French military personnel of World War II

Jacques_Piette

Jacques Piette (13 May 1916, in Issy-les-Moulineaux – 2 April 1990) was a French politician. He represented the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) in the National Assembly from 1956 to 1958.

Emmanuel_Monick

Emmanuel Monick (January 10, 1893, in Le Mans, France – December 23, 1983?) was a French politician and banker. He was appointed Governor of the Banque de France during the liberation of France at the end of World War II, replacing Yves Bréart de Boisanger, Inspector of Finance in Vichy France.
As the Secretary General of Finance in the Provisional Government of the French Republic from August 29 to September 4, 1944, he had to decide what to do about the gold that the Nazi Party requisitioned from the National Bank of Belgium following the Second Armistice at Compiègne in 1940, which they later sold to the Swiss National Bank.The 220 tonnes of gold were repaid to the National Bank of Belgium at the end of 1944 from the Banque de France's own reserves. Monick negotiated the recovery for the Banque de France of 90 tonnes of gold and 250 million Swiss francs.

Henry_Freydenberg

Lieutenant-General Henry Freydenberg (14 December 1876 – 20 August 1975) was a French army officer. He was born in Paris on 14 December 1876 of German descent family.In 1919 he was chief of staff to general d'Anselme during the French occupation of Odessa.
As a colonel in 1921 he commanded a groupe mobile (a brigade-sized mixed-arms force) in an operation that ended the 7-year Zaian War. He remained involved in post-war operations in the El Ksiba in April 1922. From 1924 to 1929 he served as French Commandant of Meknes in Morocco, transferring in 1929 to command the 1st Senegalese Colonial Division in Senegal. From 1931 to 1933 he was Commander in Chief of French West Africa and spent a short period without a posting before becoming, in 1933, General Officer Commanding Colonial Forces in France. He retired in 1938 but was recalled upon the outbreak of the Second World War and became commander of the Colonial Corps.On 5 June 1940, during the Battle of France, he took over command of the French Second Army from Charles Huntziger, who had transferred to command the Fourth Army Group and who signed the Armistice with Germany on 22 June. He subsequently retired from the army for the second, and last, time.

Pierre_Jeanpierre

Pierre Paul Jeanpierre (14 March 1912 – 29 May 1958) was a soldier in the French Army, a French Resistance fighter and senior officer of the French Foreign Legion.
He served in the French Army and fought during World War II, the First Indochina War, the Suez Crisis and the Algerian War, where he was killed in action. Apart from a short time spent in the French resistance and as a deportee during World War II, he served with the Foreign Legion from 1936 onwards. Jeanpierre commanded the 1st Foreign Parachute Battalion, expanded into the 1st Foreign Parachute Regiment (1er REP) until his death during the Algerian War.

Martial_Valin

Martial Henri Valin (14 May 1898 in Limoges – 19 September 1980 in Neuilly-sur-Seine) was a French Air Force general. He initially served as a cavalryman in the First World War. After nine years cavalry service in the chasseurs d'Afrique, dragoons, spahis, and hussars, he eventually volunteered for the French Army's aviation branch, the aéronautique militaire, in 1926. He commanded the Free French Air Forces from July 1941 to June 1944, and was then Chief of General Staff of the French Air Army from October 1944 until 1946. He participated in both World Wars and the Rif War.

Bernard_Saint-Hillier

Bernard Saint-Hillier (29 December 1911 – 28 July 2004) was a French general.
Saint-Hillier graduated from Saint-Cyr in 1933 and was affected to the 11th Chasseurs alpins Battalion. In 1938, he joined the French Foreign Legion with the rank of captain. He sided with the Fighting French and took part in the East African Campaign with the 13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade.
In 1943, he was promoted to commandant, and to lieutenant-colonel in 1944. He took command of the 13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade on the 25 March 1945. From 1946, he was affected to the general staff of the Armed Forces, where he spent two years.
In 1951, he was promoted to colonel, and led the 18th paratrooper regiment, until he departed to Indochina in 1954. On his return, he studied at the Institut des hautes études de la défense nationale.
In 1958, Saint-Hillier was chief of the general staff in Constantine, Algeria. Promoted to general of brigade in 1959, he became chief of cabinet of the Minister of Defence. From 1960 to 1961, he commanded the 10th Parachute Division. He was French military representative to the European Allied command in 1962.
In 1965, he was promoted to general of division, and served as inspector of the staffs of the Army. Saint-Hillier was promoted to Général de corps d'armée in 1968, commanding the 3rd Military Region in Rennes, and sitting at the Conseil supérieur de la Guerre.
He retired in 1971.

Paul_Rivière

Paul Rivière (22 November 1912 – 15 December 1998) was a French Resistance fighter and politician. He joined the Resistance from 1941, took part in the Indochina and Algeria Wars.

André_Moynet

André Moynet (July 19, 1921 – May 2, 1993) was a much decorated French wartime fighter pilot who moved on to become a test pilot and an entrepreneur-businessman. He was also a politician.

Émilienne_Moreau-Evrard

Émilienne Moreau-Evrard (4 June 1898 – 5 January 1971) was a French heroine of World War I, a high-profile female member of the "Brutus" Resistance network during World War II and later, a member of the Provisional Consultative Assembly. Moreover, she is one of only six women recipients of the Ordre de la Libération.