On March 10, 1944, on a snow-covered plateau on the Western Front of World War II, 28-year-old Théodose Morel, a leader of the French Resistance, was killed in action during a battle with the Vichy regime's Gendarmerie Militaire (GMR).

 　　On the Western Front during World War II, on March 10th 1944, 28-year-old Théodore Morel, a leader of the French Resistance, was killed in action during a battle with the GMR (the Vichy government's organized paramilitary National Guard). A solemn funeral was held for all of the maquisards on the snow-covered plateau. As the days passed, the Vichy regime's grip on Grières tightened. On March 25, the German troops of the 157th Alpine Division prepared their positions for an attack on March 26.

　　The Maquis de Glières was a Free French resistance group that fought against the German occupation of France during the Second World War from 1940 to 1944. The operation against the Maquis in Haute-Savoie was triggered by the discovery of the bodies of several policemen who had been killed.　The Maquis benefited from the arrival of 120 fighters from Chablais and Giffre. Morel led a more dangerous operation against the GMR troops in Entremont on the Plateau de Glières. GMR commander Lefebvre, who arrived on March 7, refused to talk to the Maquis. On March 9 and 10, more than 100 Maquis took part in the operation. The unit under Morel's direct command succeeded in capturing the French Hotel where the GMR members were staying. The captured GMR members laid down their arms, but Lefebvre took out a gun he had hidden and fired at Morel from close range, hitting him in the heart and killing him instantly. Lefebvre was also killed by the Maquis immediately afterwards.

　　On March 26th 1944, the German army turned the offensive. A German patrol unit, a mountain corps, attacked the exit of the plateau and occupied the forward base in the rear. The Maquis were overwhelmed by the Germans, who outnumbered them, and were ordered to retreat. In the days that followed, the Germans killed 120 Maquis.The damage and defeat in the Savoie region gave a boost to the French Resistance in the spring of 1944.