During the period 1940-42 was the french village of Mugron (in Les
Landes) in the Occupied Zone of france, or was it in the unoccupied
zone ("Vichy France"). Basically I'd like see a map with sufiicient
detail to answer the question.  (From the small-scall maps I have been
able to find, I can see that it was pretty close to the border...)

Hello botogol

This was a challenge but I am pleased to have come up with a definite
answer: Mugron was in the occupied zone.

The "ligne de démarcation" (demarcation line) is drawn on a
just-big-enough map on a page which luckily also has a helpful list of
towns along the line, including Mont-de-Marsan, St Sever, Hagetmau and
Orthez.  These clearly follow a line to the east of Mugron.

"Dans la région, la ligne de démarcation passait près d’Angoulême,
Aubeterre et Ribérac, Montpont, Castillon et Ste Foy, La Réole, Auros,
Roquefort, Mont-de-Marsan, St Sever, Hagetmau, Orthez, Mauléon, St
Jean Pied de Port."
http://www.matisson-consultants.com/affaire-papon/demarcation.htm

Checking against another map makes all this clearer. A transport map
for les Landes shows the relevant places here:
http://www.landes.org/fr_vivre_deplacer_collectif.asp?Num=2
(Click on it to open a new window with an enlarged map.)

I found that viewing this transport map alongside the "ligne de
démarcation" map made everything more obvious. Tracing the demarcation
line through Mont-de-Marsan, St Sever, Hagetmau and Orthez puts Mugron
clearly to the left or west, and thus in the occupied zone.

Saving the "ligne de démarcation" map and enlarging it does help a
little, but not with the lettering.

Another useful map showing Mugron is here:
http://www.multimap.com/wi/20571.htm



EXTRA INFORMATION

This page confirms that Mont-de-Marsan and Orthez were key points on
the line:
http://www.duhamel.bz/souvenir/1940.htm

The line passed slightly to the south of Mont-de-Marsan:
http://www.passant-ordinaire.com/revue/34-224.asp

Confirmation that Hagetmau was near the line and just within the
occupied zone:
http://www.sudouest.com/papon/retro/971219/
http://www.sudouest.com/papon/retro/971218/article/1218201337.htmarticle/1219183201.htm
http://www.sudouest.com/papon/retro/971217/article/1217194432.htm

While searching I came across a page describing resistance in this
part of occupied France. The places where partisans were arrested fit
into the picture neatly:
"Le 1er juin 1942, Georges Randé est arrêté à *Mont de Marsan*. Entre
le 27 mai et le 3 juin ont été également arrêtés Jean Lassalle
résinier à *Lencouacq*, Edouard Grégoire chauffeur routier à *Saint
Paul Lès Dax* et Gilbert Dupau sabotier à *Carcen-Ponson* (2). Après
quelques jours à la prison de Mont de Marsan le Fort du Hâ les attend.
Le 19 juin 1942 ils comparaissent tous quatre devant la Cour Spéciale
de Bordeaux.
Acte d'accusation commun : reconstitution de parti ; dissous. Georges
Randé : responsabisation armée à Mont de Marsan ; Gilbert Dupau :
sabotage des usines de résine de *Tartas* et Carcen-Ponson le 1er mai
1942; "
http://www.fusilles-souge.asso.fr/liste_fusilles/rande_georges.html
(The asterisks are mine to highlight place names.)


My search started with trying out some place names and combining them
with "zone libre", "zone occupée" and so on. Mugron didn't help but I
found the key website with this search:
"St Sever" "zone libre"
://www.google.co.uk/search?q=%22st+sever%22+%22zone+libre%22&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

Then combining "ligne de démarcation" with place names produced some
confirmation but no new material.

The search which led me to the transport map was:
carte mugron mont-de-marsan
://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=carte+mugron+mont-de-marsan&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

Thanks for a question which led to some very interesting webpages,
with moving stories along the way.

Please don't hesitate to ask if I can clarify anything; I'd be happy
to help.

Best wishes - Leli

this is a great answer, thanks, with lots of interesting information.

The following map, showing Mugron and the other mentioned places,
might be helpful and interesting as well:

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/sylvain.chardon/locom/loc_listcomd40.htm

This was a great answer -  I'm currently near Mugron (on holiday) and
there is a little memorial nearby with the names of four resistance
fighters killed in the War, from Lahosse.  Their names don't appear
anywhere on the web (until now!) and they were
Daniel Saubausse
Jean Deyris
Jean Dangoumau
Henri Campagne

This all happened in 1944, after the ligne of demarcation ceased to
exist and all of froance was occupied.

They were in a group lead by Rene Soubaigne, for whom the school in
Mugron is now named.

Botogol - thanks for the nice feedback and stars.

But even more - thank-you for the extra information. I love finding
out more when I've become interested in a topic - and I'm delighted
that you've added the Mugron memorial details to the internet's store
of knowledge!

Enjoy the rest of your holiday ~

Leli