Louis Marie Koeltz (

Besançon Besançon (, ; , ; archaic ; ) is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerland. Capi ...

, 30 September 1884 –

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, 27 May 1970) was a French Lieutenant General in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Biography

Of Alsatian origin, Koeltz was born in

, as his father, a brigadier in the

gendarmerie A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (). In France and so ...

, chose to leave Alsace-Lorraine which had become controlled by the Germans in 1871. He decided to obtain the French nationality in 1903, at the age of 18. He graduated from the

École militaire 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 ...

in Paris in 1913. He then served as a general staff officer in

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 ...

. From 1926 to 1935, Koeltz was employed in the intelligence service of the French General Staff and was appointed Brigadier General in 1937. At the outbreak of World War II, he was Vice Chief of Operations at the Grand Quartier Général. Following the French capitulation, he became Director of the Services de l'Armistice on 25 June 1940. After joining the Vichy Army, he was promoted to Lieutenant General in May 1941 and in September, Koeltz was appointed commander of the 19th Military Region, which later became 19th Army Corps, and was stationed in

French Algeria French Algeria ( until 1839, then afterwards; unofficially ; ), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of History of Algeria, Algerian history when the country was a colony and later an integral part of France. French rule lasted until ...

. When the Allied forces landed in Algeria, Koeltz first refused to join the Allies, and was arrested during the night by Colonel Germain Jousse, the head of the 3rd office of his staff. He was released later that day, to take part in the Franco-American negotiations. The ceasefire was signed on 10 November 1942 at 10 a.m. He then participated with his Corps against the Germans and Italians in the

Tunisian 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 ...

, taking 31,000 prisoners in May 1943. On 30 September 1943, he was put into the reserve. After the war, he was a government representative for France in the

Allied Control Council The Allied Control Council (ACC) or Allied Control Authority (), also referred to as the Four Powers (), was the governing body of the Allies of World War II, Allied Allied-occupied Germany, occupation zones in Germany (1945–1949/1991) and Al ...

(1945–1946) in occupied post-war Germany. In 1946, he was appointed Grand Officer of the

Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

and discharged from the Army. He died at his home in Paris on 27 May 1970, and was buried in Essey-les-Nancy.

References

Sources

page from generals.dk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koeltz, Louis 1884 births 1970 deaths Military personnel from Besançon École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr alumni French generals French military personnel of World War I French military personnel of World War II Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour