SD2:Nueve

 is a Free French Infantry unit in Steel Division II.

Background
La nueve (signifying 'nine' in Spanish) referred to the 9th company of the 3rd battalion of the Régiment de Marche du Tchad of 2e Blindée and was mostly composed of Spanish republicans. Spanish republicans fought in the Spanish Civil War against the fascists but were forced to flee to France after the Nationalist government took power. The fall of France later saw Pétain deporting the Spanish republicans back to Spain, and some Spanish refugees decided to join the French resistance. Around 300 of them were later enlisted in the 2e Blindée, seeing action in the North African campaign and the Northwest Europe campaign.

La Nueve, commanded by Raymond Dronne, gained lasting fame as they were amongst the first units to enter Paris and liberate the city. The atmosphere in Paris had been tense and Parisians were starting to revolt against the German garrison stationed there. Fears were that they would be struck down in a bloody fashion. Despite this, Allied high command were initially unwilling to commit resources to liberate the city as they were afraid it would bog down into bloody street fighting. They were persuaded/ threatened by De Gaulle into giving the go-ahead. The 2e Blindée fought their way to the French capital with little regard to losses. They advanced in armoured columns and frontally attacked enemy positions, suffering high losses but their advance units managed to reach Paris by the end of August. On the night of August 24, 1944, the 9th Company 'La nueve' broke into the center of Paris by the Porte d'Italie. Upon entering the town hall square, the Spanish half-track "Ebro" fired the first rounds of a large group of German fusiliers and machine guns. Civilians who went out to the street singing "La Marseillaise" were surprised to learn that the first liberating soldiers were not American or French but all Spanish.