Marie-Pierre Kœnig
| Marie-Pierre Kœnig | |
|---|---|
 General Kœnig (holding baton) poses with Lieutenant General Omar Bradley, General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Air Chief Marshal Arthur Tedder in Paris, 1944 | |
| Born |
10 October 1898 Caen, Calvados, France |
| Died |
2 September 1970 (aged 71) Neuilly-sur-Seine, France |
| Allegiance |
.svg.png){kind=small} Free France France |
| Years of service | 1917–1951 |
| Rank | General (1941), Posthumously raised to Marshal of France by Commander-In-Chief (President) François Mitterrand (1984) |
| Commands held | First Free French Brigade, French Forces of the Interior |
| Battles/wars |
World War I World War II |
| Awards |
Marshal of France Grand Cross of the Légion d'honneur Companion of the Liberation Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 Croix de guerre des théâtres d'opérations extérieures Médaille de la Résistance Médaille coloniale Croix du combattant Distinguished Service Order (UK) Companion of the Order of the Bath (UK) Grand Cross of the Order of George I (Greece) |
Marie-Pierre Kœnig (French pronunciation: [maʁi pjɛʁ køniɡ]; 10 October 1898 – 2 September 1970) was a French army officer and politician. He commanded a Free French Brigade at the Battle of Bir Hakeim in North Africa in 1942.
Early life
Marie-Pierre Kœnig was born on 10 October 1898, in Caen, Calvados, France. His parents were from the Alsace region.
Military career
World War I
Kœnig fought in the French Army during World War I and served with distinction.
Between 1918 and 1940
After the war, he served with French forces in Morocco and Cameroon.
World War II
When World War II broke out, Kœnig returned to France. In 1940, he was assigned as a captain with the French troops in Norway, for which he was later awarded the Krigskorset med Sverd or Norwegian War Cross with Sword, in 1942. After the fall of France, he escaped to England from Brittany.
In London, Kœnig joined General Charles de Gaulle and was promoted to colonel. He became chief of staff in the first divisions of the Free French Forces. In 1941, he served in the campaigns in Syria and Lebanon. He was later promoted to general and took command of the First French Brigade in Egypt. His unit of 3700 men held ground against five Axis divisions for 16 days at the Battle of Bir Hakeim until they were ordered to evacuate on 11 June 1942. General de Gaulle said to Kœnig: "Hear and tell your troops: the whole of France is watching you, you are our pride."[1]
Later, Kœnig served as the Free French delegate to the Allied headquarters under General Dwight D. Eisenhower. In 1944, he was given command of the Free French who participated in the Invasion of Normandy. Kœnig also served as a military advisor to de Gaulle. In June 1944, he was given command of the French Forces of the Interior to unify various French Resistance groups under de Gaulle's control. Under his command, the FFI stopped range battle in the Maquis, preferring sabotage waged in support of the invasion army. Important in D-Day, the role of the FFI became decisive in the battle for Normandy and in the landing in Provence of the US Seventh Army and French Army B. On 21 August 1944, de Gaulle appointed Kœnig military governor of Paris to restore law and order. In 1945, he was sent to arrest Marshal Pétain, who had taken refuge in Germany, but who gave himself up at the frontier with Switzerland.[2]
Cold War
After the war, Kœnig was commander of the French army in the French occupation zone of Germany from 1945 to 1949. In 1949, he became inspector general in North Africa and in 1950 vice-president of the Supreme War Council.
Political career
In 1951, after his retirement, Kœnig was elected as Gaullist representative to the French National Assembly and briefly served as a minister of defence under Pierre Mendès-France (1954) and Edgar Faure (1955).[3]
He gave his support to the new State of Israel as president of the Franco-Israeli Committee (Comité franco-israélien).[3] Koenig had witnessed the heroism of a battalion of mine layers from the Jewish Brigade during the Battle of Bir Hakeim and afterwards allowed them to fly their own Star-of-David flag, against British regulations.[4]
Death
Marie-Pierre Kœnig died on 2 September 1970, in Neuilly-sur-Seine, and was buried at Montmartre Cemetery in Paris.[3]
Honours and awards
- France
- Marshal of France, posthumously in 1984[3]
- Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour[3]
- Order of Liberation (25 June 1942)[3]
- Médaille militaire[3]
- Croix de guerre 1914-1918 (2 citations)[3]
- Croix de guerre 1939-1945 (4 citations)[3]
- Croix de guerre des théâtres d'opérations extérieures (3 citations)[3]
- Resistance medal with rosette[3]
- Colonial Medal with clasps "Morocco", "Sahara", "Libya", "Bir-Hakeim", "Tunisia 42-43"[3]
- Croix du combattant[3]
- Aeronautical Medal[3]
- Commander of the Order of Agricultural Merit[3]
- Escapees' Medal[3]
- 1914–1918 Inter-Allied Victory medal[3]
- 1914–1918 Commemorative war medal[3]
- 1939–1945 Commemorative war medal[3]
- Commemorative medal for voluntary service in Free France[3]
- Medal of French Gratitude[3]
- United Kingdom
- Distinguished Service Order[3]
- Companion of the Order of the Bath[3]
- United States
- Commander of the Legion of Merit[3]
- Congressional Gold Medal[3]
- Soviet Union
- Order of Suvorov, 1st Class[3]
- Belgium
- Grand Officer of the Order of Leopold[3]
- Croix de Guerre with Palm[3]
- Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown[3]
- Netherlands
- Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau[3]
- Luxembourg
- Grand Cross of the Order of the Oak Crown[3]
- War Cross[3]
- Denmark
- Grand Cross of the Order of the Dannebrog[3]
- Norway
- Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav[3]
- War Cross with Sword[3]
- Poland
- Commander's Cross of the Order of Virtuti Militari[3][5]
- Resistance Medal with rosette[3]
- Czechoslovakia
- War Cross[3]
- Order of the White Lion for Victory[3]
- Greece
- Grand Cross of the Order of George I[3]
- Monaco
- Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Charles[3]
- Knights of Malta
- Grand Cross of the Knights of Malta[3]
- Israel
- Morocco
- Sherifian Order of Military Merit (Ordre du Mérite Militaire Chérifien)[3]
- Grand Cordon of the Order of Ouissam Alaouite[3]
- Tunisia
- Grand Cordon of the Nichan Iftikar[3]
- Comoros
- Grand Officer of the Order of the Star of Anjouan[3]
- Thailand
- Grand Cross of the Order of the White Elephant[3]
See also
- Susan Travers
- The works of Jean Fréour. Sculptor of Kœnig memorial
References
- ↑ «Sachez et dites à vos troupes que toute la France vous regarde et que vous êtes son orgueil.»
- ↑ "FRANCE: Toward Twilight". TIME.com. 7 May 1945. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 Pierre-Marie Koenig (sic), Order of the Liberation website. (French) Accessed 28 March 2016.
- ↑ Jerry Klinger (President of the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation), General Marie-Pierre Koenig and the Jewish Brigade: The First Salute, the Jewish Magazine, October-November 2009
- ↑ 16 July 1946 Monitor Polski 1947 no. 27 pos. 188
- ↑ "iTravelJerusalem - Hadar Mall". iTravelJerusalem. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
- ↑ "מפות Google". מפות Google. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
- ↑ "Pierre Koenig st. - Haifa". Retrieved 29 March 2016.
External links
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by René Pleven |
Minister of National Defense 19 June – 14 August 1954 |
Succeeded by Emmanuel Temple |
| Preceded by Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury |
Minister of National Defense 23 February – 6 October 1955 |
Succeeded by Pierre Billotte |