Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque

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Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque
22 November 1902 – 28 November 1947

Place of birth Belloy-Saint-Léonard, France
Place of death Colomb-Béchar, Algeria
Allegiance France
Service/branch French Army
Years of service 1924-1947
Rank Général d'Armée
Commands held Colonne Leclerc
L force
2nd Armoured Division
French Far East Expeditionary Corps
Battles/wars World War II
Awards Marshal of France (posthumous)
Grand Cross of the Légion d'honneur
Companion of the Liberation
Médaille militaire
Croix de Guerre 1939-1945
Croix de Guerre des TOE
Distinguished Service Order (UK)
Silver Star (USA)
Arms of the 2ème D.B., the Second Armoured Division commanded by Leclerc. The Division's emblem features the Cross of Lorraine.
Arms of the 2ème D.B., the Second Armoured Division commanded by Leclerc. The Division's emblem features the Cross of Lorraine.
Monument to General Leclerc on Place Broglie in Strasbourg
Monument to General Leclerc on Place Broglie in Strasbourg

Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque (November 22, 1902 – November 28, 1947), was a French general during World War II, he became Marshal of France posthumously, in 1952.

He was born Philippe François Marie, Comte de Hauteclocque, but changed his legal name in 1945 to incorporate his French resistance alias Jacques-Philippe Leclerc. He is generally known in France simply as Maréchal Leclerc.

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[edit] Ancestry and family

Philippe de Hauteclocque was born on 22 November 1902 at Belloy-Saint-Léonard in the department of Somme. He was the fifth of six children of Adrien de Hauteclocque, comte de Hauteclocque (1864-1945) and Marie-Thérèse van der Cruisse de Waziers (1870-1956). Philippe was named in honour of an ancestor killed by Croats in 1635. [1]

Leclerc came from an old line of country nobility; his direct ancestors had served in the Fifth Crusade against Egypt and again in the Eighth Crusade of Saint Louis against Tunisia in 1270. They had also fought at the great battles of Saint-Omer in 1340 and Fontenoy in 1745. The family managed to survive the French Revolution, with four members of the family serving in French Army during Napoleons reign, three in La Grande Armée and a fourth, who suffered from weak health, in the supply train. The youngest of these had a son, who became a noted Egyptologist; he in turn had three sons. The first and third became officer in the French Army; serving during the colonial campaigns before both was killed during World War I. The second son was Leclerc’s father; he also served during the war, but survived the conflict and inherited the family estate in Belloy Saint Leonard. [1]

[edit] Biography

He attended the École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr, graduating in 1924, and entered the French Army; he attained the rank of captain in 1937.

During World War II, he joined the Free French forces upon the Fall of France and made his way to London. Charles de Gaulle upon meeting him promoted him from Captain to Major (commandant) and ordered him to French Equatorial Africa as Governor of French Cameroon from August 29, 1940 to November 12, 1940. He commanded the column which attacked Axis forces from Chad, and having marched his troops across West Africa distinguished himself in Tunisia. Sent in from Normandy, his 2nd Armored Division freed Paris. Some argue that General George S. Patton freed the bulk of northern France, and was ordered to halt at the outskirts of Paris by General Dwight D. Eisenhower, to give Leclerc the appearance of freeing the city.[citations needed] Others note that the Allied troops were avoiding Paris, moving around it clockwise towards Germany, and that Leclerc and De Gaulle had to persuade Eisenhower to let some troops help the Parisians who had risen against the German troops.[citations needed]

Together with Maurice Kriegel-Valrimont and Henri Rol-Tanguy Leclerc accepted Dietrich von Choltitz's surrender at the Gare Montparnasse. His troops subsequently liberated Strasbourg and finished their war course in Berchtesgaden, Hitler's headquarters in the Bavarian Alps.

When the war was over in Europe, he received command of the French Far East Expeditionary Corps, and represented France during the surrender of the Japanese Empire in September 2; previously in May 1945 he had been appointed a member of the Légion d'honneur, and the same year legally changed his name to Jacques-Philippe Leclerc de Hautecloque, incorporating his pseudonym.

As new commander of the Far East French Forces, Leclerc's CEFEO Expeditionary Corps set forth in October 1945 in French Indochina, first cracking a Vietminh blockade around Saigon, then driving through the Mekong delta and up into the highlands.

Jean Sainteny flew to Saigon to consult Leclerc, then acting as high commissioner, approved Sainteny's proposal to negotiate with Vietnam. Admiral d'Argenlieu bluntly denounced Leclerc: "I am amazed - yes, that is the word, amazed - that France's fine expeditionary corps in Indochina is commanded by officers who would rather negotiate than fight".[citations needed]

The negotiation did not work. General Leclerc, returned to Paris from Vietnam, now warned that "anti-communism will be a useless tool unless the problem of nationalism is resolved." But his wisdom was ignored. The French Communists, after breaking with Paul Ramadier, triggered a series of strikes and other disorders that plunged France into civil strife. Leclerc was later replaced by Jean-Etienne Valluy.

He died in 1947 in an airplane accident near Colomb-Béchar, Algeria.

He was awarded the honour of Marshal of France posthumously, in 1952.

[edit] Killing of French POW’s

12 soldiers (some sources say 11), French volunteers of the 33rd SS Grenadier Division "Charlemagne," from the Eastern front had first been hospitalized then surrendered and were moving to a POW area, but were stopped by French forces under Gen. Philippe Leclerc. Declaring them to be traitors, Leclerc ordered them to be shot, which was done just before the end of hostilities. Their bodies were left lying on the ground, to be buried a few days later by American soldiers.[2][3]

[edit] Posthumous honours

The Leclerc main battle tank built by GIAT Industries of France is named after him.

There is a monument to Leclerc at coordinates 48.82105° N 2.32494° E, in the Petit-Montrouge quarter of the 14th arrondissement in Paris, between Avenue de la Porte d'Orléans and Rue de la Légion Etrangère. The monument is near the Square du Serment-de-Koufra. The "serment de Koufra" is a pledge that Leclerc made on March 2, 1941, the day after taking the Italian fort at Kufra, Libya: he swore that his weapons would not be laid down until the French flag flew over the cathedrals of Metz and of Strasbourg.[4]

Two Parisian streets are named for Leclerc: Avenue du Général Leclerc in the 14th arrondissement[5] and Rue du Maréchal Leclerc in the 12th arrondissement, between the Bois de Vincennes and the Marne River.[6]

[edit] Decorations

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b Clayton 1992, p. 34.
  2. ^ Gen. Leclerc confronting the prisoners. Retrieved on 2007-09-11.
  3. ^ Operation Northwind, Charles Whiting
  4. ^ Square du Serment-de-Koufra. Mairie de Paris. Retrieved on 2006-07-02., Avenue de la PORTE D'ORLÉANS. Extrait de la nomenclature officielle des voies de Paris.. Retrieved on 2006-07-02.
  5. ^ Avenue du GÉNÉRAL LECLERC. Extrait de la nomenclature officielle des voies de Paris. Retrieved on 2006-07-02.
  6. ^ Rue du MARÉCHAL LECLERC. Extrait de la nomenclature officielle des voies de Paris. Retrieved on 2006-07-02.

[edit] References

[edit] See also

[edit] External links