Marie Bertrand Alfred Fagalde (22 July 1878,

Boghar Boghar is a town and commune in Médéa Province, Algeria. History During the Roman Empire the town was the site of a Roman town called Voncaria. At the 411 Carthage conference, between Catholic and Donatist bishops, the town was represented b ...

, Algeria - 6 February 1966, Garches, Paris) was a French Army officer.

Life

He studied at the

École de guerre École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Sav ...

between 1905 and 1907, graduating top of his class. He was promoted to captain on 24 June 1910. He was on the staff of the 5th Army on the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. An

Anglophile An Anglophile is a person who admires or loves England, its people, its culture, its language, and/or its various accents. Etymology The word is derived from the Latin word ''Anglii'' and Ancient Greek word φίλος ''philos'', meaning "frien ...

, he was sent to London as a liaison officer in 1917. By the war's end he had reached the rank of

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...

. On 19 June 1939 he was promoted to

général de corps d'armée An army corps general or corps general is a rank held by a General officer who commands an army corps. The rank originates from the French (Revolutionary) System, and is used by a number of countries. Normally, the rank is above the divisional ge ...

and assigned to 16th Army Corps in 7th Army. He fought in Flanders in May and June 1940 and also took part in the

battle of Dunkirk The Battle of Dunkirk (french: Bataille de Dunkerque, link=no) was fought around the French port of Dunkirk (Dunkerque) during the Second World War, between the Allies and Nazi Germany. As the Allies were losing the Battle of France on t ...

, commanding the western perimeter defence alongside French Admiral Abrial whilst the British General

Ronald Forbes Adam General Sir Ronald Forbes Adam, 2nd Baronet, (30 October 1885 – 26 December 1982) was a senior British Army officer. He had an important influence on the conduct of the British Army during the Second World War as a result of his long tenure ...

of III Corps commanded the eastern British sector of the perimeter. Fagalde was made a Grand Officier of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

Maxime Weygand Maxime Weygand (; 21 January 1867 – 28 January 1965) was a French military commander in World War I and World War II. Born in Belgium, Weygand was raised in France and educated at the Saint-Cyr military academy in Paris. After graduating in 1 ...

on 4 June for his conduct during the battle, but was captured on 18 June and imprisoned in Königstein Castle near

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

in eastern Germany. He was liberated by the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

on 9 May 1945 but just after his return to France he was indicted for "intelligence with the enemy" or "acts harming national defence" during his captivity. He was accused of having asked to join the

Waffen SS The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both occupied and unoccupied lands. The grew from th ...

for unknown reasons, although he was held to have retracted the offer when he found out he would have to wear German uniform. He was found guilty and sentenced to five years' solitary confinement, loss of his rank and confiscation of his property. The case was later re-opened, all the accusations dropped and his reputation reinstated.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fagalde, Bertrand 1878 births 1966 deaths French people of Basque descent Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour French military personnel of World War I French military personnel of World War II French Army officers French prisoners of war in World War II French people in French Algeria