Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque

Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque
November 22, 1902 - November 28, 1947
Leclerc in east of France, on 1944
Place of birth	Belloy-Saint-Léonard, Somme, France,
Place of death	Colomb-Béchar, Algeria
Allegiance	French Army
Years of service	1924 - 1947
Rank	Marshal of France
Commands	French 2nd Division
Battles/wars	World War II First Indochina War
Awards	Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor Compagnon de la Libération Médaille militaire French Croix de Guerre 1939-1945 French Croix de Guerre des TOE French Officier of the Résistance Distinguished Service Order (GB) Silver Star (USA)

Arms of the 2ème D.B., the Second Armoured Division commanded by Lerclerc. The Division's emblem features the Cross of Lorraine.

Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque (November 22, 1902 - November 28, 1947), was a French general during World War II, he became Marshal of France posthumously, in 1952.

He was born Philippe François Marie, comte de Hauteclocque, but changed his legal name in 1945 to incorporate his French resistance alias Jacques-Philippe Leclerc. He is generally known in France simply as Maréchal Leclerc.

Biography

Leclerc was born in Belloy-Saint-Léonard, Somme, France, the son of Adrien, Count of Hauteclocque (1864-1945) and of Marie-Thérèse van der Cruisse de Waziers (1870-1956). and in his youth, spent his holidays in the fishing village of Audresselles, Pas-de-Calais. He attended the École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr, graduating in 1924, and entered the French Army; he attained the rank of captain in 1937, brigadier-general in August 1941, and major-general in 1943.

During World War II, he joined the Free French forces upon the Fall of France and made his way to London. Charles de Gaulle upon meeting him promoted him from Captain to Major (commandant) and ordered him to French Equatorial Africa as Governor of French Cameroon from August 29, 1940 to November 12, 1940. He commanded the column which attacked Axis forces from Chad, and having marched his troops across West Africa distinguished himself in Tunisia. Sent in from Normandy, his 2nd Armoured Division freed Paris. Some argue that General George S. Patton freed the bulk of northern France, and was ordered to halt at the outskirts of Paris by General Dwight D. Eisenhower, to give Leclerc the appearance of freeing the city. Others note that the Allied troops were avoiding Paris, moving around it clockwise towards Germany, and that Leclerc and De Gaulle had to persuade Eisenhower to let some troops help the Parisians who had risen against the German troops.

Leclerc accepted Dietrich von Choltitz's surrender at the Gare Montparnasse. His troops subsequently liberated Strasbourg and finished their war course in Berchtesgaden, Hitler's headquarters in the Bavarian Alps. In one incident during the liberation of France, Leclerc is understood to have ordered the execution, without trial, of a group of 12 French members of the Waffen-SS who were, at the time, prisoners of war (POWs). After being denounced by Leclec as traitors, the 12 POWs were executed and left unburied on a roadside. The bodies were subsequently found and buried by American troops.

When the war was over in Europe, he received command of the French forces in the Pacific, and represented France during the surrender of the Japanese Empire; in May 1945 he was appointed a member of the Légion d'honneur, and the same year legally changed his name to Jacques-Philippe Leclerc de Hautecloque, incorporating his pseudonym.

As commander in Indochina, Leclerc's forces set forth in October 1945, first cracking a Vietminh blockade around Saigon, then driving through the Mekong delta and up into the highlands.

Jean Sainteny flew to Saigon to consult Leclerc, then acting as high commissioner, approved Sainteny's proposal to negotiate with Vietnam. Admiral d'Argenlieu bluntly denounced Leclerc: "I am amazed - yes, that is the word, amazed - that France's fine expeditionary corps in Indochina is commanded by officers who would rather negotiate than fight.

The negotiation did not work. General Leclerc, returned to Paris from Vietnam, now warned that "anti-communism will be a useless tool unless the problem of nationalism is resolved." But his wisdom was ignored. The French Communists, after breaking with Paul Ramadier, triggered a series of strikes and other disorders that plunged France into civil strife. Leclerc was later replaced by Jean-Etienne Valluy.

He died in 1947 in an airplane accident near Colomb-Béchar, Algeria.

He was awarded the dignity of Marshal of France posthumously, in 1952.

Miscellaneous

• The Leclerc - a main battle tank built by GIAT Industries of France - is named after him.

• There is a monument to Leclerc at coordinates 48.82105° N 2.32494° E, in the Petit-Montrouge quarter of the 14th arrondissement in Paris, between Avenue de la Porte d'Orléans and Rue de la Légion Etrangère. The monument is near the Square du Serment-de-Koufra. The "serment de Koufra" is a pledge that Leclerc made on March 2, 1941, the day after taking the Italian fort at Kufra, Libya: he swore that his weapons would not be laid down until the French flag flew over the cathedrals of Metz and of Strasbourg.^[1]

• Two Parisian streets are named for Leclerc: Avenue du Général Leclerc in the 14th arrondissement^[2] and Rue du Maréchal Leclerc in the 12th arrondissement, between the Bois de Vincennes and the Marne River.^[3]

References

1. ^ Error on call to Template:cite web: Parameters url and title must be specified. Mairie de Paris. Retrieved on 2006-07-02., Avenue de la PORTE D'ORLÉANS. Extrait de la nomenclature officielle des voies de Paris.. Retrieved on 2006-07-02.
2. ^ Avenue du GÉNÉRAL LECLERC. Extrait de la nomenclature officielle des voies de Paris. Retrieved on 2006-07-02.
3. ^ Rue du MARÉCHAL LECLERC. Extrait de la nomenclature officielle des voies de Paris. Retrieved on 2006-07-02.

External links

• spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk
• Raids in the Fezzan (includes description of Leclerc's expedition)
• Ordre de la Libération

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