Marcel Bigeard (February 14, 1916 – June 18, 2010), personal radio call-sign "Bruno", was a French military officer and politician who fought in

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, 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 ...

and the

Algerian War The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...

. He was one of the commanders in the

Battle of Dien Bien Phu The Battle of Dien Bien Phu (french: Bataille de Diên Biên Phu ; vi, Chiến dịch Điện Biên Phủ, ) was a climactic confrontation of the First Indochina War that took place between 13 March and 7 May 1954. It was fought between the Fr ...

and is thought by many to have been a dominating influence on French "unconventional" warfare thinking from that time onwards. He was one of the most decorated soldiers in France, and is particularly noteworthy because of his rise from being a regular soldier in 1936 to ultimately concluding his career in 1976 as a

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on th ...

and serving in the government of

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Valéry René Marie Georges Giscard d'Estaing (, , ; 2 February 19262 December 2020), also known as Giscard or VGE, was a French politician who served as President of France from 1974 to 1981. After serving as Minister of Finance under prime ...

. After leaving the military, Bigeard embarked on a political career serving as deputy of

Meurthe-et-Moselle Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a department in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. It had a population of 733,760 in 2019.necessary evil.

Early life

Marcel Bigeard was born in

Toul Toul () is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Geography Toul is between Commercy and Nancy, and the river Moselle and Canal de la Marne au Rhin. Climate Toul ...

Meurthe-et-Moselle Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a department in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. It had a population of 733,760 in 2019.Société Générale Société Générale S.A. (), colloquially known in English as SocGen (), is a French-based multinational financial services company founded in 1864, registered in downtown Paris and headquartered nearby in La Défense. Société Générale ...

bank, where he did well.

Pre-war career

Following a 6-year career in Société générale, Marcel Bigeard conducted his military service in France at Haguenau at the corps of the 23rd Fortress Infantry Regiment (french: link=no, 23^e Régiment d'Infanterie de Forteresse). Incorporated in the regiment as a soldat de deuxième classe in September 1936, caporal-chef, he was relieved of duty and military obligations with the rank of reserve sergent in September 1938.

World War II

Six months following his relief of duty, in anticipation of imminent conflict, he was recalled on March 22, 1939, to duty at the corps of the 23rd Fortress Infantry Regiment and promoted to the rank of sergent. In September 1939, with the arrival of the reserves, the battalions of the 23rd Fortress Infantry Regiment (23^e RIF), served each in a chain link to form new Fortress

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

regiments of « mobilization », Bigeard was assigned to the 79th Fortress Infantry Regiment (french: link=no, 79^e Régiment d'Infanterie de Forteresse) in the under fortified sector of Hoffen and the Maginot Line. Volunteer for the franc corps, he led a combat group at Trimbach in

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 ...

and became quickly a sergent-chef then adjudant (warrant officer) at the age of 24. Image:Insigne du 23° RIF.jpg, Insignia of 23^e RIF Image:Insigne du 79° RIF.jpg, Insignia of 79^e RIF Image:Insigne du 23° RIC.jpg, Insignia of 23^e RIC On June 25, 1940, he was captured (post-armistice) and made prisoner of war, spending 18 months in captivity in a ''stalag'' (German POW camp). Following his third attempt to escape on November 11, 1941, he managed to make his way to the unoccupied zone in France, and from there, he went to

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

. Volunteering for the French Occidental Africa (french: link=no, Afrique-Occidentale française, AOF), he was assigned in February 1942 to a camp in Senegal, in a Senegalese Tirailleurs Regiment of the

Armistice Army The Armistice Army or Vichy French Army (french: Armée de l'Armistice) was the common name for the armed forces of Vichy France permitted under the Armistice of 22 June 1940 after the French capitulation to Nazi Germany and Italy. It was off ...

. Promoted to

sous-lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until 19 ...

in October 1943, he was directed with his regiment to

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...

. Recruited as a paratrooper of 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 ...

, he conducted a military formation, with the

British Commandos The Commandos, also known as the British Commandos, were formed during the Second World War in June 1940, following a request from Winston Churchill, for special forces that could carry out raids against German-occupied Europe. Initially dra ...

, near Algiers during three months, then was assigned the preliminary rank of

Chef de bataillon Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

(major) at a directorate. In 1944, after paratrooper training by the British, he was parachuted into occupied France as part of a team of four with the mission of leading the resistance in the Ariège ''

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...

'' close to the border with

Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

. One of these audacious ambushes against superior German forces gained him a British

decoration Decoration may refer to: * Decorative arts * A house painter and decorator's craft * An act or object intended to increase the beauty of a person, room, etc. * An award that is a token of recognition to the recipient intended for wearing Othe ...

. His nickname of "Bruno" has its origins in his radio call sign. At the beginning of 1945, Bigeard created and managed during a scholastic semester, the regional cadres school of Pyla-sur-Mer, near

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectu ...

, destined to form officers issued from the

French Forces of the Interior The French Forces of the Interior (french: Forces françaises de l'Intérieur) were French resistance fighters in the later stages of World War II. Charles de Gaulle used it as a formal name for the resistance fighters. The change in designation ...

. Decorated with the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

and the British

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, ty ...

for his actions in Ariège, Bigeard was promoted to an active

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in June 1945.

Indochina

Bigeard was first sent to

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

in October 1945 to assist with French efforts to reassert their influence over the former French colonies. He commanded the 23rd Colonial Infantry and then volunteered to train Thai auxiliaries in their interdiction of Viet Minh incursions around the Laos border along the 'road' R.C. 41 (Route Coloniale). In the middle of 1945, Captain Bigeard was entrusted with the command of the 6th company of the 23rd Colonial Infantry Regiment (french: link=no, 23^e Régiment d'Infanterie Coloniale, 23^e RIC). Designated to participate to the expeditionary corps in Indochina, the regiment disembarked in Saigon on October 25, 1945, and served until March 1946 in various sectors of operations. During this epoque, the "Bruno" surname started to circulate. On March 8, 1946, a detachment of the 2nd Armored Brigade 2^e DB and

9th Colonial Infantry Division The 9th Colonial Infantry Division (french: 9e Division d'Infanterie Coloniale, 9e DIC) was a French Army formation which fought in World War II and the War in Vietnam (1945–1946). History A 9th Colonial Infantry Division was being formed i ...

(french: link=no, 9^e Division d'Infanterie Coloniale, 9^e DIC), which the 23rd Colonial Infantry Regiment 23^e RIC was part of, disembarked in Tonkin. As a paratrooper, Bigeard was legendary in the French Army for his toughness and physical endurance as the American diplomat Howard Simpson noted that anyone who visited Bigeard could expect only "a thin slice of ham and one small, isolated boiled potato washed down with steaming tea". On July 1, 1946, Bigeard left the 23^e RIC and formed south-east of Dien Bien Phu, a unit constituted of four

commando Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...

s of 25 volunteers at the corps of the autonomous Thai Battalion. At the return of his men in metropole, mid-October 1946, he assumed command of the 3rd company, constituted of almost 40 men. He then left Indochina on September 17, 1947, and reached France three days later. Volunteering for another tour in Indochina, Bigeard was assigned on February 1, 1948, to the 3rd Colonial Parachute Commando Battalion 3^e BCCP. On October 1, 1949, Bigeard set on foot the 3rd Tai Battalion, consisting of 2,530 men divided in five regular companies and nine companies of civilian guards with military supplementaries. Relieved from this post, he assumed on April 5, 1950, the command of an Indochinese marching battalion who received, in August, the regimental color of the 1st Tonkin Tirailleurs Regiment (french: link=no, 1^er Régiment de Tirailleurs Tonkinois) which was decorated by the croix de guerre with palm. On November 12, 1950, Bigeard embarked on a paquebot and left again Indochina. Image:Insigne du 3e BCCP.jpg, Insignia of the 3^e BCCP Image:Insigne du 6° BCCP.jpg, Insignia of the 6^e BCCP In the spring of 1951, Bigeard was assigned at Vannes, the colonial demi-brigade of colonel Jean Gilles and was confined with a passing battalion. In September 1951, he was assigned the command of the 6th Colonial Parachute Battalion 6^e BPC at Saint-Brieuc. He was ranked then as a Chef de battaillon in January 1952. On July 28, 1952, Bigeard, at the head of the 6th Colonial Parachute Battalion 6^e BPC, disembarked at Haiphong for a third deployment in Indochina. Over half of Bigeard's men were Vietnamese while the other half were French, thus requiring considerable leadership on his part to tie together a mixed unit to allow it to function effectively. On October 16, 1952, the battalion was parachuted on Tu Lê. and confronted during eight days the opposing regimental divisions. During the Battle of Tu Lê, the battalion was encircled by an entire Vietnamese division, being outnumbered ten to one. In the course of extremely fierce fighting, Bigeard fought off the attempts of the Vietnamese to destroy his unit and led his men into a successful break-out into the jungle marching for days and carrying all of their wounded until finally reaching a French fort. The 6^e BPC distinguished savoir-faire again during the

Battle of Nà Sản The Battle of Nà Sản was fought between French Union forces and the Nationalist forces of the Việt Minh at Nà Sản, Sơn La Province, during the First Indochina War for control of the T’ai region (Northwest territory). Background Mil ...

, during an operation on Lang Song July 17, 1953, and during

Operation Castor Opération Castor was a French airborne operation in the First Indochina War. The operation established a fortified airhead in Điện Biên Province, in the north-west corner of Vietnam and was commanded by Brigadier General Jean Gilles. The ...

on Dien Bien Phu November 20, 1953. Bigeard was a keen self-publicist, welcoming journalists among his troops, which assisted his cause by getting the materials needed to help him succeed. His units were noted for their dedication to physical fitness above the normal requirements by the army. This unique style included creating the famous 'casquette Bigeard' cap from the 'excess' material of the long shorts in the standard uniform. A fitness fanatic known for his austere lifestyle and working out several hours every day, Bigeard was famous for being one of the fittest men in the entire French Army. He exuded a peculiar sort of French ''machismo''; he always led from the front while refusing to carry a weapon, never asked his men to do anything that he would not do himself, and was well known for his saying: "It is possible, it will be done. And if it is impossible, it will still be done". A colorful man, Bigeard was extremely popular with the troops under his command for his courage and for always leading from the front, but his contempt for superior officers who did not suffer the same hardships as ordinary soldiers, the "generals with middle-aged spread" as Bigeard called them, made for tense relations with his commanding officers. He participated in many operations including a combat drop on Tu Lê in November 1952. It was also in 1952 that he fully qualified to be a flying pilot of a military transport helicopter so as to be fully capable of commanding a paratrooper battalion. An extremely able military tactician, Bigeard was called by the British military historian Martin Windrow the "intuitive master of terrain, who could conduct a battle by map and radio like the conductor of an orchestra". On November 20, 1953, Bigeard and his unit took part in

, the opening stage of the

. Bigeard and the 6^e BPC returned to Dien Bien Phu on March 16, 1954, parachuting in to reinforce the now besieged garrison. He acted as deputy to

Pierre Langlais Pierre Charles Albert Marie Langlais (2 December 190917 July 1986http://www.dienbienphu.org/english/html/annuaire/langlais.htm) was a senior French military officer who fought in World War II and the First Indochina War. Hailing from the Brittany ...

, and was a member of the "parachute mafia" – a unit of the high-ranking paratroopers at the camp who oversaw combat operations. Historian

Bernard Fall Bernard B. Fall (November 19, 1926 – February 21, 1967) was a prominent war correspondent, historian, political scientist, and expert on Indochina during the 1950s and 1960s. Born in Austria, he moved with his family to France as a child after ...

asserts that an armed Bigeard, along with Langlais, took ''de facto'' command of the camp from General Christian de Castries in mid-March. The historian Jules Roy, however, makes no mention of this event, and

Martin Windrow Martin C. Windrow (born 1944) is a British historian, editor and author of several hundredWindrow, Martin ''The Last Valley'', preface books, articles and monographs, particularly those on organizational or physical details of military history, an ...

argues that the 'paratrooper putsch' is unlikely to have happened. Both Langlais and Bigeard were known to be on good relations with their commanding officer. Insigne du 3° RPC

On December 31, 1953, Bigeard took command of the Airborne Groupment constituted of the

1st Parachute Chasseur Regiment The 1st Parachute Chasseur Regiment (french: 1er Régiment de Chasseurs Parachutistes, 1er R.C.P) is the oldest and among the most decorated airborne regiments of the French Army. Established in the French Army in 1943 and formerly part of the Fr ...

1^er RCP and the 6^e BPC, intervening to intercept opposing divisions. Parachuted on March 16, 1954, while the outcome of Dien Bien Phu was being sealed,

Commandant Commandant ( or ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ran ...

Bigeard was promoted to

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 ...

(along with other commanders) during ongoing fighting, making of him a recognized figure while leading his battalion on strongpoints Éliane 1 and 2. Bigeard called Dien Bien Phu a "jungle

Verdun Verdun (, , , ; official name before 1970 ''Verdun-sur-Meuse'') is a large city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital ...

", the final and most intense battle in Vietnam as the Vietnamese used their Soviet-built artillery on the hills above to rain heavy fire on the French positions; every day the Vietnamese staged huge "human wave" attacks, sending thousand of infantrymen to try to storm the French lines, only to be repulsed time after time. Bigeard's paras were engaged in the heaviest fighting at Dien Bien Phu, and of his 800 men, only forty had not been killed by the end of the battle. Bigeard was made a prisoner of war on May 7, 1954, during the fall of the camp. After the battle, the Vietnamese forced the French prisoners on a death march to POW camps, making them march through a hot, humid jungle while refusing to provide food, water or medicine. It was a tribute to Bigeard's intense physical fitness regime that he emerged from Vietnamese captivity in relatively good health. He was liberated four months later, leaving Indochina for good on September 25, 1954. Upon returning to France, Bigeard told the French press he "would do better the next time".

Algerian War

In 1956, Bigeard was sent to the ''bled'' (countryside) of Algeria to hunt down the FLN using helicopters to rapidly deploy his men. On June 5, 1956, during a skirmish, Bigeard took a bullet to his chest that narrowly missed his heart. On September 5, 1956, Bigeard was the victim of an assassination attempt by the FLN, being shot in the chest twice by FLN assassins while jogging alone by the Mediterranean. The American pundit

Max Boot Max Alexandrovich Boot (born September 12, 1969) is an American author, consultant, editorialist, lecturer, and military historian. He worked as a writer and editor for ''Christian Science Monitor'' and then for ''The Wall Street Journal'' in the ...

wrote it was a tribute to Bigeard's toughness and the robust state of his health that he could take three bullets in his chest over the course of four months in 1956 and still be back to duty shortly afterwards. At the beginning of 1956, the regiment participated at the corps of the elite 10th Parachute Division of General

Jacques Massu Jacques Émile Massu (; 5 May 1908 – 26 October 2002) was a French general who fought in World War II, the First Indochina War, the Algerian War and the Suez crisis. He led French troops in the Battle of Algiers, first supporting and later ...

in the battle of Algiers. The mission of the paratroopers was to re-establish peace in the city in the autumn of 1956 and until the summer of 1957. In late 1956, the FLN had launched the Battle of Algiers, a campaign of assassinations and bombings targeting civilians designed to be the "Algerian Dien Bien Phu". The FLN had decided to deliberately target ''

pied-noir The ''Pieds-Noirs'' (; ; ''Pied-Noir''), are the people of French and other European descent who were born in Algeria during the period of French rule from 1830 to 1962; the vast majority of whom departed for mainland France as soon as Alger ...

'' citizens as a way of breaking French power. As one FLN directive put it: "A bomb causing the death of ten people and wounding fifty others is the equivalent on the psychological level to the loss of a French battalion." As such, the FLN set off bombs almost daily at restaurants, cafes, bus stops, football stadiums, and marketplaces, and anybody known to be pro-French was murdered. The FLN favored murdering pro-French Muslims and ''pied-noirs'' by making them wear the "Algerian smile" – cutting out the throat, ripping out the tongue and leaving the victim to bleed to death. As the carnage mounted, the 10th Parachute Division was deployed to Algiers as the police simply could not cope. In March 1957, the 3^e RPC made way south of Blida and participated in numerous operations in Atlas and Agounnenda. The regiment relieved the

in July 1957 in Algiers. Bigeard revitalized the unit by weeding out laggards and the uncommitted and then put the remainder through an intense training regime. He led the 3^e RPC through numerous operations, the most famous being the 1957 Battle of Algiers. It was known that the FLN was conducting its bombing campaign that was terrorizing Algiers out of the Casbah, the overcrowded medieval quarter of Algiers with narrow, serpentine streets. Bigeard had the 10th Parachute Division build barbed wire fences around the Casbah and imposed a curfew where anyone found on the streets of the Casbah would be shot down and their bodies left out to rot until the morning to show the people of the Casbah that the 10th Parachute Division was a force "even more extreme than the FLN." In January 1957, a map was drawn up of the Casbah, a census was conducted and using files from the Algiers police department the paras started to staged raids to capture suspected ''fellagha''. Larbi Ben M'hidi - 1957

Capture of M'Hidi

Torture was freely used to break suspected FLN members, with a particular favorite tactic being the ''gégène'', where wires from a small generator were attached to the genitals and intense electrical currents were sent through either the penis or the vagina until the suspect started to provide information. Using information gained through such tactics as the ''gégène'', those named by the suspect were then arrested and the whole process repeated. Over the course of the Battle of Algiers, the 10th Parachute Division arrested about 24,000 Muslims of whom about 4,000 "disappeared", as those who were murdered were euphemistically described. During the Battle of Algiers, Bigeard captured Larbi Ben M'hidi, one of the FLN's top leaders, but Bigeard refused to torture him on the grounds that M'hidi was a warrior who deserved respect. During the course of a dinner with his enemy, Bigeard asked M'hidi if he was ashamed that he had bombs planted in baskets at restaurants and cafes designed to kill the patrons, saying "Aren't you ashamed to place bombs in the baskets of your women?", leading to the reply "Give me your planes. I'll give you my baskets." When Massu ordered M'hidi executed, Bigeard declined the order, and instead Major

Paul Aussaresses Paul Aussaresses (; 7 November 1918 – 3 December 2013) was a French Army general, who fought during World War II, the First Indochina War and Algerian War. His actions during the Algerian War—and later defense of those actions—caused consid ...

was sent to take M'hidi away to hang him to "make it look like suicide." As Aussaresses was taking M'hidi out to the countryside to hang him, Bigeard had his troops give the doomed M'hidi full military honors as he was led away.

Promotion to colonel

After the initial apparent victory in Algiers, in April 1957 Bigeard moved the 3^e RPC back into the

Atlas Mountains The Atlas Mountains are a mountain range in the Maghreb in North Africa. It separates the Sahara Desert from the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean; the name "Atlantic" is derived from the mountain range. It stretches around through ...

in pursuit of FLN groups in that province. In May he was in the area near Agounennda to ambush a large force of about 300 djounoud of the FLN group Wilaya 4. This group had already attacked an Algerian Battalion on May 21 causing heavy casualties. From a 'cold' start Bigeard estimated the attacking group's probable route of withdrawal and laid a wide ambush along a valley of 100 km². The ensuing battle and followup lasted from May 23 to 26, 1957, but resulted in eight paras killed for 96 enemy dead, twelve prisoners and five captives released. For this exemplary operation he was nicknamed "Seigneur de l'Atlas" ("Lord of the Atlas mountains") by his boss General Massu. Promoted to

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 ...

in January 1958, Bigeard directed the 3^e RPC with others to the Battle of the Frontiers from January to June. After other urban, desert and mountain operations, Bigeard was replaced as the commander of 3^e RPC in March 1958 by

Roger Trinquier Roger Trinquier (20 March 1908 – 11 January 1986) was a French Army officer during World War II, the First Indochina War and the Algerian War, serving mainly in airborne and special forces units. He was also a counter-insurgency theorist, mainl ...

. In 1958, ''Time'' magazine wrote of Bigard that he was "a martinet, but the idol of his men, who made them shave every day, no matter where they were, and doled out raw onions instead of the traditional wine ration because 'wine reduces stamina'." The senior officers of the French Army, most of whom had graduated from Saint-Cyr, made no secret of their dislike for Bigeard, whom they viewed as a "jumped-up ranker" who disregarded orders if he thought them to be stupid. As a punishment, Bigeard was removed from his front-line duties in Algeria and sent to Paris to train officers in "revolutionary warfare". Accordingly, Bigeard went back to Paris where the minister of the armies,

Jacques Chaban-Delmas Jacques Chaban-Delmas (; 7 March 1915 – 10 November 2000) was a French Gaullist politician. He served as Prime Minister under Georges Pompidou from 1969 to 1972. He was the Mayor of Bordeaux from 1947 to 1995 and a deputy for the Gironde '' ...

, asked him to establish a center of instruction for cadres that opened at the end of April near Philippeville. The École Jeanne d'Arc in Philippeville (modern day Skikda) was to provide field officers with a one-month training course in counter-insurgency techniques. Bigeard created the school and was placed in charge. He did not take any part in the events of May 13, 1958. After fourth months in Toul, Bigeard went back to Algeria, taking command of a sector in Saida and Oranie on January 25, 1959. Bigeard became adjutant to General Ducournau at the 25^e DP Under his disposition were around 5,000 men, formed from the 8th Infantry Regiment, the 14th Algerian Tirailleurs Regiment, the 23rd Moroccan Spahis Regiment 23^e RSM, one group of DCA, one artillery regiment, and two mobile groups. Following a meeting with

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Governm ...

on August 27, 1959, he assumed command on December 1 of the Ain-Sefra, with an effective strength of 1,500 men. Unlike many fellow officers who were closely associated with the war, he did not take part in the Algiers putsch in 1961.

Military career after 1960

From July 1960 to January 1963, Bigeard took command of the 6th Colonial Infantry Outremer Regiment 6^e RIAOM at

Bouar Bouar is a market town in the western Central African Republic, lying on the main road from Bangui (437 km) to the frontier with Cameroon (210 km). The city is the capital of Nana-Mambéré prefecture, has a population of 40,353, while ...

in the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

. Following a brief passage by the

École supérieure de guerre The ''École supérieure de guerre'' ("Superior School of Warfare") was the most senior military education institute and staff college of the French Army, from 1876 until 1993, when it was merged into the inter-service ' (Joint Defense College), wh ...

from June 1963 to June 1964, he took command of the 25th Parachute Brigade (France) which included the

and the

9th Parachute Chasseur Regiment The 9th Parachute Chasseur Regiment (french: 9e Régiment de Chasseurs Parachutistes, 9e RCP) was an airborne unit of the French Army that was part of the French Airborne Units and all three histories of the 10th Parachute Division, 25th Para ...

at Pau on August 31, 1964. Following that post, he also held the command of the 20th Parachute Brigade succeeding Général Langlais, which included the

3rd Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment The 3rd Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (french: 3e Régiment de Parachutistes d'Infanterie de Marine, 3e RPIMa) is an airborne infantry regiment of the French Army. It is heir to the 3rd Colonial Commando Parachute Battalion created in 1948 a ...

the

6th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment The 6th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (french: 6e Régiment de Parachutistes d'Infanterie de Marine, 6e RPIMa ) is an airborne infantry unit of the French Army. Creation and different nominations since 1951 * May 16, 1948: creation at ...

and the

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and fr ...

. Accordingly, he was promoted to the rank of

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointe ...

on August 1, 1967. Following an encounter with général de Gaulle, he was designated to the post of ''Commandant superior des forces terrestes'' in Senegal, which included 2000 men (

French Army History Early history The first permanent army, paid with regular wages, instead of feudal levies, was established under Charles VII of France, Charles VII in the 1420 to 1430s. The Kings of France needed reliable troops during and after the ...

1100,

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

500,

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Ar ...

400) and accordingly arrived at

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...

on February 7, 1968. In July 1970, Bigeard was back in Paris and was assigned for ten months at the CEMAT headquarter staff. On August 7, 1971, he took command of Area Forces present in the Indian Ocean at

Antananarivo Antananarivo ( French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana, is the capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known as Antananarivo-Renivohitra ("Antananarivo-Mother Hill" or "A ...

and obtained on December 1, 1971, his

third star ''Third Star'' is a 2010 British drama film directed by Hattie Dalton and starring Benedict Cumberbatch, JJ Feild, Tom Burke, Adam Robertson, and Hugh Bonneville.Reynolds, Simon (2011)Trailer: Benedict Cumberbatch's 'Third Star', Digital Spy, 6 ...

. He left

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Afric ...

on July 31, 1973, with the total ensemble of French Forces present in that sector. Bigeard was known for his unusual way of taking command, namely by parachuting in to his post while saluting his men, which nearly led to disaster in Madagascar when the wind blew him into the Indian Ocean that was full of sharks, thus requiring his men to dive in to save him.

Promotion to general

Following his return to France, he became from September 1973 to February 1974, the second adjoint to the

Military governor of Paris The Military governor of Paris is a post within the French Army. He commands the garrison of Paris and represents all the military based in Paris at high state occasions. He is also responsible (subordinate to the President of France) for organiz ...

. Promoted

général de corps d'armée An army corps general or corps general is a rank held by a General officer who commands an army corps. The rank originates from the French (Revolutionary) System, and is used by a number of countries. Normally, the rank is above the divisional ge ...

on March 1, 1974, he assumed command of the 4th Military Region, comprising 40,000 men out of which 10,000 were paratroopers. He met on January 30, 1975,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

who proposed the post of secretary of state attached to minister Yvon Bourges. He held that post from February 1975 to August 1976, the date on which he leaves the service.

Political career

Following a brief retirement at Toul, he presented himself to the elections and became a deputy of

Meurthe-et-Moselle Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a department in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. It had a population of 733,760 in 2019. In his last book, ''Mon dernier round'', published in 2009, Bigeard strongly denounced de Gaulle for his treatment of the '' harkis'' (Algerian Muslims who served in the French Army), writing that de Gaulle shamefully abandoned thousands of ''harkis'' and their families to be slaughtered by the FLN in 1962, and that even those ''harkis'' who did escape to France were shunted aside to live in the ''banlieues'', writing that these men and their families who sacrificed so much for France deserved much better.

Torture accusations

In his later life, Bigeard was drawn into the controversy over the use of torture in the Algerian war. The admission by senior military officers such as Massu and Aussaresses that torture was used systematically by the French in Algeria put the spotlight on all figures involved. In a memoir published in 1999, Bigeard admitted to using "muscular interrogations" to make FLN suspects talk, but denied engaging in torture himself while at the same time justifying torture as an interrogation method writing "Was it easy to do nothing when you had seen women and children with their limbs blown off by bombs?". In July 2000 Bigeard justified the use of torture during the Algerian War as a "necessary evil" in ''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'' newspaper, and confirmed its use while denying any claim of his involvement in personally using torture. Several sources suggest that Bigeard had been more involved in torture and killings than he admitted. Aussaresses stated that the corpses of Algerians executed by French forces and dropped by aircraft into the sea had been dubbed ''crevettes de Bigeard'' ("Bigeard's shrimp"). However there is no evidence that Bigeard authorised or participated in such practices, while Aussaresses would later serve as an advisor to the regimes of

Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...

and

Jorge Rafael Videla Jorge Rafael Videla (; ; 2 August 1925 – 17 May 2013) was an Argentine military officer and dictator, Commander in Chief of the Army, member of the Military Junta, and ''de facto'' President of Argentina from 29 March 1976 to 29 March 1981. H ...

during

Operation Condor Operation Condor ( es, link=no, Operación Cóndor, also known as ''Plan Cóndor''; pt, Operação Condor) was a United States–backed campaign of political repression and state terror involving intelligence operations and assassination of op ...

where "death flights" were used to dispose of dissidents. In June 2000

Louisette Ighilahriz Louisette Ighilahriz (born 22 August 1936) is an Algerian writer, former '' Conseil de la Nation'' member, and a former member of the ''Front de Libération Nationale'' (FLN) who came to widespread attention in 2000 with her story of captivity by t ...

, a writer and member of the FLN, publicly alleged that Bigeard and Massu had been present when she was tortured and raped at a military prison from late September to December 1957. Ighilahriz had come forward with her story as she wanted to thank one "Richaud", an Army doctor at the prison for saving her life, saying that Richaud was a most gentle man who always treated her injuries and saved her life. Bigeard rejected Ighilarhiz's claims that she was tortured and raped in his presence, saying that Ighilarhiz's story was a "tissue of lies" designed to "destroy all that is decent in France", and going to say this "Richaud" had never existed., Bigeard was, however, contradicted by Massu, who confirmed the existence of "Richaud", saying that Ighilahriz was referring to Dr. François Richaud, who had been the doctor stationed at the prison in 1957. Bigeard stated that Ighilahriz's claim she had been tortured by him was part of a campaign waged by the same left-wing intellectuals whom Bigeard blamed for undermining the French will to win in Algeria. Bigeard denied having engaged in torture himself, but maintained that the use of torture against the FLN had been a "necessary evil". Canadian historian Barnett Singer claims that Ighilarhiz claims were "full of fabrications", that torture was "never igeard'smodus operandi" and Bigeard was on operations away from Algiers at the relevant time.

Death

Bigeard died on June 18, 2010, at his home in Toul.

Funeral

His funeral procession was held at the Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Toul on June 21, in presence of former French president

and Minister of Defense

Hervé Morin Hervé Morin (born 17 August 1961) is a French politician of the Centrists who has been serving as the first President of the Regional Council of Normandy since January 2016. Under President Nicolas Sarkozy, he was the Minister of Defence. Po ...

. Full military honours were accorded to Bigeard on June 22 at

Les Invalides The Hôtel des Invalides ( en, "house of invalids"), commonly called Les Invalides (), is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, ...

by the country's prime minister,

François Fillon François Charles Armand Fillon (; born 4 March 1954) is a retired French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 2007 to 2012 under President Nicolas Sarkozy. He was the nominee of the Republicans (previously known as the Union ...

. In an obituary, the American historian

wrote that Bigeard's life disproved the popular canard in the English-speaking world that the French are soft and cowardly soldiers, the so-called " cheese-eating surrender monkeys", writing that Bigeard was the "consummate warrior" and one of "the great soldiers of the 20th century".

Posthumous controversy

Allegations about Bigeard's actions during the Algerian conflict led to significant public controversy surrounding the general's being laid to rest. Bigeard had originally expressed a desire that his ashes should be scattered at Dien Bien Phu. However, the Vietnamese government refused to allow this, as it did not wish to set a precedent. Attempts by the French government to inter him in Les Invalides were "reversed because of public outrage" surrounding allegations of torture, most prominently a petition in the left-wing newspaper Libération that called him an "unscrupulous adventurer" who used "heinous methods". This led to a lengthy controversy over where to bury Bigeard, which was ended in September 2012 when Minister of Defense

Jean-Yves Le Drian Jean-Yves Le Drian (; born 30 June 1947) is a French politician who served as Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs in the governments of Prime Ministers Édouard Philippe and Jean Castex (2017–2022) and as Minister of Defence under Presi ...

decided to inter him at the Mémorial des guerres en Indochine in

Fréjus Fréjus (; ) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 54,458. It neighbours Saint-Raphaël, effectively forming one urban agglomeration. The north ...

. Le Drian's attendance of the burial ceremony in November was criticized by the French Human Rights League, which suggested that praise for Bigeard "would amount to elevating torture to a military discipline worthy of being honoured by the state." However the decision was welcomed by French veterans organizations.

"Homage to the adversary"

Bigeard often manifested his admiration and sympathy for the adversary that fought well. He always distinguished the proper professional and never disregarded his worth of esteem. Bigeard was seen in Indochina, awarding decorations of merit to the Viet adversary, doing also the same in Algeria. In his memory books and ''Pour une parcelle de gloire'', he cited in length, and notably, those who he admired with high esteem and who showcased real qualities of soldiers, valor and courage.Historia, ''Bigeard le colonel vedette'', Numéro avec majuscule 423, février 1982. Bigeard famously said: "There is no dishonor in rendering homage to the adversary" ("''on ne se déshonore pas en rendant hommage à l'adversaire''"). However, the respect he always carried for his adversaries had limitations. He never forgave the useless cruelty of inhumanity in captivity.

Honors and awards

Decorations

French Honors *Grand Cross of the

Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 The ''Croix de Guerre 1939–1945'' (English: War Cross 1939–1945) is a French military decoration, a version of the '' Croix de Guerre'' created on 26 September 1939 to honour people who fought with the Allies against the Axis forces at any ...

with 6 citations out of which 3 at the orders of the armed forces (3 palms). * Croix de guerre des Théatres d'Opérations Exterieures with 17 citations out of which 12 at the orders of the armed forces. *

Croix de la Valeur Militaire The Cross for Military Valour (french: Croix de la Valeur Militaire) is a military decoration of France. It recognises an individual bestowed a Mention in Dispatches earned for showing valour in presence of an enemy, in theatres of operations wh ...

with 4 citations at the orders of the armed forces. *

Médaille de la Résistance The Resistance Medal (french: Médaille de la Résistance) was a decoration bestowed by the French Committee of National Liberation, based in the United Kingdom, during World War II. It was established by a decree of General Charles de Gaulle on 9 ...

decree of (6/09/1945) *

Escapees' Medal The Escapees' Medal (french: Médaille des Évadés) is a military award bestowed by the government of France to individuals who were prisoners of war and who successfully escaped internment or died as a result of their escape attempt. The "Esca ...

Colonial Medal The Colonial Medal (french: "Médaille Coloniale") was a French decoration created by the "loi de finances" of 26 July 1893 (article 75) to reward "military services in the colonies, resulting from participation in military operations, in a colon ...

with "Extrême-Orient" (Far East) clasp * Commemorative Medal of the 1939–1945 War *

Indochina Campaign commemorative medal The Indochina Campaign commemorative medal (french: Médaille commémorative de la campagne d'Indochine) was a French military decoration established on 1 August 1953 by decree 53-722 to recognize participation in the Indochina War by the member ...

* Algeria Commemorative Medal * Medaille des blessés with 5 stars (5 wounds) *Honorary ''Légionnaire de 1ère classe'' of the Foreign Legion in 1954 Foreign Honors *

(UK) *Commander of the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight u ...

(US) * Grand Officer of the National Order of Merit of Senegal (''Grand officier du Mérite Sénégalais'') *Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

(''Grand officier du Ordre national du Mérite togolais'') *Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Comoros (''Grand officier du Mérite Comorien'') *Grand Officer of the Order of King Abdulaziz Al Saud (''Grand officier du mérite Saoudite'') *Officer of the Order of the Million Elephants and the White Parasol (''Officier de Ordre du Million d'Eléphants et Parasol Blanc du Laos'') *Commander of the National Order of Merit of

Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...

(''Commandeur de l'ordre du Mérite national mauritanien'') *Commander of the Order of Central African Merit (''Commandeur du Mérite centrafricain'') *Commander of the Order of Civil Merit of the Tai Federation (''Commandeur fédération pays Thaï'') *Commander of the

Order of the Dragon of Annam The Imperial Order of the Dragon of Annam (, , ; french: Ordre impérial du Dragon d'Annam, Ordre du Dragon Vert) was created in 1886 in the city of Huế, by Emperor Đồng Khánh of the Imperial House of Annam, upon the "recommendation" of th ...

(''Commandeur du Dragon d'Annam'') General Bigeard was awarded 27 citations, including 19 palms and 8 stars.

Legacy

Posthumous homages

The 50th graduating class of the

École militaire interarmes The ''Combined Arms School'' or ''Joint military school'', known as École Militaire Interarmes or EMIA, is a military school of the French Army intended to train officers who have risen from the ranks. It was founded in 1942 and based in a rural ...

chose the promotion Général Bigeard. The song of the promotion recalls the arms celebration of Général Bigeard. A 3.65 m stele representing Général Bigeard in profile was inaugurated on June 29, 2012, at the 3 RPIMa base at Quartier Laperrine in

Carcassonne Carcassonne (, also , , ; ; la, Carcaso) is a French fortified city in the department of Aude, in the region of Occitanie. It is the prefecture of the department. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Carcassonne is located in the plain of the Aud ...

. Bigeard served as an inspiration for Colonel Raspeguy in '' Lost Command'' and Jean Mathieu in ''

The Battle of Algiers ar, Maʿrakat al-Jazāʾir , director = Gillo Pontecorvo , producer = Antonio MusuSaadi Yacef , writer = Franco Solinas , story = Franco SolinasGillo Pontecorvo , starring = Jean MartinSaadi YacefBrahim H ...

''.Guilty Pleasures: Lost Command
/ref>

Homages in France

In France, several avenues, places and roads bear his name: * ''Avenue du Général Bigeard'' à

(

Meurthe-et-Moselle Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a department in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. It had a population of 733,760 in 2019.Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix ( medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille ...

(

Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( , , ; oc, Bocas de Ròse ; "Mouths of the Rhône") is a department in Southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the south. Its prefecture and ...

) * Place du Général Marcel Bigeard à Tellancourt (

Meurthe-et-Moselle Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a department in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. It had a population of 733,760 in 2019.Aix-les-Bains Aix-les-Bains (, ; frp, Èx-los-Bens; la, Aquae Gratianae), locally simply Aix, is a commune in the southeastern French department of Savoie.

(

Savoie Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè'' or ''Savouè-d'Avâl''; English: ''Savoy'' ) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Southeastern France. Located in the French Alps, its prefecture is Chambéry. In 2019, Savoie had a population ...

) * ''Rue du général Marcel Bigeard'' à Briey (

Meurthe-et-Moselle Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a department in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. It had a population of 733,760 in 2019.Villeneuve-Loubet (

Alpes-Maritimes Alpes-Maritimes (; oc, Aups Maritims; it, Alpi Marittime, "Maritime Alps") is a department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the Italian border and Mediterranean coast. Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, ...

) * ''Rue du Général Bigeard'' à Trimbach (

Bas-Rhin Bas-Rhin (; Alsatian: ''Unterelsàss'', ' or '; traditional german: links=no, Niederrhein; en, Lower Rhine) is a department in Alsace which is a part of the Grand Est super-region of France. The name means 'Lower Rhine', referring to its lo ...

) * ''Rue du Général Bigeard'' à Lexy (

Meurthe-et-Moselle Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a department in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. It had a population of 733,760 in 2019.Lagord (

Charente-Maritime Charente-Maritime () is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region on the southwestern coast of France. Named after the river Charente, its prefecture is La Rochelle. As of 2019, it had a population of 651,358 with an area of 6,864 square kil ...

) * ''Rond-Point Général Marcel Bigeard'' à

Banyuls-sur-Mer Banyuls-sur-Mer (; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. It was first settled by Greeks starting in 400 BCE. Geography Location Banyuls-sur-Mer is located in the canton of La Côte Vermeille and in the ar ...

(

Pyrénées-Orientales Pyrénées-Orientales (; ca, Pirineus Orientals ; oc, Pirenèus Orientals ; ), also known as Northern Catalonia, is a department of the region of Occitania, Southern France, adjacent to the northern Spanish frontier and the Mediterranean Sea ...

) * ''Rue Marcel Bigeard'' à

Scionzier Scionzier () is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Haute-Savoie department The following is a list of the 279 communes of the French de ...

(

Haute-Savoie Haute-Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè d'Amont'' or ''Hiôta-Savouè''; en, Upper Savoy) or '; it, Alta Savoia. is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France, bordering both Switzerland and Italy. Its prefecture is Ann ...

) * ''Rond-Point du Général Bigeard'' à

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. Wi ...

Works

During his career Bigeard authored or co-authored a number of books which also featured homages to adversaries. In retirement he continued to write, his last work was published in 2010, a few months after he died. *''Le Manuel de l’officier de renseignement'' (''The Intelligence Officer's Handbook'') *''Contre guérilla'' (''Counter guerilla''), 1957 *''Aucune bête au monde...'', Pensée Moderne, 1959 *''Piste sans fin'' (English: Tracks without end), Pensée Moderne, 1963 *''Pour une parcelle de gloire'' (English: For a piece of glory), Plon, 1975 *''Ma Guerre d'Indochine'' (English: My Indochina War), Hachette, 1994 *''Ma Guerre d'Algérie'' (English: My Algerian War), Editions du Rocher, 1995 *''De la brousse à la jungle'', Hachette-Carrère, 1994 *''France, réveille-toi!'' (English: France, awake!), Editions n°1, 1997 *''Lettres d'Indochine'' (English: Letters from Indochina), Editions n°1, 1998–1999 (2 Volumes) *''Le siècle des héros'' (English: The Century of the Heroes), Editions n°1, 2000 *''Crier ma vérité'', Editions du Rocher, 2002 *''Paroles d'Indochine'' (English: Words of Indochina), Editions du Rocher, 2004 *''J'ai mal à la France'' (English: My France is sore), Edition du Polygone, 2006 *''Adieu ma France'' (English: Good-bye my France), Editions du Rocher, 2006 *''Mon dernier round'' (English: My last show), Editions du Rocher, 2009 *''Ma vie pour la France'' (English: My life for France), Editions du Rocher, 2010 *''Ma Guerre d'Indochine'', documentaire de 52 minutes Réalisation: Jean-Claude Criton – Production L. Salles/Carrère (1994) *''Ma Guerre d'Algérie'', documentaire de 52 minutes Réalisation: Jean-Claude Criton – Production L. Salles/Carrère (1994) *''Portrait de Bigeard'', documentaire de 52 minutes Réalisation: Jean-Claude Criton – Production L. Salles/Carrère (1994)

References

External links

*
General Bigeard interview on the battle of Dien Bien Phu
May 3, 2004 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bigeard, Marcel 1916 births 2010 deaths People from Toul Politicians from Grand Est Union for French Democracy politicians Deputies of the 6th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 7th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 8th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic French generals French military writers French male non-fiction writers French military personnel of World War II French military personnel of the First Indochina War French military personnel of the Algerian War Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur Recipients of the Croix de Guerre (France) Recipients of the Croix de guerre des théâtres d'opérations extérieures Recipients of the Cross for Military Valour Recipients of the Resistance Medal Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Commanders of the Legion of Merit

Early life

Pre-war career

World War II

Indochina

Algerian War

Capture of M'Hidi

Promotion to colonel

Military career after 1960

Promotion to general

Political career

Torture accusations

Death

Funeral

Posthumous controversy

"Homage to the adversary"

Honors and awards

Decorations

Legacy

Posthumous homages

Homages in France

Works

See also

References

Further reading

External links