Overview

• The prefecture of Manche announced his death on August 28, confirming he was the final living participant in the 1942 battle of Bir Hakeim.
• Born in Le Havre in 1921, he began as a cabin boy on transatlantic liners before the war reached him in New York.
• He deserted the Vichy-aligned navy during a 1941 stop in Beirut to join British forces and the 1st Free French Brigade.
• At Bir Hakeim he fought in the Libyan desert where 3,700 Free French resisted 32,000 troops under Rommel, delaying the Axis advance, and he was wounded twice before serving in Tunisia, Italy and the Provence landings.
• After the war he worked in counter-espionage, married Marianne in 1946, returned to the Bir Hakeim site in 1955 and 2012, published an autobiography in 2018, and received the rank of commandeur of the Légion d'honneur in December 2021.