Guy Le Borgne (6 January 1920 – 12 December 2007) was a French Army general that fought in

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 opposing ...

First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...

and Algerian War. He commanded several paratroop units during his career and was military governor of

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

Biography

He graduated from

Saint-Cyr Military Academy Saint-Cyr refers to the popular child-saint Saint Quiricus (Cyriacus), whose following was strong in France because relics were brought back from Antioch by the 4th-century Bishop Saint Amator of Auxerre. Saint-Cyr may refer to: Places Franc ...

as part of the 1939-1940 "Franco-British Friendship" promotion. After the Allied defeat in the Battle of France, he escaped to

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

and made his way to

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

to join

General 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 ...

Free French Forces __NOTOC__ The French Liberation Army (french: Armée française de la Libération or AFL) was the reunified French Army that arose from the merging of the Armée d'Afrique with the prior Free French Forces (french: Forces françaises libres, l ...

. Became part of a Jedburgh team, a three men team consisting of an American, British and a Frenchman. Le Borgne's team no. 45, code named FRANCIS, was dropped over

Finistère Finistère (, ; br, Penn-ar-Bed ) is a department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.

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

in July 1944, to assist the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

. His British teammate, Major Colin Ogden Smith, was killed in a firefight with German troops on 29 July 1944. After the Jedburgh mission he joined one of two French Special Air Service units with which he took part in two operations behind German lines in the Ardennes and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. After the war, he joined a parachute regiment and served in

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

where he commanded the 8th Parachute Commando Group between 1952 and 1953. During the Algerian War he commanded the

3rd Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment The 3rd Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (french: 3e Régiment de Parachutistes d'Infanterie de Marine, 3e RPIMa) is an airborne infantry regiment of the French Army. It is heir to the 3rd Colonial Commando Parachute Battalion created in 1948 a ...

from 1961 to 1962, leading it during the

Bizerte crisis The Bizerte crisis (; ) occurred in July 1961 when Tunisia imposed a blockade on the French naval base at Bizerte, Tunisia, hoping to force its evacuation. The crisis culminated in a three-day battle between French and Tunisian forces that l ...

and keeping it loyal to de Gaulle during the 1961 Algiers Putsch. After the war Guy Le Borgne commanded the 11th Parachute Division from 1973 to 1975 and finished his career as military governor of

from 1976 to 1980 with the grade of général de corps d'armée. After he retired he was elected president of the Confédération nationale des associations parachutistes in 1980 and becoming member of the honorary committee of the Union Nationale des Parachutistes in 1988. Guy Le Borgne also painted under the pseudonyme of Guy Le Zachmeur, his resistance alias from World War II. He died on 12 December 2007.

Decorations

* Grand Officer 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 ...

* Grand Cross of the

Ordre national du Mérite The Ordre national du Mérite (; en, National Order of Merit) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's estab ...

* Croix de guerre 1939-1945 * Médaille de la Résistance *

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC ...

(UK) {{DEFAULTSORT:Le Borgne, Guy 1920 births 2007 deaths Military personnel from Rennes French generals French military personnel of World War II French military personnel of the First Indochina War French military personnel of the Algerian War 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists French male painters 21st-century French painters 21st-century French male artists Official Painter of the French Air Force École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr alumni Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour Grand Cross of the Ordre national du Mérite Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) Recipients of the Resistance Medal