French officers  |  home


Amiral Philippe Marie Joseph Raymond AUBOYNEAU

Awards:
KCB (Hon.) 1946.

Positions:
Commandant les Forces Maritimes Françaises de la Méditerranée, 1955; Member of Conseil Supérieur de la Marine, and of Conseil Supérieur des Forces Armées.

Personal details:
Born 9 November 1899; son of Gaston Auboyneau and Germaine de la Motte­Ango de Flers.

Education:
Lycée Carnot, Paris. Entered École Navale, 1917.

Work:
Enseigne de Vaisseau, 1918; served in torpedo­boats and destroyers in the Channel till November 1918; Lt de Vaisseau, 1925; Brevet École de Guerre Navale, 1934; Capitaine de Corvette, 1935; Capitaine de Frégate, 1939; Capitaine de Vaisseau, 1940; Rear­Admiral, 1942; Vice­Adm., 1945; Vice­Amiral d'Escadre, 1952; Admiral, 1957; Commands: Motor Launch Flotilla of the Danube and Black Sea, 1919-1920; Survey Ship Alidade, 1926-1927; Gunboat Doudart de Lagree (Yangtse Flotilla), 1930-1932; Destroyer Orage, 1937-1939; Light Cruiser Le Triomphant and 1st Light Cruiser Division, 1940-1942; C­in­C Fighting French Naval Forces, 1942-1944; 3rd Div. of Cruisers,
1944-1945; C­in­C French Naval Forces in the Far East, 1945-1947; Inspector of French Naval Aviation, 1947-1949; C­in­C French Forces (Army, Navy, Air Force). Indian Ocean, 1949-1951; Gen. Inspector of French Navy, 1951-1952. C­in­C, French Naval Forces in Far East, 1952-1954.

Publications:
Rôle de la marine française sur le Yang­Tse­Kiang, 1933; Guerre de succession de Pologne-Campagne de la Baltique, 1935.

Recreations:
Yachting, golf, etc.

Last address:
74 Rue Raynouard, Paris, 16e.

Death:
Died 22 February 1961
 

Général Georges Albert Julien CATROUX

Awards:
Hon. GCB 1946; Grand Croix de la Légion d'Honneur; Médaille Militaire; Compagnon de la Libération; Commander, Legion of Merit, US; Grand Chancelier de la Légion d'Honneur, 1954-1969.

Personal details:
Born 29 January 1877.

Education:
St Cyr.

Work:
Served European War, 1914-1916 (wounded, prisoner). Commanded 14th Infantry Div., French Army, 1936; later 19th Corps, Algiers; Gov.­Gen., Indo­China, 1939-1940; Free French High Comr and General de Gaulle's rep. in Near East, 1940; C­in­C Free French in Levant, 1941; Gov.­Gen. of Algeria, 1943-1944; Comr of State for Moslem Affairs, French Cttee of Nat. Liberation, 1943; Minister for North Africa, French Provisional Govt, 1944; French Ambassador in Moscow, 1945-1948; Conseiller du Gouvernement Français, 1948-1949; French Resident Minister in Algeria, January-February 1956.

Publications:
Dans la Bataille de Méditerranée, 1949; J'ai vu tomber le rideau de fer, 1951; Lyautey le Marocain, 1952; Deux Missions en Moyen Orient, 1958; Deux actes du Drame Indochinois, 1959.

Last address:
7 rue Juliette Lamber, Paris XVII.

Death:
Died 21 December 1969

Amiral de la Flotte Jean François DARLAN

Awards:
Médaille Militaire, Grand Croix Légion d'Honneur; GCVO 1938; Croix de Guerre; Chief of State in French Africa since 1942.

Personal details:
Born Nerac (Lot et Garonne), 7 August 1881; son of Jean Baptiste Darlan and Marie Marguerite Espagnac; married 1910, Berthe Morgan; one son.

Education:
Lycée St Louis, Paris.

Work:
Entré à l'École Navale, 1899; Enseigne de vaisseau, 1902; Lieutenant de vaisseau, 1912; Capitaine de corvette, 1918; Capitaine de frégate, 1920; Capitaine de vaisseau, 1926; Contre Amiral, 1929; Vice Amiral, 1932; Trois citations pendant la grande guerre; Campagnes de guerre en Chine et contre l'Allemagne et ses alliés; Commandements exercés; 4e Groupe de canonniers marins, Flottille du Rhin, avisos Altaïr, Chamois, Ancre, croiseur Jeanne d'Arc et Edgar Quinet, 1re division de croiseurs, Escadre de l'Atlantique; Commandant en Chef des Forces Maritimes Françaises; Minister of Navy and Mercantile Marine, France; Vice­President of the Council of Ministers, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and the Navy, Acting Secretary of State for War, and Minister for National Defence, Pétain Government, 1941-1942; Commander­in­Chief of the land, sea, and air forces, Vichy, 1942.

Death:
Died 24 December 1942
 

Général Maurice Gustave GAMELIN

Awards:
Grand Croix Légion d'Honneur; Médaille Militaire Française; Grand Croix de l'Ordre du Bain, 1939; Grand Croix de Victoria, 1938; Compagnon St Michel et St George, 1915.

Personal details:
Born 20 September 1872.

Education:
Entra à l'École Spéciale Militaire de Saint­Cyr en 1891.

Work:
Sorti 1er et nommé en 1893 Sous­lieutenant au 3eme régiment de Tirailleurs algériens; Lieutenant, 1895; à l'École de Guerre, 1899-1901; Capitaine, 1901; Affecté en 1904 au 15eme Btn de Chasseurs à pied; Officier d'Ordonnance du Général Joffre, 1906; l'État­Major du 2eme C. A. lorsque le Général Joffre en prend le Commandement; Chef de Cabinet du Général Joffre, 1911; Chef de Bataillon, 1911; Lieut­Col 1914; Général de Brigade et Commandant d'une Division, 1916; Chef de la Mission militaire au Brésil, 1919; Commandant Supérieur des Troupes du Levant, 1925; Général de Division, 1925; Commandant de Corps d'Armée, 1927; Commandant du 20eme Corps d'Armée (Nancy) 1929; 1er Sous­Chef de l'État­Major de l'Armée, 1930, et Chef d'État­Major Général de l'Armée et Membre du Conseil Supérieur de la Guerre, 1931; Vice­Président du Conseil Supérieur de la Guerre et Chef d'État­Major Général, 1935; Chef d'État­Major Général de la Défense Nationale, 1938; Commandant en Chef des Forces Terrestres jusqu'à 1940.

Publications:
Œuvres Militaires.

Last address:
55 Av. Foch, Paris 16e. Telephone: Kle 8897.

Death:
Died 18 April 1958

Général Charles André Joseph Marie De GAULLE

Positions:
President of the French Republic, 1959-1969; President of the “Communauté” (Française).

Personal details:
Born 22 November 1890; son of Henri de Gaulle and Jeanne Maillot­Delannoy; married 1921, Yvonne Vendroux; one son one daughter (and one daughter decd).

Education:
Saint­Cyr Academy.

Work:
Served as Captain, European War, 1914-1918; served War of 1939-1945 as General of Brigade, and Commander 4th Armoured Division, 1940; Under­Secretary National Defence, June 1940; Chief of Free French, then President of French National Committee, London and Brazzaville, 1940-1942; President of French Committee of National Liberation, Algiers, 1943; President of Provisional Government of the French Republic and Head Chief of Armies, 1944-1946; Founder of “Rassemblement du peuple français”, 1947. President of French Government 2 June 1958-8 January 1959. Royal Victorian Chain, 1960.

Publications:
La Discorde chez l'ennemi, 1924; Le fil de l'Epée, 1932; Vers l'Armée de métier, 1934; La France et son Armée, 1938 (Eng. edn, 1945); Discours et Messages, 1947; Mémoires de guerre: l'Appel, Vol. 1, 1954 (Eng. trans, The Call to Honour, 1955); Vol. II, l'Unité, 1956; Vol. III, Le Salut, 1959 (Eng. trans, Salvation, 1960); Mémoires d'Espoir: Le Renouveau, 1958-1962, 1970; L'Effort, 1971; Discours et Messages: vol. I, Pendant la guerre, 1940-1946; vol. II, Dans l'attente, 1946-1958; vol. III, Avec le renouveau, 1958-1962; vol. IV, Pour l'effort, 1962-1965; vol. V, Vers le terme, 1966-1969; all 1970.

Last address:
La Boisserie, Colombey­les­Deux­Églises, Haute­Marne, France.

Death:
Died 9 November 1970

Général d'Armée Jean Joseph Marie Gabriel De LATTRE de TASSIGNY

Positions:
Maréchal de France, 1952 (posthumous); Grand Croix de la Légion d'Honneur, 1945; Croix de la Libération, 1944; Médaille Militaire, 1945; Military Cross, 1916; Haut­Commissaire de France en Indo­Chine et Commandant en Chef en Extrème­Orient.

Personal details:
Born Mouilleron en Pareds, Vendée, 2 February 1889; son of Roger de Lattre de Tassigny and Anne Henault; married 1927, Simonne Calary de Lamazière; (one son killed in action, 1951).

Education:
Collège des Jésuites de Poitiers et de Paris.

Work:
Engagé volontaire, 1908; Saint­Cyr, 1909-1910; S/Lieut 12e Régt de Dragons, 1910. Served European War, 1914-1918, in France, Lieut 12e Dragons, Comdt de Bataillon 93e Régt d'Inf.; Campaign of Morocco, 1921-1925; Chef de Bataillon, 1926; École de Guerre, 1927; posted to État­Major du Vice­Prés. du Conseil Supérieur de la Guerre; Col comdt 151e Régt d'Inf., 1935-1937; Chef d'État­Major du Général Gouverneur Militaire de Strasbourg et Comdt l'Armée d'Alsace, 1938; Général de Bde., 1939; War
of 1939-1945, Comd. 14e Div. d'Inf., 1940; Général de Div. comdt. supérieur des Troupes de Tunisie, Tunis, 1941; Général de Corps d'Armée comdg 16e Div. Militaire de Montpellier, 1942; condemned to 10 years' imprisonment, 11 November 1942; escaped 2 September 1943; flown out of France by RAF Pick­up, 1943; joined Free French Forces; Général d'Armée c.­in­c. 1st French Army, 1944-1945; France, Germany, Austria, 1944-1945; Inspecteur­Général de l'Armée de Terre et Chef d'État­Major
Général de l'Armée, 1945; Vice­Président du Conseil Supérieur de la Guerre, 1947; Inspecteur Général des Forces Armées, May 1948. Commandant en Chef des Armées de Terre de l'Europe occidentale, October 1948. Hon. GCB 1952 (Hon. KCB 1946).

Publications:
Histoire de la Première Armée Française (Rhin et Danube), 1949 (Engl. trans. 1953).

Last address:
4 Place Rio de Janeiro, Paris VIIIe. Telephone: Laborde 90.49.

Death:
Died 11 January 1952

Général Henri Honoré GIRAUD

Awards:
Médaille Militaire, 1949.

Personal details:
Born Paris, 18 January 1879.

Education:
St Cyr.

Work:
Served European War, 1914-1918, Captain of Zouaves (prisoner; escaped); Major; Chief of Staff Moroccan Division (Croix de Guerre with 4 bars). Served Riff Campaign, Morocco; commanded Sixth Region; Military Governor of Metz. War of 1939-1945, Commander Seventh and Ninth Armies successively (prisoner; escaped); reached unoccupied France, 1942; escaped from France in a British submarine; commanded French Forces in N. Africa, later High Commissioner as well; met General de Gaulle at Inter­Allied Conference, N. Africa, January 1943, later reaching agreement; until November they were joint chairmen of the French committee for National Liberation; Giraud then retired from the Presidency but remained C.­in­C. until spring 1944, when post abolished. Declined to be Inspector­General of the French Armies. Right­Wing Deputy, Second Provisional Assembly, France, 1946.

Death:
Died 11 March 1949
 

Maréchal de France Alphonse Pierre JUIN

Awards:
Hon. GCB 1944; Grand Croix de la Légion d'Honneur; Médaille Militaire; DSM and Chief Commander, US Legion of Merit.

Personal details:
Born 16 December 1888; married 1928, Cécile Bonnefoy; two sons.

Education:
Lycées Constantine and Alger; Ecole Spéciale Militaire de Saint­Cyr.

Work:
Moroccan campaign 1912-1914; Lt and Capt., 1914-1918 (severely wounded); Rif campaign, 1925; Brig.­Gen., Chief of Staff, North African Forces, 1938; GOC 15th Motorised Div., Northern France, 1939; prisoner of Germans, 1940; released, 1941; C­in­C, North African Forces, November 1941; C­in­C, French Forces, Tunisian campaign 1942-1943; C­in­C French Expeditionary Corps, Italy, 1943; Battles of Belvedere and Garigliano; Chief of General Staff, French Armed Forces, 1944-1947; Resident­General in Morocco, 1947-1951; C­in­C Allied Land Forces, Central Europe, 1951-1953; Commander­in­Chief, Allied Forces, Central Europe, 1953-1956. Received Marshal's baton, 1952. Member of French Academy, 1953.

Publications:
Le Maghreb en feu, 1957; L'Europe en question, 1958; Mémoires, 1959-1960; Je suis soldat, 1960; C'étient nos frères, 1962; La Campagne d'Italie, 1962; Trois siècles d'obéissance militaire, 1963; La France en Algérie, 1963; La brigade marocaine à la bataille de la Marne, 1964.

Recreations:
Bridge, hunting, fishing, riding.

Last address:
26 Avenue Kleber, Paris 16e, France.

Death:
Died 27 January 1967
 

Général d'Armée Marie­Pierre KOENIG

Awards:
CB (Hon.) 1946; DSO.

Positions:
Député du Bas­Rhin, 1951, re­elected to National Assembly, France, 1956; Member of the Institute (Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques), 1951.

Personal details:
Born Caen, France, 10 October 1898.

Education:
Collège Sainte­Marie, Caen; Lycée Malherbe, Caen (Bachelor's degree).

Work:
Sous­Lieut 1918; Lieut 1920; Capitaine, 1932; Commandant, 1940; Lieut­Col, 1940; Colonel, 1943; Général de Corps d'Armée, 1944; Général d'Armée, 1946. Campaigns: Erythrée, 1941; Libye, Bir­Hacheim, 1942; Tunisie, 1943; Commandant Supérieur, French Forces in Great Britain; Délégué Militatire, Comité Français de la Liberation Nationale, with the Supreme Allied Commander, and Commandant, French Forces of the Interior, 1944; Gouverneur Militaire du Paris, 1944-1945; Commandant en Chef Français, in Germany, 1945-1949; Inspecteur, Land, Sea and Air Forces in N. Africa, 1949-1951; Vice­Président, Conseil Supérieur de la Guerre, 1950-1951; Président de la Commission de la Défense Nationale, National Assembly of France, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954; Minister of National Defence and of the Armed Forces, June-August 1954, and February-October 1955. Decorations: Grand' Croix de la Légion d'Honneur, Croix de la Libération, Médaille Militaire.

Last address:
3 rue Ernest­Hébert, Paris 16e.

Death:
Died 2 September 1970
 

Général Paul Louis LEGENTILHOMME

Awards:
Hon. KCB 1946.

Personal details:
Born at Valognes, Department of Manche (Normandy), 26 March 1884; married 1947, Marjorie M., widow of Comdr C. J. Smith, RN, and only daughter of late Alderman Sir Charles McRea.

Education:
College of Le Havre. Military Sch. of St Cyr, 1905-1907.

Work:
Sub­Lt in the Colonial Infantry, 1907; Lt, 1909; Capt., 1915; Major, 1925; Lt­Col, 1928; Col, 1934; Général de brigade, 1938; Général de division, 1941; Général de Corps d'Armée, 1943; Général d'Armée, 1947; has served in Syria, in Indo­China, in Madagascar, and passed French, Staff Coll. and Centre des Hautes Etudes Militaires before the war; C­in­C in French Somaliland, 1938; C­in­C allied forces in French and British Somaliland, 1940; on 16 June, 1940 informed Foreign Office of his decision to carry on fight with Great Britain till victory, but was obliged to give in at Jibuti and escaped by night, 1 August 1940, to join General de Gaulle; GOC Free French Forces in Sudan for operations against Erythrea, 1941; in command of allied forces operating in Syria and took Damascus, 1941; Haut Commissaire de France pour les possessions de l'Océan Indien et Gouvernement Général de Madagascar, 1942-1943; Commissioner for National Defence, French Cttee of National Liberation, 1943: Commandant la 3ème Région Militaire, Rouen, 1944-1945; Military Governor of Paris, 1945-1947; retired 1947; Member, Assembly of French Union, 1952. Decorations: French: Médaille
Militaire, Grande Croix de la Légion d'Honneur, Croix de la Libération, Croix de Guerre 1914-1918 and 1939-1945, etc. American: Commander of Legion of Merit. Belgian: Grand Officier de l'Ordre de la Couronne and Croix de Guerre. Czechoslovakian: Grand Officier du Lion Blanc. Brazilian: Grand Officier de l'Ordre de la Croix du Sud. Polish: Virtutis Militaris, 3rd Class.

Last adress:
Logis de la Plage, 06 Villefranche sur Mer, France.

Death:
Died 23 May 1975

Vice­Amiral d'Escadre Emile Henry MUSELIER

Positions:
Grand Officier de la Légion d'Honneur; Compagnon de La Libération (France).

Personal details:
Born Marseilles, 17 April 1882; married 1908, Marie­Anne Jacquemont du Donjon (died 1961); two sons two daughters; married 1962, Monique Gibeau.

Education:
Brest French Naval School on board Le Borda.

Work:
Aspirant de 1ere classe, 1902; Enseigne de Vaisseau, 1904; Lieutenant de Vaisseau, 1912; Capitaine de Corvette, 1918; Capitaine de Frégate, 1922; Capitaine de Vaisseau, 1926; Contre­Admiral, 1933; Vice­Admiral, 1939; Vice­Admiral d'Escadre, 1940; among his many commands, Admiral Muselier was in charge of the Defences of Cherbourg, was Major­General at Ferryville (Bizerta), was in command of the Second Division of cruisers in the Mediterranean, and in 1938 was appointed Admiral
Commanding the Navy and Defences of the port of Marseilles where the War of 1939-1945 found him; joined General de Gaulle in July 1940; C­in­C of Free French Naval Forces, 1940-1942, and of Free French Air Forces, 1940-1941; National Commissioner of Navy and Merchant Navy in the French National Committee, resigned March 1942; Assistant to General Giraud in Algiers, 1943; Chief of the French Naval Delegation of the Military Mission for German Affairs till February 1945; active service,
1940-1946. Founded a group, Union for the Defence of the Republic, 1946. Membre du Comité National des Combattants de la Paix; Président de l'Association Nationale d'Entr'aide à la Vieillesse. Hon. KCB.

Publications:
Marine et Résistance, 1945; De Gaulle contre le gaullisme, 1947.

Last address:
Château de Seymiers, Fayet­Le­Château (Puy­de­Dôme). France; Toulon (Var), Villa Taravao. Cap Brun.

Death:
Died 2 September 1965
 

Maréchal Henri-Philippe-Benoit-Omer-Joseph PÉTAIN

Awards:
Maréchal de France, 1918; Grand Cross of Legion of Honour; Médaille Militaire; membre de l'Académie des Sciences morales et politiques, 1919.

Positions:
Member of the Académie Française, 1929-1945.

Personal details:
Born Cauchy le Tour, Pas­de­Calais, 24 April 1856; married 1920, Madame Hardon.

Education:
École de St Cyr, left in 1878 as a Lieutenant; passed through the École de Guerre.

Work:
A Lieutenant and a Captain in the Chasseurs Alpins; was attached to the Staff of the 15th Corps, then to the Military Governor of Paris; as a Major, a teacher in the Firing School, Chalons, 1900; Teacher, Ecole de Guerre, 1901; Commandant le 33° régiment d'infanterie à Arras; at the head of the 4th Brigade at St Omer, per interim, as a Colonel, 1914; Brigadier­General August 1914 (Charleroi); commanded the 6th Division of Infantry (Marne), the 33rd Army Corps, 20 October 1914; stormed Carency, May 1915; took command of the 2nd Army, June 1915; in charge of operations in front of Verdun, February-May 1916; commanded a group of Armies, May 1916; General­in­Chief, May 1917; Inspector­General of the French Army, 1922-1931; Secretary of War, France, 1934; French Ambassador to Spain, 1939-1940; Minister of State and Vice­Pres. of the Council, France, 1940; Chief of the French State, 1940-1944; Prime Minister, France, 1940-1942. In detention, after War of 1939-1945, at the “Prison de Villedieu”.

Publications:
Verdun, 1930.

Death:
Died 23 July 1951
 

Général Louis Maxime WEYGAND

PositionsGrand Croix de la Légion d'Honneur, 1924; Médaille Militaire,
1932; Membre de l'Académie française.

Personal
DetailsBorn 21 January 1867; married 1900, Renée de Forsanz; two sons.

EducationÉcole spéciale militaire.

WorkOfficier de Cavalerie; Instructeur à l'École de Cavalerie;
Chef d'État­Major du Maréchal Foch, 1914-1923; Haut Commissaire
en Syrie, 1923-1924; Chef de l'État­Major Général de l'Armée;
Commandant en chef de l'Armée française, 1931-1935; Commander
of French Forces in Near East; Chief of General Staff of
National Defence and Commander­in­Chief, French Army, 1940;
Minister of National Defence, France, 1940; Governor­General
of Algeria and Delegate­General of Vichy Government in French
Africa, 1941; Prisoner of the Gestapo in Germany, 1942-1945,
prisoner in France, 1945-1946. Hon. CB (UK), 1914; Hon. GCMG
(UK), 1918; Grand Cross, Virtuti Militari (Poland), 1920.

PublicationsTurenne; Le 11 Novembre; Historire militaire de Mehemet Ali;
Le Général Frère; Histoire de l'armée française; Foch, 1947;
Forces de la France, 1948; Trois tomes de Mémoires: I Idéal
Vécu, II Mirages et Réalité, III Rappelé au service (Eng.
trans.: Recalled to Service); L'Arc de Triomphe, 1960.

Address22 Avenue de Friedland, Paris 8e.

DeathDied 28 January 1965