André-Georges Lemonnier (born 23 February 1896 in

Guingamp Guingamp (; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. With a population of 6,895 as of 2017, Guingamp is one of the smallest towns in Europe to have a top-tier professional football team: En Avant Gui ...

; died 30 May 1963 at

La Glacerie La Glacerie （） is a former commune in the Manche department in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin.French

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

Biography

He joined in 1913, during the

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, and served on

patrol boat A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and the ...

s and

submarines A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely o ...

. In 1929 he attended the School of War, where he was also promoted. He was appointed

frigate captain Frigate captain is a naval rank in the naval forces of several countries. Corvette captain lies one level below frigate captain. It is usually equivalent to the Commonwealth/US Navy rank of commander. Countries using this rank include Argentina ...

in 1933 and then commanded the destroyer ''Le Malin''. He was appointed captain of the ship at the beginning of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 1940 and 1941, he commanded the cruiser '' Georges Leygues'', with whom he escaped the British blockade in

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

. He then participated in the fighting in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...

, in September 1940, against a fleet of ''

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'' ships. He then returned to

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

where he joined the Allies after the American landing in North Africa of 8 November 1942. After being entrusted with the task of relaunching the activity of the French merchant navy, he was appointed

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

in 1943 and, in July that year,

Chief of Staff of the French Navy The Chief of the Naval Staff (French: Chef d’état-major de la Marine, acronym: CEMM) is a French general officer, adviser to the Chief of the Defence Staff for the French Navy and responsible to the Minister of the Armed Forces for preparin ...

of the Navy of the newly created French Liberation Committee national and, as such, responsible for the fusion of marine Vichy and free French naval Forces. He contributed to the preparation of the landing of

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

under the French Army of the Liberation. Initially, the allies envisaged the participation of only a few light French units. Rear-Admiral Lemonnier obtained from Admiral Andrew Cunningham the participation in the combat of the two cruisers Montcalm and Georges Leygues. His participation in the landing of free French naval forces took two different forms: certain vessels provided direct support to the assault by their fire, such as the cruiser Montcalm and Georges Leygues or the torpedo-boat La Combattante, or simply by their sacrifice for the establishment of an artificial shelter (scuttling the Courbet). On the night of 10–11 June, they had a fairly hard engagement against three light vessels off

Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...

. He prepared for the liberation of

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

and commanded the French squadron during the landing of

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

in August 1944. He was appointed vice-admiral in 1944. After the war, he retained his position of Chief of Staff of the Navy but also became director of the

NATO Defense College NATO Defense College (NDC) is the international military college for North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries. It is located in Rome, Italy. History The idea of a NATO Defense College originated with General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the f ...

. Between 1951 and 1956, he was the "naval deputy" of the commander- in-chief of the allied forces in

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, the

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command center in Europe, then installed in the Marly forest in western

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. His superior in 1951 and 1952 was

General Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

Former ally commander of the Second World War and president of the

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. He reached the rank of

in 1952. He retired in May 1956. He died in

La Glacerie La Glacerie （） is a former commune in the Manche department in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin.Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor *

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, w ...

Ordre du Mérite Maritime The ''Ordre du Mérite Maritime'' (French language, French for "Order of Maritime Merit") is a French order established on 9 February 1930 for services rendered by seafarers to recognise the risks involved and the services rendered by seamen, and ...

Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) The ''Croix de guerre 1914–1918'' ( en, War Cross) is a French military decoration, the first version of the '' Croix de Guerre''. It was created to recognize French and allied soldiers who were cited for valorous service during World War I, s ...

Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) 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 depa ...

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Order of the Crown (Belgium) The Order of the Crown (french: Ordre de la Couronne, nl, Kroonorde) is a national order of the Kingdom of Belgium. The Order is one of Belgium's highest honors. History The Order was established on October 15, 1897 by King Leopold II * ...

Croix de guerre (Belgium) The ''Croix de guerre'' ( French) or ''Oorlogskruis'' (Dutch), both literally translating as "Cross of War", is a military decoration of the Kingdom of Belgium established by royal decree on 25 October 1915. It was primarily awarded for bravery o ...

Artworks

* ''The hundred days of Normandy'' , ed. France-Empire, 1961 * ''Cruisers in action'' , ed. France-Empire, 1959 * ''Cap on the Provence'' , ed. France-Empire, 1954 * ''Peaceful Normandy'' , ed. The Colombe, 1954

Bibliography

* Etienne Taillemite, ''Dictionary of French Sailors'' , Tallandier, 2002, p. 326-327

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lemonnier, Andre (admiral) Admirals of France 1896 births 1963 deaths People from Guingamp Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour Chiefs of Staff of the French Navy