Serge Andolenko (26 June 1907 – 27 August 1973) was a French military officer of Ukrainian origin who became brigade

général is the French word for general. There are two main categories of generals: the general officers (), which are the highest-ranking commanding officers in the armed forces, and the specialist officers with flag rank (), which are high-level offic ...

of the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

. Born in Volochysk in 1907 in the

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, then in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, he was the only son, of an aristocratic family of military traditions (

Cossacks The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic languages, East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borde ...

). His father, Paul, a tsarist

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

, was a magistrate and

dragoon Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat wi ...

captain in the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

who died in 1931 in one of Stalin's first purges.

Military career

Admitted into Saint-Cyr in 1924 ("Rif promotion"), he served with prince Dimitri Amilakvari. He was assigned to the

French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (, also known simply as , "the Legion") is a corps of the French Army created to allow List of militaries that recruit foreigners, foreign nationals into French service. The Legion was founded in 1831 and today consis ...

at the end of his scholarity. In 1926, at 19, he became a sub-lieutenant in the 1st Foreign Regiment (1^er RE) at Sidi Bel Abbès,

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 ...

. He participated in campaigns in

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

and the French

Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

and was naturalized as a French citizen in May 1928. He then served in the

1st Foreign Regiment The 1st Foreign Regiment () is a depot regiment of the Foreign Legion in the French Army. It is located at Aubagne. The regiment is also responsible for running special institutions of the Legion. These include the magazine ''Képi Blanc'', the ...

(1^er RE),

3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment The 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment () is an infantry regiment of the Foreign Legion in the French Army. The regiment is stationed in French Guiana. Its mission includes the protection of the Guiana Space Centre, a European Space Agency (ESA) f ...

(3^e REI), 4th Foreign Regiment (4^e RE), 5th Foreign Infantry Regiment (5^e REI), the

6th Foreign Infantry Regiment The 6th Foreign Infantry Regiment () was an infantry regiment of the French Foreign Legion, Foreign Legion in the French Army from 1939 to 1941 and again from 1949 to 1955. History, creations and different nominations When first established ...

(6^e REI) and the Inspection of the Foreign Legion (1959-1960). During the

Second World War 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 ...

, he was chief of the 2nd bureau of the 3rd Algerian Infantry Division () under the orders of General Joseph de Goislard de Monsabert. At this occasion during the Italian campaign, he assured the liaison between the 3rd Algerian Infantry Division (3^e DIA) and the 4th Mountain Moroccan Division (4^e DMM) (). Following the disembarkation in Provence, he took part in the liberation of Marseille. Due to his functions, he assured the liaison coordination between various units ( 3^e DIA/ Resistance/ U.S. American units/ Liberation of Grenoble/ Liberation of Strasbourg). He finished the conflict with the 3^e DIA at Stuttgart. Following the war, he commanded the 5th Infantry Battalion in Germany. He commanded the 5th Foreign Infantry Regiment 5^e REI during the

Algerian War The Algerian War (also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence) ''; '' (and sometimes in Algeria as the ''War of 1 November'') was an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (Algeri ...

. Following that command, he was designated as Inspector-adjoint of the Foreign Legion, then integrated the CHEM (). Designated Military Attaché to Vienna (1961-1963), he was promoted to Général de Brigade. He was admitted to the second section of the officer corps of generals in 1963. A passionate historian, he was renowned for several publications on the French Army and the Imperial Russian Army. He created an entire hall for the Russian Army of the 1st World War in the Musée des Invalides. He died in France on 27 August 1973.

Literature

He wrote several publications, notably on military history, out of which certain were translated to several languages: * La filiation des bataillons de Légion étrangère, 1935 - (''The Filiation of French Foreign Legion Battalions''). * Visite aux salles d'honneur et au musée du Souvenir de la Légion, 1938 - (''Visit to the Halls of Honor and the Museum of Memory of the Legion''). * Les drapeaux de la Grande Guerre, 1945 - (''The Flags of the Great War''). * Aperçus sur la guerre 1914-1918 sur le front Russe, 1945 - ('' Aspects of the 1914-1918 War on the Russian Front''). * Historique du 5^e étranger d'infanterie, 1957 - (''History of the 5th Foreign Infantry Regiment''). * Recueil d'historiques de l'infanterie française, 1949 (re-edited in 1969) - (''Historical overview of the French Infantry''). * Histoire de l'armée russe, 1952 (re-edited in 1967) - (''History of the Russian Army''). * Recueil d'historiques de l'arme blindée et de la cavalerie, 1968 - (''Historical Overview of the Armored Corps and the Cavalry''). * Aigles de Napoléon contre drapeaux du Tsar, 1969 - (''Napoleon's Eagles against the Flags of the Tsar''). * Histoire du Régiment Préobrajenski (edited in Russian in 2010) - (''History of the Préobrajenski Regiment'') - ( Régiment Préobrajenski ()) * Généralissime Souvorov (edited in 2015) - (''Generalissimo Souvorov'').

Distinctions

* Commander of the

Légion d'honneur 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 society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

* Commander of the National Order of Merit (France) * Croix de guerre 1939-1945 (5 citations) *

Croix de guerre des théâtres d'opérations extérieures The (; "War Cross for Foreign Operational Theatres"), also called the for short, is a French military award denoting citations earned in combat in foreign countries. The Armistice of November 11, 1918 ended the war between France and Germa ...

(1 citation) *

Croix de la Valeur Militaire 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 d ...

(3 citations) * Palmes académiques * Commander of the Nicham Iftikar (Tunisia) * Commander of the

Order of Ouissam Alaouite The Order of Ouissam Alaouite () or the Sharifian Order of Al-Alaoui is a military decoration of Morocco which is bestowed by the King of Morocco upon those civilians and military officers who have displayed heroism in combat or have contribute ...

(Morocco) * Commander of the Ordre pour le Mérite (Austria) *

Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious a ...

(U.S.) Titled of nine citations out of which five at the orders of the armed forces.

References

*Patrimony and History Division of the

and Képi Blanc {{DEFAULTSORT:Andolenko, Serge 1907 births 1967 deaths French generals French military attachés French military personnel of World War II French military personnel of the Algerian War

Military career

Literature

Distinctions

See also

References