Gabriel Brunet de Sairigné (9 February 1913 – 1 March 1948) was a

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed Force ...

officer of the

French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, Armoured Cavalry Arm, cavalry, Military engineering, engineers, Airborne forces, airborne troops. It was created ...

. He was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, and was killed in the line of duty close to Lagnia Bien Hoa ( Viêt Nam).

Education

He went to the Lycée Pasteur and the

Lycée Saint-Louis The lycée Saint-Louis is a highly selective post-secondary school located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, in the Latin Quarter. It is the only public French lycée exclusively dedicated to providing '' classes préparatoires aux grandes ...

before joining the famous École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr in 1933.

World War II

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, he participated with the

Free French Forces __NOTOC__ The French Liberation Army (french: Armée française de la Libération or AFL) was the reunified French Army that arose from the merging of the Armée d'Afrique with the prior Free French Forces (french: Forces françaises libres, l ...

in: *1941 : the East African Campaign (in Eritrea and

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

) and the Syria-Lebanon Campaign) *1942 : the

Battle of Bir Hakeim The Battle of Bir Hakeim () took place at Bir Hakeim, an oasis in the Libyan desert south and west of Tobruk, during the Battle of Gazala (26 May – 21 June 1942). The 1st Free French Brigade under Marie-Pierre Kœnig defended the position from ...

, then the

Tunisia Campaign The Tunisian campaign (also known as the Battle of Tunisia) was a series of battles that took place in Tunisia during the North African campaign of the Second World War, between Axis and Allied forces from 17 November 1942 to 13 May 1943. Th ...

*1943 : the

Allied invasion of Sicily The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers ( Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany). It b ...

*1944 : the Operation Dragoon. *1944 : the campaign of

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

. He finished the war with the rank of lieutenant colonel, commandant in chief of the ''First French Free Division'' (in French: ''"Première division française libre"'', or ''"1ère DFL"''). His personal notes dealing with his campaigns during

(exactly from 28 February 1940 to 18 June 1945) were published after his death.

First Indochina War

He was a

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

during the

First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...

serving with the

and became the commanding officer of the

13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade ) and veteran foreign regiments (french: Anciens régiment étranger, link=no) of the Legion, in case of the CEPs, BEPs & REPs, the context reference is referring to the paratrooper veterans (french: Anciens legionnaires parachutistes, link=no) a ...

between 21 August 1946 and his death in the line of duty on 1 March 1948.

Honour

* Commander of the Légion d'honneur *

Compagnon de la Libération The Order of Liberation (french: Ordre de la Libération) is a French Order which was awarded to heroes of the Liberation of France during World War II. It is a very high honour, second only after the ''Légion d’Honneur'' (Legion of Honour) ...

(9 September 1942) * Croix de guerre 1939-1945 (7 citations) *

Croix de guerre des Théatres d'Opérations Extérieures Croix (French for "cross") may refer to: Belgium * Croix-lez-Rouveroy, a village in municipality of Estinnes in the province of Hainaut France * Croix, Nord, in the Nord department * Croix, Territoire de Belfort, in the Territoire de Belfort depa ...

(4 citations) * Colonial medals with "Tunisia 1942-1943" and "EO" clasps * Commemorative medal of the 1939-1945 war, with "Norway", "Africa", "France", campaign in Indochina clasps

Books

* ''Les Carnets du

Lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...

Brunet de Sérigné'', by André-Paul Comor, collection ''Nouvelles Éditions Latines'', Paris, 1990. * ''L'épopée de la 13e demi-brigade de Légion étrangère, 1940-1945'', by André-Paul Comor, collection ''Nouvelles Éditions Latines'', Paris, 1988.

External links

*
Complete biography on the website of the Order of Libération
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brunet De Sairigne 1913 births 1948 deaths Military personnel from Paris French military personnel of World War II French military personnel of the First Indochina War French military leaders French military personnel killed in the First Indochina War École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr alumni Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur Companions of the Liberation Recipients of the Croix de guerre des théâtres d'opérations extérieures Officers of the French Foreign Legion Lycée Saint-Louis alumni Lycée Pasteur (Neuilly-sur-Seine) alumni Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France)