workers in the Resistance and their participation in active fighting during the Liberation are also planned. 

We are committed to making our archives available online, supporting historical research, collecting oral archives, and honouring the memory of victims of deportation and the Shoah as well as the railway men and women who joined the French Resistance. Teaching this history is how we pass it on to new generations.
 

The French Resistance was quick to call on the country’s 500,000 railway workers, whose work allowed them to move around easily and gave them access to useful information.
SNCF staff were issued a special armband with a green and red CF insignia (for chemin de fer or railways) that exempted them from curfews. And when coaches, trucks and private cars no longer had travel permits or fuel, railway staff could still travel by train. Their work assignments led them to cross the demarcation line separating Free and Occupied France.
 

On the night of 5-6 June 1944, as the Allies headed for the Normandy coast, the BBC broadcast 210 “personal messages”—coded calls to roll out nationwide mobilization plans to deflect German forces during the Allied landings.
Resistance railway workers’ Green Plan was designed to bring the rail network to a halt through sabotage. It worked: in the 24 hours after D-Day, almost all rail lines covered by it were cut off. Upheavals continued throughout the summer of 1944, with  820 locomotives damaged. And when damaged tracks were repaired and put back in service, they were quickly sabotaged once again.