Jacques Servranckx (21 January 1928 in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

– 16 May 2017 in Paris

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

), was a French general that has served an entire career in the

French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, cavalry, engineers, airborne troops. It was created in 1831 to allow foreign nationals into the French Army ...

then the

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 ...

Military career

French naturalized in 1936 following the naturalization of his father, he integrated

École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr The École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr (ESM, literally the "Special Military School of Saint-Cyr") is a French military academy, and is often referred to as Saint-Cyr (). It is located in Coëtquidan in Guer, Morbihan, Brittany. Its motto ...

, promotion « Nouveau Bahut », between 1945 and 1947. He then joined in 1948 the

École de l'infanterie The ''École de l'infanterie'' ( English: "Infantry School"), formerly known as ''École d'application de l'infanterie'', is a French military academy that trains commissioned officers, non-commissioned officers, and some enlisted personnel having ...

(french: école de l'infanterie) where he served successively as a student-officer then instructor. He then commanded sections of reserve infantry student officers at ESMIA. Volunteer for reinforcements of the

destined for the Far East, he was assigned to the 1st Foreign Infantry Regiment 1^er REI which he rejoined in 1949 at

Sidi Bel Abbès Sidi Bel Abbès ( ar, سيدي بلعباس), also called Bel Abbès, is the capital (2005 pop. 200,000)''Sidi Bel Abbes'', lexicorient.com (Encyclopaedia of the Orient), internet article. of the Sidi Bel Abbès wilaya (2005 pop. 590,000), Alger ...

. At his arrival in

Saigon , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

, he was assigned to the

2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment The 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment (french: 2e Régiment Étranger d'Infanterie, 2e REI) is an infantry regiment of the Foreign Legion in the French Army. The regiment is one of two mechanized infantry regiments of the 6th Light Armoured Brigade. ...

2^e REI and received the command of the intervention section of the

Armored Train An armoured train is a railway train protected with armour. Armoured trains usually include railway wagons armed with artillery, machine guns and autocannons. Some also had slits used to fire small arms from the inside of the train, a facili ...

of the Northern Zone. Wounded by an explosive mine in 1950, he was repatriated to France. He went back to Indochina in September 1951, was assigned to the

5th Foreign Infantry Regiment The 5th Foreign Infantry Regiment (abbr. 5th REI, french: 5e Régiment Étranger d'Infanterie), nicknamed the "Regiment of Tonkin" (french: "Régiment du Tonkin"), was a regiment of the Foreign Legion of the French Army created under the Thir ...

5^e REI and participated to all combats led in the

Tonkin Tonkin, also spelled ''Tongkin'', ''Tonquin'' or ''Tongking'', is an exonym referring to the northern region of Vietnam. During the 17th and 18th centuries, this term referred to the domain '' Đàng Ngoài'' under Trịnh lords' control, inclu ...

(french:

). Severely

wounded Wounded may refer to: Film and TV * ''Wounded'' (1977 film), Canadian film * ''Wounded'' (2007 film), Bollywood film * ''Wounded'' (2013 film), Spanish film * ''Wounded'' (play), 2005 stage play collaboratively developed by The Los Angeles Th ...

in 1954, he was repatriated again to Paris. « He was 26 years old, and made a knight of the

legion 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 ...

(since 20 January 1953) and already titled 7 citations.Notice "SERVRANCKX", in

, dir. André-Paul Comor, collection Bouquins, Robert Laffont and Ministry of Defense, 2013. » Following a passage at the

, he was admitted in 1957 to the staff headquarters school and was assigned at his course completion to the 2nd Foreign Regiment 2^e RE in

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , religi ...

. From 1960 to 1963, he was part of the general staff headquarters of the commander-in-chief of the

French Forces in Germany French military forces were stationed in Germany after the surrender of Germany at the conclusion of the Second World War. France was one of four powers allocated an occupation zone. The French zone of occupation (, occupation forces in Germany) ...

, FFA (french: Forces française en Allemagne) at

Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the Rhine, the border with France, ...

. Admitted to the Superior War School (french: école supérieure de guerre), he received in 1965 the commandment of the promotion of « Lieutenant-colonel

Émile Driant Émile Augustin Cyprien Driant (11 September 1855 – 22 February 1916) was a French writer, politician, and army officer. He was the first high-ranking casualty of the Battle of Verdun during World War I. Biography Born at Neufchâtel-sur-Aisn ...

(french:

) » at Saint-Cyr. He was assigned from 1968 to 1972 at the general staff headquarters of the French Army, them assumed command of the 2nd Foreign Regiment 2^e RE, in Corsica. He would then occupy successively the functions of assistant commandant of the 3rd Infantry Division (french: 3^e Division d'Infanterie) at Fribourg-en-Brisgau (1974-1977), regimental commander of the 4th Motorized Brigade at Beauvais (1977-1979), Deputy Chief of Operations at the general staff headquarters of the Armies at Paris (1979-1981), Division Commander of the 2nd Armored Division 2^e DB (french: 2^e Division Blindée) at

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...

from (1981-1983) and finally Region Commander of the 3rd Military Region (1984-1988). After having left active duty service, he presided over the National Association of the French Souvenir (french:

Souvenir français A souvenir (), memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. A souvenir can be any object that can be collected or purchased and transported home by the traveler as a m ...

) from 1992 until 1997 and was the Honorary President of the National Association of the Croix de Guerre and La Valeur Militaire (french: Association nationale des croix de guerre et de la valeur militaire) from 1990 to 1998. He then dedicated himself to research work on the list of Officers, from Saint-Cyr, whom were subject of "

Resistance Resistance may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * Either of two similarly named but otherwise unrelated comic book series, both published by Wildstorm: ** ''Resistance'' (comics), based on the video game of the same title ** ''T ...

" or "

Deportations Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term ''expulsion'' is often used as a synonym for deportation, though expulsion is more often used in the context of international law, while deportation ...

" (french: Resistance ou Deportation) from 1941 to 1945. In 2000, he was the ceremonial chief of the

Legion Legion may refer to: Military * Roman legion, the basic military unit of the ancient Roman army * Spanish Legion, an elite military unit within the Spanish Army * Legion of the United States, a reorganization of the United States Army from 179 ...

's commemoration of Camarón.

Family

Jacques Servranckx was married and had five children. His brother Jean Sevranckx, polytechnic (french: polytechnicien) in 1938, a military engineer in the national arms manufacturing industry, was deported for

and died at

Mauthausen-Gusen Mauthausen was a Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen (roughly east of Linz), Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with nearly 100 further subcamps located throughout Austria and southern Germany ...

in February 1945.

Recognitions and Honors

* *

Croix_de_Guerre_des_Theatres_d'Operations_Exterieurs_ribbon

Général Servranckx bares wearing at an individual title the French Fourragere of the

Croix de guerre des théâtres d'opérations extérieures The ''Croix de guerre des théâtres d'opérations extérieurs'' (War Cross for foreign operational theatres), also called the ''Croix de Guerre TOE'' for short, is a French military award denoting citations earned in combat in foreign countri ...

References

Sources

* Répertoire des chefs de corps * Centre de documentation de la Légion étrangère * Répertoire des citations (BCAAM) {{DEFAULTSORT:Servranckx, Jacques 1928 births 2017 deaths Belgian emigrants to France

Military career

Family

Recognitions and Honors

See also

References

Sources