Émile René Lemonnier (November 27, 1893 – March 12, 1945) 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 ...

general who served during

World War I 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 ...

and

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 ...

. Stationed in

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...

in 1945, he was beheaded by the Japanese during their March coup d'état.

Early life

Lemonnier was born to Émile Jean Lemonnier, a saddler by trade, and Marie Ernestine Fournier on November 27, 1893, in Château-Gontier in the

Mayenne Mayenne () is a landlocked department in northwest France named after the river Mayenne. Mayenne is part of the administrative region of Pays de la Loire and is surrounded by the departments of Manche, Orne, Sarthe, Maine-et-Loire, and Ille-et ...

. He graduated from the College Château-Gontier in 1910 and entered the

École Polytechnique 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, Savoi ...

in 1912.

Military service

In 1914 Lemonnier was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the 25th Artillery Regiment and received several citations. In 1918, he transferred to the French Colonial Forces, subsequently serving with various regiments of the ''artillerie coloniale''. In 1920 Lemonnier was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour. From 1925–1936 he served in

French West Africa French West Africa (french: Afrique-Occidentale française, ) was a federation of eight French colonial territories in West Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), French Guinea (now Guinea), Ivory Coast, Upper Volta (now Burki ...

. He left France for the last time in 1937.

World War II and death

On March 9, 1945, General Lemonnier while commander of the

Lang Son Lang may refer to: *Lang (surname), a surname of independent Germanic or Chinese origin Places * Lang Island (Antarctica), East Antarctica * Lang Nunatak, Antarctica * Lang Sound, Antarctica * Lang Park, a stadium in Brisbane, Australia * Lang, ...

area received an invitation from the Japanese forces to a banquet of the headquarters of the division of the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

. Lemonnier declined to attend the event, however he allowed some of his staff to attend the banquet. The French staff officers present at the banquet were taken prisoner by the Japanese. Lemonnier was subsequently taken prisoner himself and ordered by a Japanese general to sign a document formally surrendering the forces under his command. Lemonnier refused to sign the documents causing the Japanese to take him outside of Lang Son where they forced him to dig graves along with French

Resident Resident may refer to: People and functions * Resident minister, a representative of a government in a foreign country * Resident (medicine), a stage of postgraduate medical training * Resident (pharmacy), a stage of postgraduate pharmaceutic ...

-superior (''Résident-général'') (Tonkin) Camille Auphelle. Again Lemonnier was ordered to sign the surrender documents and again refused. The Japanese then beheaded him. Captain Kayakawa who had ordered Lemonnier's execution was sentenced to death by the

French Permanent Military Tribunal in Saigon The French Permanent Military Tribunal in Saigon, also known as Saigon Trials was a war crimes tribunal which held 39 separate trials against suspected Japanese war criminals between October 1946 and March 1950. Its scope was limited to war crime ...

and executed after the war.

Legacy

* Lemonnier was re-interred in France on March 3, 1950, at Château-Gontier. *

Camp Lemonnier Camp Lemonnier is a United States Naval Expeditionary Base, situated next to Djibouti–Ambouli International Airport in Djibouti City, and home to the Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) of the U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM ...

, adjacent to

Djibouti–Ambouli International Airport Djibouti–Ambouli International Airport ( ar, مطار جيبوتي الدولي, french: link=no, Aéroport international Ambouli) is a joint civilian/military-use airport situated in the town of Ambouli, Djibouti. It serves the national capi ...

(now headquarters of the American

Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) is a joint task force of United States Africa Command (AFRICOM). It originated under Operation Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa (OEF-HOA) as part of the United States response to the Se ...

) is named after him. * On March 25, 1957, the former Rue des Tuileries (1st district of Paris) was renamed Avenue du Général-Lemonnier in his honor.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lemonnier, Emile 1893 births 1945 deaths People from Château-Gontier French generals French military personnel of World War I French military personnel killed in World War II Executed French people French people executed abroad People executed by Japan by decapitation 20th-century executions by Japan Executed military leaders École Polytechnique alumni Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur French Army generals of World War II