Pierre Tourret (30 December 1919 – December 1991) was a

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed For ...

officer who served 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 opposin ...

, the First Indochina War, the

Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...

and the

Algerian War The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...

. He commanded the 8th Shock Parachute Battalion during the

Battle of Dien Bien Phu The Battle of Dien Bien Phu (french: Bataille de Diên Biên Phu ; vi, Chiến dịch Điện Biên Phủ, ) was a climactic confrontation of the First Indochina War that took place between 13 March and 7 May 1954. It was fought between the Fr ...

Life and military

He graduates from

Saint Cyr Military Academy In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Ortho ...

in 1939, took part in the fighting around Sedan in 1940 and became a prisoner of war. He was liberated in 1945 by the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

and joined the 9th Colonial Infantry Division bound for Indochina in 1946. In 1948, he commanded a company of the 23rd Colonial Infantry Regiment in Tonkin. For his second tour in Indochina, he commanded a

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

of the 24th Senegalese Regiment before becoming second-in-command to Marcel Bigeard in the 6th Colonial Parachute Battalion in the spring of 1951. He took part in operations around Tulé and Lang Son before he was given command of his own parachute battalion, the 8th Shock Parachute Battalion, and becoming one of the key French commanders in the

. Like many other key French commanders, he received a promotion toward the end of the battle, in his case to Major. He took part in Operation Musketeer during the

in November 1956, and then transferred to the staff of General Gilles, head of the airborne forces in Algeria working with special operations. General Challe gave him command of the Parachute Commando Group of the General Reserve (Groupe de commandos paras de réserve générale, GCPRG). In 1960 he was attached to the cabinet of Prime Minister Debré and in 1961, he was assigned to Algiers again. He was chief of staff of the 10th Parachute Division until the

Algiers putsch The Algiers putsch (french: Putsch d'Alger or ), also known as the Generals' putsch (''Putsch des généraux''), was a failed coup d'état intended to force President of France, French President Charles de Gaulle not to abandon French Algeria, ...

, when he followed orders from General Challe, one of the leaders of the Putsch. He was arrested and sent to Paris, where he was immediately released. He was posted to Mauritania for two years before leaving the French Army in 1964.

External links

* René de Salins, one of his comrades during the battle of Dien Bien Phu. Written in French. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tourret, Pierre 1919 births 1991 deaths French Army officers French military personnel of World War II French military personnel of the First Indochina War French military personnel of the Algerian War École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr alumni