François Flohic (; 2 August 1920 – 5 September 2018) was a French

naval officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent context ...

and associate of General

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...

. Born in

Ploubazlanec Ploubazlanec (; br, Plaeraneg) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. Historically its economy relied on fishing. Fishermen in the 19th century and early 20th century went to Iceland aboard sailing ship ...

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

, he joined the Free French Naval Forces during

World War II 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 ...

. He saw action escorting Atlantic convoys and took part in the

D-day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

landings at Normandy, and in the course of his career eventually rose to the rank of

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, ...

. After the war, he served as an advisor and aide-de-camp to de Gaulle, whom he had first met in 1943. He published several books of memoirs, including ''Ni chagrin ni pitié : souvenirs d'un marin de la France libre'' (1985) and ''De Gaulle intime'' (2010). He was named a Commander of the

Legion of Honor 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 ...

, and awarded the Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit. Flohic was portrayed by actor Frédéric Pierrot in the 2009 television movie ''Adieu De Gaulle adieu''.

References

1920 births 2018 deaths French Navy admirals Free French Naval Forces officers French military personnel of World War II Commanders of the Legion of Honour Grand Cross of the Ordre national du Mérite People from Côtes-d'Armor {{France-mil-bio-stub