Jean-Marie Charles Abrial (; 17 December 1879 – 19 December 1962) was a French

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

and Naval Minister. He fought in both

World war A world war is an international War, conflict that involves most or all of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World War I ...

s, and was known mostly for his actions at

Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

in 1940.

Early years

Abrial started his career in 1896 at the

École Navale École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

, the French naval academy, taking his first post as an ''

aspirant Aspirant is usually an officer cadet rank used in armies, navies and air forces. In Western Christianity, an aspirant is the first stage in becoming a monastic. Religious use In Western Christianity, the term is also used in reference to rel ...

'' (

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest Military rank#Subordinate/student officer, rank in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Royal Cana ...

) in 1898. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Abrial served in command of a high-seas patrol boat until 1917, when he joined the Naval Ministry's anti-submarine division. In 1920 he was promoted to '' Capitaine de frégate'' (

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

), first commanding the

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

and eventually an entire flotilla of destroyers stationed in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

Promotions

After completing studies at the

near the Atlantic-Coast port of Brest, he was promoted to ''

Capitaine de vaisseau Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navy, navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The rank is equal to the army rank of colonel and air force rank of group captain. Equivalent ranks worldwide in ...

'' (

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

) in 1925, commanding the

heavy cruiser A heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in calibre, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval Treat ...

in 1927–1929Halpern, p. 529 and serving as commanding officer of the 1st Squadron at

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

. In 1930 he was promoted to

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

and in 1936 to

Vice Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

, after which he commanded the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

squadron for three years. In 1939 he was charged with protecting French overseas trade as well as the north coast of France, and the following year General

Maxime Weygand Maxime Weygand (; 21 January 1867 – 28 January 1965) was a French military commander in World War I and World War II, as well as a high ranking member of the Vichy France, Vichy regime. Born in Belgium, Weygand was raised in France and educate ...

named him as Commander-in-Chief of the northern naval forces.

World War II

Abrial worked in cooperation with the British troops during the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940, even though he had not been informed of it prior to the operation. The operation began on 26 May with the requisitioning of several private boats in attempts to organize assistance from the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

."Kurzbiographien/Dictionnaire biographique"
. Institut d’histoire du temps présent. Retrieved 2010-12-19. On 29 May the evacuation began; Abrial was one of the last to be evacuated. After evacuation, Abrial was based in

Cherbourg Cherbourg is a former Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French departments of France, department of Manche. It was merged into the com ...

— where, as senior officer, he was forced to surrender the port to the

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

on 19 June. From July 1940 to July 1941, he served

Philippe Pétain Henri Philippe Bénoni Omer Joseph Pétain (; 24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), better known as Marshal Pétain (, ), was a French marshal who commanded the French Army in World War I and later became the head of the Collaboration with Nazi Ger ...

Vichy regime Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the defeat against ...

as the governor general of

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

. Vichy regime President

Pierre Laval Pierre Jean Marie Laval (; 28 June 1883 – 15 October 1945) was a French politician. He served as Prime Minister of France three times: 1931–1932 and 1935–1936 during the Third Republic (France), Third Republic, and 1942–1944 during Vich ...

appointed him as Naval Minister and commander of naval forces, a position he held from 29 November 1942 until 25 March 1943.

Collaboration

On the downfall of the Vichy regime, Abrial was arrested and charged with

collaboration Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. The ...

, for which he lost his pension. After the

Provisional Government of the French Republic The Provisional Government of the French Republic (PGFR; , GPRF) was the provisional government of Free France between 3 June 1944 and 27 October 1946, following the liberation of continental France after Operations ''Overlord'' and ''Drago ...

re-established the '' Haute Cour de justice'', that court condemned him for his

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

collaboration and sentenced him to ten years of forced labor. In December 1947, however, he gained provisional release, and in 1954 he was granted amnesty.

Popular culture

In the 2004 BBC miniseries ''

'', Abrial was played by French actor

André Oumansky André Oumansky (born 15 August 1933) is a French actor. He appeared in more than eighty films since 1958. Filmography References External links * 1933 births Living people French male film actors French male television actors ...

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

*
Dictionnaire biographique
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abrial, Jean-Marie Charles 1879 births 1962 deaths People from Tarn (department) French military personnel of World War I French Navy admirals of World War II French prisoners and detainees Ministers of marine Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath French Navy admirals Governors general of Algeria People convicted of indignité nationale 19th-century French military personnel