(18th January 1879: Paris - 11th March 1949: Dijon)

From a humble Alsation family who had settled in Paris - his father was a coal merchant - Henri Giraud, a young man with an adventurous nature, excelled in his secondary education at the Stanislas, Bossuet and Louis-le-Grand high schools, joining the ranks of the French army in 1900 on leaving the Saint-Cyr military academy.

He was posted to the 4th Zouaves, in North Africa, with which unit he was sent to the front in 1914. Wounded, he was taken prisoner on the 30th August at the Battle of Guise, during a counter attack by General Lanrezac against von Bulow's Second German Army. He managed to escape at the end of September with the help of Doctor Frère's network, meeting up with the French military attaché at La Haye, who evacuated him to the United Kingdom, from where he was able to return to France. He distinguished himself once again in the autumn of 1917 when the 3rd Battalion of the 4th Zouaves recaptured the fort of La Malmaison, on the Chemin des Dames and then during the offensives planned by Pétain following the crisis of spring 1917. After the war, he joined General Franchet d'Esperey's troops in Constantinople, returning with his Colonel's stripes to Morocco at Lyautey's request to fight against the Berber rebellion movements. He thus contributed to the surrender of Abd-el-Krim (27th May 1926) during the Rif war, for which brave feat he was awarded the légion d'honneur.

Promoted to Military Commander of the town of Metz, he met Colonels Charles de Gaulle and Jean de Lattre de Tassigny. Made a General in 1936 and Commander of the 7th army and member of the Upper War Council, Giraud, who did not believe in the effectiveness of armoured tanks, was challenging the tactics advocated by de Gaulle when the Second World War broke out. On the 10th May 1940 his units, having been sent to the Netherlands, delayed the German advance, most notably at Breda on the 13th May. He was taken prisoner on the 19th May in Wassigny whilst trying to stand in the way of the Panzer divisions with the 9th Army in the Ardennes. He was imprisoned in Silesia at Koenigstein castle, near Dresden. On the 17th April 1942, Giraud escaped from there with the help of some loyal supporters, Generals Mesny, Mast and Baurès and the British secret services who facilitated his escape from Schandau onwards. He then reached the Alsace and, later, Vichy. His adventure, which quickly became general knowledge and which he relates in Mes evasions (My Escapes), annoyed the German government who wanted him to return to prison, but he escaped this sanction by signing a letter to Marshal Pétain expressing his intention not to oppose his regime. Living under supervision, it was not long before Giraud was contacted by the Allies who were anxious to keep General de Gaulle away from the preparations for Operation Torch. Exfiltrated in November 1942 via Gibraltar, he met Eisenhower from whom he obtained permission to remain in command of the French troops. On the ground, the situation degenerated into a civil war, with Admiral Darlan's men refusing to recognise his authority. The assassination of Darlan on the 24th December put an end to the conflict. Giraud took over as his successor, maintaining the institutions, as well as the exceptional status of Jews and having some of the resistance fighters who had assisted in the landings interned in camps in the Southern Sahara. Present at the conference of Casablanca, he was forced to release these resistance fighters and make his government more democratic. He then went on the board of directors of the French Committee for National Liberation (Comité français de Libération nationale or CFLN) and so the "dual between Giraud and de Gaulle" reached its peak. However, he was quickly overwhelmed by General de Gaulle's rallying actions and had to give in to him. His unfailing support for Pierre Pucheu ended up discrediting him amongst his partisans. Pétain's former Minister of the Interior had in fact persuaded Morocco to serve the colours of the Free French (France Libre), but his move was considered to be too late for someone accused of collaboration with the enemy and participation in the arrest of hostages.

On the 13th September 1943, he sent French troops to support Corsican resistance fighters by landing on the island. It was a military success but Giraud was the subject of much criticism from General de Gaulle for having armed the communist Corsican resistance movement, giving a political tone to the operations for the liberation of Europe and weakening the unification work of the resistance movement. He finally lost his seat on the CFLN. In April 1944, Giraud organised French participation in the Italian campaign, but, considered to be too implicated in the repressive Vichy system, he was discharged from his position of Commander in Chief and had to withdraw from the military involvement with the France Libre. He would share his experiences of these troubled times in his book: Un seul but: la Victoire, Alger, 1942-1944(Just one goal: Victory, Algiers1942-1944). On the 28th August 1944 he survived an assassination attempt in Mostaganem. In 1946, Giraud stood for the position of Deputy in Lorraine for the second National Constitutional Assembly on the list of the Republican Party of Liberty and of the Agrarian Independents. Elected on the 2nd June, he whipped support for the group of independent republicans and contributed to the creation of the Fourth Republic, despite his refusal to vote for the constitution. He took part in debates on the situation of non-repatriated prisoners of war (25th July 1946) and on the general policy of the government in Algeria (22nd August 1946). He sat on the Upper War Council until December 1948 and on the 10th March 1949 he received the Military Medal for his outstanding escape. He died the following day and is buried at Les Invalides.

(29th January 1877: Limoges - 21st December 1969: Paris)

The son of a serviceman who distinguished himself during the campaigns of the Second Empire in Africa and Asia and of a Genoese mother, Georges Catroux inherited a sense of service and a taste for distant lands. After attending schools in Limoges, Angers and Rennes depending on where his father was stationed, he went to the Prytanee National Military Academy in La Flèche and then the Special Military School of St. Cyr in 1896, graduating in the class of "great manoeuvres", before opting for the Foot Chasseurs Corps (Grenoble). In 1900, as a young lieutenant in the Foreign Legion, he was sent on a pacifying mission to the Sahara. Three years later, he was in Indochina to assist the Governor General Paul Beau, before leaving again for North Africa, firstly to Algeria where he encountered Lyautey (he would write a few years later about Lyautey the Moroccan ), and then to Morocco where, until 1911, he carried out preparatory operations for the occupation of the country, before returning to Algiers alongside the Governor General Lutaud. At the beginning of the First World War, he was in command of the 2nd regiment of Algerian tirailleurs. Wounded near Arras in October 1915, he was taken prisoner and met Charles de Gaulle at the 9th Fort in Ingolstadt.

He was a member of the French military expedition to Arabia in 1919-1920 and then appointed Governor of the State of Damascus, where he laid the foundations for the administration and governance of Syria, before carrying out the role of military attaché in Constantinople - he would share his Levantine experiences in Deux missions au Moyen-Orient (Two missions in the Middle East), 1919-1922. Lyautey recalled him to Morocco from June to October 1925 during the Rif war. Assigned to Henri de Jouvenel, the High Commissioner of the Levant, Catroux defended the argument for the independence of Syria and the Lebanon. Unable to find favourable support, he asked to be relieved of his duties and returned to the desert in 1927 to lead the 6th regiment of Algerian tirailleurs in Tlemcen. Promoted to Colonel and then to General, he commanded in Marrakech from 1931 to 1934, followed by Mulhouse and then the 19th Army Corps in Algiers from 1936 to 1939. When war was declared in September 1939, Catroux had been Governor General of Indochina for three months: then a reserve officer, he had been recalled by Mandel on the 21st August to fill this position. On the armistice he had to deal with a government that refused the presence of foreign troops in the country and promote relations with China and the Japanese, who were eager to take hold on the continent in order to take on Peking. The Vichy government removed him from office on the 26th July 1940. He therefore refused to return to France and decided to rally support for the Free French (France Libre) via Singapore and Cairo. Arriving in London on the 17th September 1940, General de Gaulle gave him the task of preparing the rallying of the States of the Levant as the France Libre's representative in the region. In June 1941, as a member of the Council for the Defence of the Empire and Commander in Chief and General Delegate for the France Libre in the Middle East, he announced the independence of Syria and the Lebanon. On he 19th July he was appointed High Commissioner of the France Libre in the Levant on the orders of General Wilson, the Commander in Chief of British troops in this area. He took part in the negotiations following the landings in North Africa and, when appointed Commander of the French Forces on the 25th November 1942, he took on the task of reuniting the overseas territories under his authority, whilst at the same time playing an intermediary role between de Gaulle and Giraud. In May 1943, as State Commissioner on the French Liberation Committee, he was given the task of coordinating Muslim affairs and drafted the order of the 7th March 1944 granting French nationality to certain categories of Muslims and the possibility of obtaining it for others. Governor General of Algeria in June 1944 and a Companion of the Liberation, he was appointed Secretary of State for North Africa in the provisional government of the French Republic on the 9th September that same year.

He was French Ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1945 to 1948, an experience that he would make the subject of J'ai vu tomber le rideau de fer, (I saw the iron curtain fall) and served as diplomatic advisor to the government on his return, when he was promoted to the dignity of Grand Chancellor of the Légion d'honneur in 1954. While a commission was set up to determine the responsibility for the defeat of Dien Bien Phu, he would express his opinions of this war in Deux actes du drame indochinois (Two acts of the Indochinese drama). In 1955, when he was chosen to resolve the troubles in Morocco, he played a predominant role in the negotiations for the return of sultan Mohammed V, who was exiled in Madagascar. The following year, he carried out the duties of resident minister in Algeria, but resigned because of hostile demonstrations against Europeans. In 1961, Catroux was a member of a military tribunal responsible for judging the Putschist Generals Challe and Zeller and their accomplices. Retired from active service in 1969 and made a Companion of the Liberation, Georges Catroux died on the 21st December, in the Val-de-grâce hospital. He is buried in the cemetery in Thiais (Val-de-Marne).

(Born 5 February 1912, Valenciennes – Died 4 February 1945, Dessenheim)

A child of the aviation age, the young Edmond inherited his passion for aircraft from his father, an engineer who graduated from the Arts et Métiers engineering school. Together they built gliders and formed air clubs. Graduating from high school in Latin and sciences at 16, he started a short-lived law course. After a few weeks, he applied for a pilot’s grant and was admitted into the aviation school in Morane. After earning his pilot’s licence on 1 August 1931, he completed his training in Istres on 20 April 1932 and started preparing for the entry exam to join the training school for reserve officers. Ranking a sub-lieutenant by 20 September, he gave up his stripes so he could bypass the regulation that banned reservist officers from flying. He then enlisted into a fighter unit at the rank of sergeant before joining the Air Force Academy in 1936 from where he graduated in October 1937 having returned to the rank of sub-lieutenant with a qualification in observation.

He was assigned to the GC I/5 fighter group in Reims and served under Jean Accart, in the first "Champagne" fighting squadron, which continued the legacy of the prestigious Spa-67 squadron from Navarre. Promoted to the grade of lieutenant at the start of the Second World War, his unit, flying one of the Curtis H-75 fighters, spent winter on the ground in Suippes, breaking up the daily monotony by carrying out long alert missions at altitude.

On 11 January 1940 Marin La Meslée, Marina as he was known over radio, experienced the intoxicating adrenalin of his first battles. On patrol with Lieutenant Rey, the two pilots brought a reconnaissance mission of a Dornier-17 to an end in the skies above Verdun. But it was in May of that year, confronted with the irresistible German machine of war that he earned his fame and entered into the aviation fighting hall of fame. On the 12th, he struck down two Stukas Junkers-87 and the following day more than one Messerschmitt-109 fighter plane. Over the following weeks Heinkel bomber, two Henschel-126s and one Heinkel-111 fell victim to his sharp shooting.

On 1 June, with 16 aircraft under his belt, he was appointed to lead the “Cigogne” squadron replacing Captain Accard, who had been seriously injured. When the Armistice was declared, he had carried out a total 106 sorties and chalked up fifteen victories in France and five over Germany, and earned ten Citations to the Order of the Army. His record is unrivalled.

In November 1942, the squadron based in North Africa received orders from Vichy to resume the offensive. Under cover of the British and American landing, the "Cigognes" flew for Free France in the skies above Tunisia, even if in reality the unit was only carrying out reconnaissance missions. The lieutenant carried out 105 sorties aboard an Airacobra P-39 and achieved four victories over the African coasts. A commander in June 1944, he returned to the base in Salon-en-Provence at the controls of a P-47 Thunderbolt on 20 September, a month after the landing in Provence. His unit was then attached to the 1st French Army.

In early 1945, offensives to reconquer Alsace were raging. Allied aircraft were used to destroy obstacles ahead of the infantry, attacking in perilous dives when necessary. On 4 February, Commander Edmond Marin la Meslée executed a second crossing over German lines. His aircraft, hit by a shot from a DCA, crashed and exploded two kilometres from the village of Rustenhardt.

His wings were permanently clipped just shy of his thirty-third birthday:

"A noble face of air-to-air combat, of which he was the embodiment, 

He will forever remain for his virtues and his glory,

One of the most brilliant figures of the French Air Force

And one of the most noble heroes of the nation."

(Wissembourg, 14th June 1864 - Strasbourg, 1st April 1939) Although today he is almost forgotten, in the first half of the 20th century Auguste Spinner was one of the greatest figures of the Alsace, as a French painter, decorator, architect, spy, journalist, soldier and then civil servant. Born in Wissembourg in 1864, Auguste Spinner was deeply affected by the Battle of the 4th August 1870 that touched the town where he was born and was thus to grow up with an abiding memory of France, the Alsace at the time being annexed to Wilhelm's Reich. After studying at the Fine Arts College in Karlsruhe, in the 1890's he took over the family painting and decorating business. He is most notably responsible for the frescoes that adorn the inside of the historic museum in Hagenau. With a passion for history, in 1905 he was involved in founding the Verein zur Erhaltung der Altertümer in Weissenburg und Umgegend or Society for the preservation of the antiques of Wissembourg and the surrounding areas, of which he became treasurer. Auguste Spinner was also recognised at the time as one of the major collectors of weapons and uniforms of the Alsace and one of the best historians on the war of 1870 in the North of the Alsace.

In addition, in 1908 he published one of the first detailed studies of the adventures of Count von Zeppelin during the Schirlenhofe affair, which was responsible for the first two casualties of the Franco-German war. From 1906 onwards, he started a project in Wissembourg to build a commemorative monument to the French soldiers who had fallen on the field of honour under the command of Marshal de Villars (1705-1706), Marshal Coigny (1744), General Hoche (1793) and General Abel Douay (1870). Assisted shortly afterwards by Paul Bourson, and then by all the Francophile Alsatian leaders of the time, his project came to fruition in 1909, after bitter negotiations with the imperial German government. The inauguration of the monument, which took place on the 17th October 1909, turned into a fantastic pro-French demonstration, during which more than 50,000 citizens from the Alsace and Lorraine gave a stunning performance of the Marseillaise to the accompaniment of the municipal Reichshoffen band, in front of the dumbfounded German authorities. Appointed general representative of the Souvenir Français association in the Alsace, Spinner continued his work to promote France by encouraging the creation of new sections of the Souvenir association and federating French ex-servicemen's associations for veterans of the Crimea, Italy, Mexico and the 1870 war. In 1910, he even intervened, alongside the chairman of the French ex-servicemen's association, Joseph Sansboeuf, and Maurice Barrès, in order to make the French National Assembly create a medal commemorating the war of 1870-1871.
Far removed from all fanaticism and jingoism, on the 24th July 1910 he organised one of the first ceremonies of Franco-German reconciliation in history to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the Schirlenhofe skirmish. He brought together a party of former key players in the battle over the graves of the first two victims of the conflict of 1870. However, faced with increasing political lawsuits and arrests within Francophile circles affecting those close to him, notably the Abbot Wetterlé, Hansi and Zislin etc. Auguste Spinner began to feel threatened and in September 1912 chose to go into exile in Nancy, whilst still remaining very active in the annexed Alsace-Lorraine. In 1912 he was involved in founding the Westercamp Museum in Wissembourg to whom he bequeathed his collections and became vice president of the Alsace and Lorraine Souvenir association, which was dissolved by the Imperial authorities in 1913. Hansi later implicitly dedicated to him his album entitled Mon village - Ceux qui n'oublient pas, (My village - Those who will not forget) published at Christmas in 1913, in which Auguste Spinner's father, Laurent, who remained in Wissembourg, appears in the character of the night watchman.
During this period, Spinner became a special agent of Lieutenant Colonel Albert Carré who, in 1913, was given the task by the French High Command of organising a rallying centre in Besançon for Alsatian deserters from the German army in the event of war. Enlisting as a volunteer in the French army on the 28th July 1914, Spinner was called to the army as an interpreter officer before hostilities had even begun. Following an open letter from Maurice Barrès to the war Minister on the 22nd August 1914, he was given the task of selecting men from the Alsace and Lorraine from amongst the German prisoners of war. Awarded the Légion d'Honneur in 1915, he was posted from 1916 to the Information Service at army headquarters. Appointed Deputy Trustee of the town of Wissembourg, he was the first French soldier to enter the town which had become French again on the 24th November 1918. Demobilised in 1920, he then became the Director of the warehouse for tobacco manufactured in Strasbourg and held important positions in the Bas Rhin Souvenir Français association, the Federation of Volunteers in Action and various other patriotic associations. He ended his military career in 1935 with the rank of Interpreter Commander and the officer's rosette of the Légion d'Honneur. An occasional contributor to the Alsace Française review, in 1934-1935 he organised an important ceremony to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Wissembourg monument. This was held on the 28th July 1935, presided over by General Gamelin and brought together more than 75 generals of Alsatian origin and several thousand spectators, including his friend Hansi.
The victim of an attack at the end of March 1939, Auguste Spinner died on the 1st April 1939. A grand funeral was arranged and, in accordance with his last wishes, his coffin was wrapped in a tricolour flag that had been flown during the 1909 inauguration ceremony. A year later "his" monument was blown up using dynamite by the Nazi authorities and his family was forced into exile. After the liberation, his son Georges, who had become an architect for listed buildings in France, recovered a few blocks of sandstone from the destroyed monument in order to create a stele for his father's grave in Wissembourg. A new monument was later built and inaugurated in le Geisberg on the 13th November 1960.

(17th December 1889: Dôle, Jura - 17th October 1982: Fréjus, Var)

Antoine Béthouart came from a family from Marquenterre in Picardy, and studied for his baccalaureate at Sainte-Geneviève in Versailles, enrolling at Saint-Cyr in 1909 in the class known as "Fez ", where he would meet Alphonse Juin and Charles de Gaulle. In October 1912, as sub-lieutenant, he was posted to the Vosges to the 152nd infantry regiment (RI) and served in various units before joining the 158th RI where he distinguished himself during the First World War in the Alsace, at Verdun, in the Somme, on the Chemin des Dames and during the attack on Mont Kemel. Wounded on three occasions, he was awarded numerous citations and ended the war with the rank of captain. Between 1919 and 1920, he was assigned to the Finnish army at Viborg, before being admitted to the Ecole de Guerre and serving, from 1922 to 1924, at the headquarters of the 12th army corps and the 6th battalion of alpine chasseurs. Promoted to Head of Battalion in March 1928, he commanded the 24th battalion of alpine chasseurs at Villefranche. Appointed deputy to the French military attaché in Yugoslavia in 1931 and then promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in 1934, he carried out this diplomatic role in full until 1938.

In September 1939, Colonel Béthouart, at the head of the 5th half-brigade of alpine chasseurs (Chambéry), was responsible for the border along the Alps, before returning to the Maginot line in the Moselle sector of Bitche. In February 1940, he formed the High Mountain brigade with a view to operations in Scandinavia. The corps of troops set off on the 12th April. As a result, its founder was awarded his Brigade General's stripes. After Bjervik, on the 28th May his men took Narvik, pushing back the German battalions of General Dietl to the border, a feat which would earn him promotion to the dignity of Commander of the Légion d'honneur. The French expeditionary corps to Norway was partially evacuated to the United Kingdom following the armistice. Béthouart remained faithful to his unit, following those of his men who wanted to return to France. He was finally repatriated to Morocco where in turn he took command of the Rabat subdivision, the presidency of the French Armistice Commission in Morocco and then command of the Casablanca division in January 1942, a strategic position where he organised assistance to the Allies during the November landings. He was arrested by the President General, Noguès, and on the 10th November appeared before a court martial in Meknès where he was sentenced to death. Freed a few days later, he was promoted to Division General and in December 1942 he was appointed Head of the Military Mission to Washington by General Giraud in order to negotiate the American government's practical aid for the French army. As Chief of Staff of the national defence in Algiers, he brought about the close relationship between the FFL and the African Army, accompanying General de Gaulle to Rome, London and Bayeux. In August 1944 he was commander of the 1st army corps, fighting with the 1st army in the Belfort Gap (14th November), taking Héricourt, Montbéliard, Delle and reaching Mulhouse; he is cited on the order of the army. On the 29th January 1945, during operations to close the Colmar Pocket, he upset the German fortified defences on the southern front and succeeded in joining up with units of the 1st army arriving from the North. He reached the banks of the Rhine on the 9th February; he was then promoted to the dignity of Grand Officer of the Légion d'honneur. During the German campaign, he took Constance, Ulm, Friedrichshafen and Bregenz, finishing his epic journey in the Arlberg Pass (Austria) on the 6th May 1945. Rising to Companion of the Liberation, General Béthouart was appointed High Commissioner of the French Republic in Austria on the 8th July 1945, remaining in this role until the 30th September 1950, having left active service with the rank of Army General on the 12th January 1949.

On returning to France, he held the presidency of the Committee of the Flame under the Arc de Triomphe and of the European Federation of Servicemen's associations and continued to serve France as a member of parliament. In 1955 he represented the French in Morocco and, from 1959, French citizens overseas in the Senate, also being appointed member of the commission for foreign affairs, defence and the armed forces. On the 2nd and 3rd June 1958, he voted for full powers for General de Gaulle and for constitutional reform. In 1960, he voted for the act authorising the government to take the necessary measures for maintaining order in Algeria. The following year, he participated in discussions on aid to those repatriated from North Africa. From1963 to 1971, he was a spokesman for the Commission for Foreign Affairs on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' government finance bill for credits, making observations on numerous subjects including technical cooperation, the position of French nationals overseas (1963), compensation for farmers despoiled in Morocco (1964), the repatriated (1966), military aid credits for the countries of North Africa, diplomatic personnel and positions (1967), credits for cultural activities, the performance of the Upper Council for French citizens overseas, the posting of military conscripts (1969), the French Alliance, military aid to Algeria and the situation in Cambodia (1970). In June 1970, he was a member of the special commission charged with examining the government bill regarding compensation for repatriated French citizens. As Vice-president of the French delegation to the NATO parliamentary conference in 1965 and 1968, Béthouart spoke in public sessions in the Senate in 1966 and 1967 on the question of relations between France and the Atlantic Alliance. He also took responsibility for questions about the reform of the French army, took part in the debate on national service in 1965, on the army's health service in 1968 and, in 1970, on the government bill regarding military facilities for the period from 1971-1975. He retired in 1971 to pursue a career as a writer, starting with La Bataille pour l'Autriche (The Battle for Austria)(1966) and Cinq années d'espérance (Five years of Hope) (1968). He published Des hécatombes glorieuses aux désastres (From Glorious Bloodbaths to Tragedies) (memoirs) in 1972, followed by Le Prince Eugène de Savoie (1975) (Prince Eugene of the Savoie) and Metternich et l'Europe (Mettenich and Europe) (1978), alongside regular contributions to Le Figaro. General Antoine Béthouart died on 17th October 1982 in Fréjus and is buried in Rue, in the Somme.

(29th November 1895: Alès, Gard - 1st July 1962: Paris)

Eligible for Saint-Cyr in 1914, the class of the "Great Return", Edgard de Larminat, whose father was a Forest and Waterways Officer, continued the family tradition dating back to the 17th century of service to the state. Raised amongst the Jesuit community of Montfré and Les Postes, he attended high schools in Gap and Troyes and signed up at the age of 19 as a simple soldier in the 27th Infantry Regiment. Posted to the 134th, he undertook special studies as a student at Saint-Cyr and then joined in turn the 321st and 121st Infantry Regiments. Promoted to Captain in September 1917, he ended the war with four mentions on the military order of the day and was wounded three times, including once by gas (March 1918), having proved exemplary bravery at the fort de Vaux where he had been wounded by an exploding shell in June 1916. Because of this he would be singled out by the Légion d'honneur. With an independent nature and curious about distant horizons, he joined the marines (colonial army) in 1919 when his training at saint Cyr was completed. Sent to Morocco to implement the policies of Marshal Lyautey, he proved his full capability in commanding the 13th Battalion of Senegalese Tirailleurs of Ouezzane, a quality that earned him a further mention.

His command of the Kiffa Circle in Mauritania, between 1923 and 1926, left a lasting impression, as did his mission to Indochina from 1928 to 1931. As Head of Battalion in 1929, he studied at the Upper War Academy from 1933 to 1935, getting himself noticed for the depth of his cultural knowledge and his ability to understand military matters. As Lieutenant Colonel, he was posted to the Levant in January 1936 to carry out the role of Chief of Staff for the General Commander in Chief in the theatre of operations in the Middle-East. Made Colonel in March 1940, De Larminat refused to surrender his arms: whilst General Mittelhauser decided to follow the orders of the government in Bordeaux, he arranged the passage to Palestine of those troops who still wanted to carry on fighting. Arrested and imprisoned, he escaped, reaching Damascus on the 1st July and then joining the Free French (France Libre) whom he served with relentless fervour.

In Egypt, he regrouped the French contingents from Syria and then went as second in command to General Legentilhomme in Djibouti. Learning about the uprisings in Chad, Cameroon and French Equatorial Africa during a stay in London, he went to Léopoldville from where he prepared for the surrender of the garrison at Brazzaville on the 28th August, deposing the Governor General, taking command of the troops and the civilian and military command of the countries he had won over. Promoted to Brigade General, he carried out the duties of Superior Commander and Governor General and then High Commissioner until July 1941, when, appointed Division General, he returned to Syria alongside General Catroux. In December his North African adventure began. Commanding the French Forces in Libya, he took part in the Western Desert campaign, distinguishing himself at the battles of Gazalla (May 1942) and El-Alamein (October- November 1942) against Rommel.

He organised the 1st Free French Division at the head of which he brilliantly represented his homeland during the last operations of the Tunisian campaign, in May 1943 at Takrouna and Djebel Garci, thereby earning his stripes as General of the Army Corps. As Chief of Staff of the Free French Forces at the French Commission for National Liberation in June and July, in August 1943 he took command of the 2nd Army Corps, with whom he led the Italian campaign in May and June 1944 as deputy to the Commander of the French Expeditionary Corps to Italy. At its head, between the 10th June and the 4th July, he made his mark on the most glorious days of this operation between Viterbo and Sienna, in Tuscany, earning a further mention and the title of Commander of the Légion d'honneur. On the 16th August, De Larminat landed in Provence with the 2nd Army Corps, fighting through to Marseilles, liberating Toulon and opening the way for the reconquering of the country. Between October 1944 and June 1945 he led the Army Detachment of the Atlantic at the head of the Western Forces and played a decisive role in reducing the German pockets of resistance at Lorient, La Rochelle, Rochefort and la Pointe de Grave. During the winter of 1944-1945 he also carried out the task of turning the units of French Homeland Forces, which came from the resistance groups, into regular units. The army, the resistance movement and the Nation provided him with the subject matter for three books: L'Armée dans la Nation (the Army in the Nation); Bertie Albrecht, Pierre Arrighi, général Brosset, D. Corticchiato, Jean Prévost, 5 parmi d'autres (Bertie Albrecht, Pierre Arrighi, General Brosset, D. Corticchiato, Jean Prévost, to name but 5) ; Que sera la France de demain? (What will become of France tomorrow?)

As a Companion of the Liberation he carried out the role of Inspector General of the Overseas Forces between November 1945 and July 1947, was named as a titled member of the Upper War Council in 1950 and presided over the European Union Military Committee for Defence (1951-1954) - a subject that he covers in L'Armée européenne (The European Army). He was promoted to the rank of Army General in 1953, officiating as Inspector of Colonial Troops in 1955, before moving into the reserves on the 29th November 1956. Recalled in June 1962, when he had just finished Chroniques irrévérencieuses (Disrespectful Chronicles) (a book of memoirs of his early days at the end of the Second World War), De Larminat was given the presidency of the Military Court of Justice charged with instructing the trial of the instigators of the Algiers rebellion of April 1961. The trial was to open on the 2nd July against a background of the end of the war in Algeria, of a nation in tatters, contested power and virulent media campaigns. His dilemma was choosing his homeland, the army or allegiance to Gaullism, which led De Larminat to take his own life the day before the first session. On the 6th July General Dio read his funeral eulogy in the Cour des Invalides, ending his tribute as follows: "My General, may the God of the Army look after you. And may the earth in your small village in the Jura be soft. Your former comrades in arms, who are attached to you through so many memories, will piously preserve your memory " General Edgard de Larminat rests in the cemetery at Montain, in the Jura.

On the suicide of De Larminat: www.larminat-jm.com Historical publications, nos. 610, 615, 620, 632 Philippe Oulmont, editor. Larminat, un fidèle hors série (Larminat an out of the ordinary loyal supporter), Charles de Gaulle Foundation / LBM Publications. Distributed by Ouest France, 2008

(30th September 1887: Libourne, Gironde 18th June 1981: Dax, Dordogne)

Joseph de Goislard de Monsabert came from a military family who lived with an ethos of honour and serving their country. Carrying on these traditions, the young man soon responded to the call of the military, preparing for the Saint-Cyr special military college, where he enrolled in October 1907 (class of Morocco) after having tried the military profession for a whole year with the 50th infantry regiment. Attracted to North Africa, he chose to serve in Morocco where, in 1912, he joined the 3rd regiment of tirailleurs. He was a Lieutenant when the First World War broke out, appointed to the 1st mixed regiment of tirailleurs and zouaves of the 1st Moroccan division. In May 1915 he was a Captain, distinguishing himself in the 9th regiment of zouaves, where he ended the war as acting Battalion Chief, crowned with seven citations and the Légion d'Honneur. The period between the wars was the opportunity to take a course at the Ecole supérieure de guerre (Upper War Academy) and deepen his knowledge of the Maghreb, where he did not take long to become an expert.

Made Colonel in June 1937, he was in charge of the 9th RT at Miliana at the beginning of the Second World War when he was promoted to Commander of the Southern Tunisian unit (81st infantry brigade) at Blida in December. Forced to accept the armistice, Monsabert was resolved not to give up the struggle. In August 1941 he was a General, ensuring the continuation of the African army in order to serve alongside the Allies when the time came, preparing for the arrival of General Giraud in Blida following the landing in North Africa in November 1942. Banished by the Vichy regime, he took command of the African Free Forces and then the 19th army corps during the Tunisian campaign. In March 1943, he was Division General and took command of the 3rd Algerian infantry division, taking the whole summer to lead them across the Western Algerian desert, to the appreciation of his superiors and his men. In December, he set off from Bizerte for Nisida. As part of General Juin's French expeditionary Corps to Italy (Corps expéditionnaire français en Italie or CEFI), the "Africans" took up position in the Abruzzo. His unit, engaged in the mountains to the north of Venafro, had to endure the rigours of winter and the determination of the enemy, who had to retreat around the edges of Monna Casale to Acquafondata and the other side of the Rapido. Most importantly, he took the Belvedere Crest, which earned him his first citation on the order of the army. The American troops, unable to break down the fort of Monte Cassino, accepted General Juin's plan of a surrounding manoeuvre by troops of the CEFI. On the 12th May, his troops took Castelforte, crossing the Aurunci mountains within a few days. The Allies arrived in Rome on the 5th June. Fighting continued along Lake Bolsena and, across the Amiata, the 3rd DIA took Sienna on the 3rd July. After Italy came France, whose men landed in Toulon on the 16th August, taking part in the retaking of the town (21st August) and then of Marseille (28th August). Monsabert was made a citizen of honour of Marseille and promoted by General de Gaulle to the dignity of Great officer of the Légion d'Honneur.

Appointed Lieutenant General of the Army, he took command of the 2nd CA, continuing his reconquering mission: Saint-Etienne, Lyon, Mâcon, Chalon, Autun and Dijon fell. He took control of the Vosges and Alsace campaigns and took part in the defence of Strasbourg against a pocket of German resistance, crossing the Lauter and the Rhine to celebrate victory in Stuttgart. Monsabert was Superior Commander of the Occupying Troops in Germany on the 24th July 1945 and rose to the rank of Army General, receiving the Military Medal and becoming a Great Cross of the Légion d'Honneur. He retired from active service in 1946, to his Toureil home in Hastingues (Landes) where he devoted himself to defending the French army, both through writing Il faut refaire l'Armée française (We must change the French Army)(Paris, 1950), and in politics, through his election as MP for the Basses-Pyrénées region between 1951 and 1955. On the 8th July 1985, the city of Bordeaux paid tribute to its famous son. Charles Hernu, then minister for the Defence, unveiled a monument in memory of General de Monsabert in the Place des Martyrs de la Résistance.

(19th November 1868, Saint-Michel de Maurienne: Savoie - 16th February 1932: Paris) 

Gustave Ferrié was born on the 19th November 1868 to Pierre Ferrié, an engineer for the Southern Railway and Antoinette Manecy. From his childhood, he grew up surrounded by so many drawings and inventions that when he was admitted to the Ecole Polytechnique in 1887, he chose military engineering. He was a radio transmissions engineer and in 1891 he was posted to this corps until 1898. His work during this period most notably involved increasing the range of the Eiffel Tower transmitter from 400 to 6,000km. In 1899, he was won over by wireless telegraphy after having attended a demonstration by Marconi on this new technology. The Minister for War, Freycinet, appointed him that same year to the Committee on Wireless Telegraphy Research between France and the United Kingdom in order to submit a report on the military applications for this means of communication. In addition, he worked on developing mobile military radio-communication units and in 1900 improved Branly's radio-detection system by inventing an electrolytic detector, an appliance that made sound transmission possible, the last version of which (1910) would be used by the French army during the First World War. As a Colonel in 1914, he identified the properties of the electron tube and considerably increased the range of the field transmitter/receivers used by the allied troops from 1916.

It was thanks to Ferrié's devices that in 1917 Mata-Hari' messages were intercepted and the spy's espionage activities were brought to an end. Promoted to General in 1919, he continued his research and the development of its military application: the construction of radio sets for the navy, the colonies and the air force. With such new links now possible, he refined the measurement of longitude and the earth's dimensions. Having reached the upper working age limit, he carried on working by special permission. Working on developing radio-electric techniques, he created a radio department at the Ecole supérieure d'Electricité. The scientific community recognised the major advances of his discoveries in the field of radio-telecommunications. The honours followed: in 1922, he was elected to the Academy of Sciences and became president of the International Scientific Radio Union as well as the international commission of longitudes by radio. He was also vice-president of the International Board of Scientific Unions, presided over the Committee of Geodesy and Geophysics and received the medal of honour from the Institute of Radio Engineers. Awarded the Legion of Honour, Gustave Ferrié was raised to the Dignity of the Great Cross in 1932. He died a short time later, on the 16th February, in hospital at the Val-de-Grâce hospital. His body rests in the Père-Lachaise Cemetery (89th division) beside his wife Pierrette Pernelle, whom he had married in 1908.

Further reading on the subject: Amoudry (Michel), Le Général Ferrié et la naissance des transmissions et de la radiodiffusion, Presses Universitaires de Grenoble, 2000

(3rd October 1898: Buenos-Aires, Argentina - 20th November 1944: Champagney, Haute-Saône)

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, into a family of magistrates from Lyon, Diego Brosset returned to France at the age of two and grew up in the château at Rillieux-la-Pape. Unable to support the confinement of the Jesuit colleges he attended, he finished his studies at the age of fifteen to return to the family home. During the First World War, on the 17th September 1916, he enlisted as a second class soldier in Grenoble with the 28th battalion of foot chasseurs and later in the 68th. In four tours of duty, he was awarded many commendations and was promoted to corporal and later sergeant. A distinguished serviceman, he attended the officer training school at Issoudun and passed the entrance examination for the Saint-Maixent Military infantry academy, which he left in 1921 as a second lieutenant. He chose the colonial infantry and was posted to French West Africa to the 2nd regiment of Sudanese infantrymen. Appointed to a platoon of méharistes (camel mounted cavalry) in March 1922, he spent around fifteen years patrolling in the Sudan (Kati), Mauritania (Chinguetti, Atar and Agaraktem), Southern Algeria (Touat Gourara and Tindouf) and Southern Morocco (Lekdim), interspersed with brief, reluctant returns to France.

With a passion for literature, he made the most of his free time to complete a semi-autobiographical novel, "Il sera beaucoup pardonné", for the publication of which he requested the patronage of François Mauriac. In February 1928, promoted to the order of Cavalier of the Legion of Honour, he was posted to the 23rd colonial infantry regiment at Coulommiers. At the Châlons camp, he met Jean Bruller (alias Vercors), starting a long literary friendship between the two men. Promoted to captain in 1930, he returned to France and in August 1931 he married Jacqueline, the daughter of General Mangin. He returned to Morocco in 1933 for four years, during which time he fought alongside General Giraud at the head of the 29th Goums. A tireless writer, he competed several times, unsuccessfully, for the grand prix for Colonial literature. He overcame his disappointments by studying for the entrance examination for the Ecole supérieure de Guerre, where he was admitted in January 1937, having obtained a degree in oriental languages. Awarded the 59th Promotion in August 1939, he was appointed to the general staff of the colonies.

On the 3rd September, diplomacy gave way to canons. Brosset rejoined his unit on the Lorraine front. In December he accepted a position at the 2nd bureau of the colonial army corps, received his commander's stripes and then applied to take part in a military expedition to Columbia. His application was successful and the Brossets arrived in Bogota in May 1940. News of the armistice reached South America on the 23rd June. As a man of action, Diégo could not come to terms with it. On the 27th June he sent a letter to General de Gaulle expressing his complete support and became an "ambassador" for the Free French (France Libre) in his writing, through his expedition to Columbia, which was soon to be cancelled. Brosset refused to carry out the orders of the Vichy government, which sentenced him to death in his absence, informing his superiors of his decision to take orders from General de Gaulle. On the 8th December, he was finally able to obtain support from London, where he was promoted to Lieutenant-colonel at the 2nd bureau before taking part in the General's colonial expedition in his capacity of staff officer: in Freetown, Brazzaville, Fort-Lamy, Cairo and Eritrea where he was for a time Chief of Staff to General Catroux: the Horn of Africa then became an important strategic issue with the arrival of the Afrika Korps in the Tripoli area. From June 1941 until December 1942, he was involved in the fratricidal struggle between General Legentilhomme's France Libre troops and those of General Dentz in Syria, who remained loyal to Pétain, a situation which would only be resolved by the armistice of Saint-Jean d'Acre. His long experience of the desert earned him his mission in the East of Syria before a new posting in January 1943 to the 2nd brigade at Marsa Matrouh in Cyrenaica. Brosset reorganised his unit, driving it across the Libyan desert to Gambut (Tobrouk) and leading it, between the 9th and 11th May, to the victory of Takrouna by pushing enemy lines back three kilometres. Appointed Brigade General on the 1st June, he received the Liberation Cross directly from General de Gaulle and then took command of the 1st division of the Free French (the division française libre or DFL) in August, renamed the "motorised infantry division" ("division motorisée d'infanterie" or DMI). He rearmed and reorganised his company of troops with all his characteristic energy. On the 11th April 1944 the retaking of Europe could finally begin: leaving from Bône and Bizerte, his men arrived in Italy. Brosset took part in rupturing the Gustav, Dora and Hitler lines at the battle of Garigliano, marched on Rome and, at the end of June, liberated Tuscany, before opening a new front in the south of France alongside General de Lattre de Tassigny. He landed with his division in Provence on the 16th August 1944, taking back Toulon, capturing Mont Redon and Hyères (20-21st August), Le Touar and La Garde (22-23rd August) and fighting in the countryside around Lyon. Still involved in the action, the newly promoted Division General marched at the head of the 1st DFL-DMI at the battle of the Vosges (20th September - 19th November 1944). The push to the Rhine could begin. On Monday, November 20th the attack on Giromany was launched. General Diégo Brosset, left at dawn for the front. He pressed on with his ordinance, taking unsecured routes. He visited a few camps, jumping from jeep to jeep. In this way he approached the bridge at Rahin (Champagney, Haute-Saône). He set off across it and his vehicle overturned into the river... His body, recovered on the 23rd November, would be buried in the national necropolis in Rougemont (Doubs). " In him France lost a shining power who was, only wanted to be and only ever was of service to her" (General Koenig).

(21st January 1867: Brussels - 28th January 1965: Paris)

Maxime Weygand was born in Brussels of unknown parents. His origins continue to intrigue journalists and historians: was he the natural child of Countess Kosakowska, the illegitimate son of Léopold II of Belgium, the result of the union between Colonel Van der Smissen and Empress Charlotte of Mexico or of the latter with an Indian from Mexico? The file remains open. Entrusted at the age of six to David Cohen de Léon, a Jewish leather merchant from Marcheille, he took the name of the country of his tutor and, after an exemplary education at the Vanves, Louis-le-Grand and Henri-IV high schools, in 1885 he was admitted to Saint-Cyr as a foreign entrant under the name of Maxime de Nimal. Graduating in 1887, he chose the cavalry and was trained at Saumur before being sent to the 4th Dragoon Regiment. Aged twenty, he was officially adopted by his tutor's accountant, François Weygand, and was granted French nationality. He moved between garrison towns (Chambéry, Saint-Étienne, Lunéville, Saumur, Niort and Nancy) and received his Captain's stripes in 1896. Punished "for having taken, a stance that might have a political nature" in favour of Colonel Henry during the Dreyfus affair, he married in 1900 and pursued his career as an officer with the 9th Dragoon Regiment. As Lieutenant-Colonel in 1912, he was noticed for his qualities as an instructor at the Saumur Cavalry School and joined the Centre of higher military studies. He was promoted to the dignity of Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur in 1913.

In 1914 at the head of the 5th Regiment of Hussars, he took part in the Battle of Morhange. On the 28th August, promoted to Colonel, he was assigned to Foch, the Chief of Staff. Promoted to Brigade General in 1916, he remained faithful to Foch during his ostracism, putting himself in a favourable position to return to his side in 1917 following the failure of the Nivelle plan. At the Rapallo conference (6th and 7th November), he worked on the constitution of a higher inter-allied command, which became effective from the Doullens conference (26th March 1918) with the appointment of Foch at its head and Weygand in the role of Major General. The two men negotiated the terms of the armistice in November. In 1920, he was General of the army corps, carrying out a mission to Poland as military advisor to Marshal Pilsudski in his fight against Soviet Russia. In 1923, he rose to the rank of Army General, replacing Gouraud as High Commissioner in Syria. On returning to France, he was appointed to the Upper War Council and then to the management staff of the Centre of Higher Military Studies, writing the biographies of Foch (1929) and Turenne (1930). In 1931, Weygand succeeded Foch at the Académie Française, publishing a work about the 11th November (1932) and, on retiring from active management in 1935, he devoted himself to writing the military history of Méhémet-Ali and his sons (1936), Comment élever nos fils? (How should we raise our sons?) (1937), La France est-elle défendue? (Is France well defended?) (1937) and Histoire de l'armée française (History of the French Army) (1938).

On the outbreak of the Second World War President Daladier recalled him to command French troops in the Middle East with the title of Head of Theatre of Operations of the Eastern Mediterranean and the mission of coordinating the action of the men in the Levant and the Balkans. In May 1940, Reynaud, the President of the Council, recalled him to Paris to succeed General Gamelin in supreme command of the French army due to the crushing defeat of the French army in the East. He tried to establish a counter-offensive with the Belgian and British armies but the plan was abandoned on the 24th May, as Franco-British troops were surrounded at Dunkirk. The following day, during an extraordinary meeting at the Elysée, the possibility of an armistice was suggested. On the 11th June, during the Briare conference and in the light of Churchill's decision not to schedule any large-scale attacks on the front line by the Royal Air Force, the position of the French high command began to take shape: to carry on with the struggle in the empire or decide to request an armistice? Weygand and Pétain considered that the government could not leave French territory and that an armistice would preserve its military honour. The pace of events quickened? The flood of refugees, swelled by the army beating its retreat, compounded the general confusion. The government, which had moved to Bordeaux, still hesitated over the policy to adopt. On the 17th June, a consensus was reached through the vice-president of the Council, Camille Chautemps, and the request for an armistice was made to the German authorities. Pétain replaced Reynaud and Weygand was appointed Minister of National Defence. However, although he made sure that armament contracts between France and American manufacturers were transferred to benefit the British allies and that deliveries were redirected to British ports, he disapproved of General de Gaulle's attitude and demoted him to the rank of colonel, having him sentenced to death in his absence.

As a Minister and then General Representative of the Vichy government in Africa, Weygand tried to maintain the balance between the Allies, the demands of the Reich and his fidelity to the only government he believed to be legitimate: he refused to hand over the facilities in North Africa to Germany (July 1940 and May 1941), applied the legislation of Vichy, negotiated the conditions of supplies with the American Murphy (February 1941) and demanded that soldiers from the African army swear allegiance to the Marshal following the campaign to Syria. His behaviour embarrassed Berlin and the Vichy government recalled him to the mainland in November 1941. In November 1942, following the Anglo-American landing in North Africa and the total occupation of the mainland by German and Italian troops, Weygand was arrested by the Germans and placed under house arrest under the authority of the camp of Dachau.

Freed on the 5th May 1945, he was arrested two days later. Detained for acts of collaboration at Val-de-Grâce until May 1946, the case was dismissed in 1948.

He spent the last years of his life working: as president of the Jeanne d'Arc association, on reworking the memoirs of Philippe Pétain, publishing opinion columns in Le Monde, and pursuing his career as a writer, at the same time settling the score with de Gaulle and Reynaud: Foch (1947), Le Général Frère (General Frère) (1949), Mémoires (Memoirs), 1950-1957, Forces de la France (Forces of France)(1951), Et que vive la France! (And long live France) (1953), En lisant les mémoires du Général de Gaulle (On reading General de Gaulle's memoirs) (1955), L'Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile (1960), Histoire de l'armée française (History of the French Army) (1961), Maxime Weygand, L'Armée à l'Académie (Maxime Weygand, The Army to the Academy) (Maxime Weygand, (1962), Lettres inédites relatives aux testaments de Leurs Majestés le roi Louis XVI et la reine Marie-Antoinette (Previously unpublished letters regarding the testaments of Their Majesties King Louis XVI and Queen Marie-Antoinette) (1965).

Maxime Weygand died on the27th January 1965 of complications to a fractured femur. He was buried in the Saint-Charles cemetery in Morlaix, in Finistère.