I came across a listing of 5 American citizens who actually signed up in the SS. They were POWs I recall, except for one who deserted in the Middle East, made his way to Italy, then behind Axis lines. After the war this enterprising individual was tried and imprisoned for desertion, then released, then imprisoned on the treason charge. At least a couple of the others died in combat.
Vichy France was formally neutral, but tilted toward Germany. Churchill attacking the French Navy at Oran didnt help Vichy's attitude toward the British any. (That's also why some of the British troops landing on French territory in Operation Torch carried American flags.) When the Allies invaded North Africa, the Germans occupied all of Vichy, and the French fleet at Toulon scuttled itself to stay out of German hands. At this point, many of the Vichy troops in France deserted into the brush ("maquis") with their weapons, swelling the numbers and effectiveness of the resistance many times over.
