Charles N'Tchoréré (16 November 1896 – 7 June 1940) was a Gabonese French military officer who was shot by

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

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 ...

Early life

Charles N'Tchoréré was born on 16 November 1896 in Libreville, French Gabon. The second of four children in a Mpongwe family, his father worked as an agent for a German commercial firm in German

Kamerun Kamerun was an African colony of the German Empire from 1884 to 1916 in the region of today's Republic of Cameroon. Kamerun also included northern parts of Gabon and the Congo with western parts of the Central African Republic, southwestern ...

. His parents arranged for him to be educated at the Catholic École Montfort. He performed well as a student and while he was there befriended several persons who would later become politicians, including

Léon M'ba Gabriel Léon M'ba (9 February 1902 – 28 November 1967) was a Gabonese politician who served as both the first Prime Minister (1959–1961) and President (1961–1967) of Gabon. A member of the Fang ethnic group, M'ba was born into a re ...

Louis Bigmann Louis-Emile Bigmann (1897–1986) was a Gabonese politician. Early life and political career A member of the Mpongwe people, he was born and lived in Baraka, Gabon. Bigmann attended the Ecole Montfort in Libreville, Gabon's capital. Noted Mpo ...

, and Laurent Antchouey. He completed his studies in 1912. Upon the death of his mother, N'Tchoréré went to

Doula A doula () is a trained professional who provides expert guidance for the service of others and who supports another person (the doula's client) through a significant health-related experience, such as childbirth, miscarriage, induced abortion or ...

to work with his father and older brother. While there he refined his English, which was used as a ''lingua franc'' in the colony. In April 1914 he, at the urging of his father, returned to Libreville.

Military career

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 ...

broke out in 1914, leading to clashed between French and German forces at the Gabon–Kamerun border. On 19 January 1916 N'Tchoréré, despite being slightly underage, enlisted in the Tirailleurs Sénégalais. He underwent training at the Bakara military camp from then until 28 May, when he was made a secretary for a French officer in Libreville. He was promoted to the rank of sergeant the following year. Unlike other Gabonese, N'Tchoréré remained in the military after the end of the war. Following brief service in the

Rif War The Rif War () was an armed conflict fought from 1921 to 1926 between Spain (joined by France in 1924) and the Berber tribes of the mountainous Rif region of northern Morocco. Led by Abd el-Krim, the Riffians at first inflicted several de ...

in Morocco, he began training at the military school in Fréjus, southern France. In 1924 he was awarded the rank of major, thus becoming one of the first Gabonese to receive a French military commission. He subsequently served under General

Maurice Gamelin Maurice Gustave Gamelin (, 20 September 1872 – 18 April 1958) was an army general in the French Army. Gamelin is remembered for his disastrous command (until 17 May 1940) of the French military during the Battle of France (10 May–22 June 1940 ...

in defeating an uprising in the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon and occupying Damascus. Following the outbreak of

, N'Tchoréré, spent several months in late 1939 training West African troops for combat in Europe. The following year he took command of the 53rd Regiment d'Infantrie Coloniale Mixte Sénégalais. His unit fought Germans on the

Somme River The Somme ( , , ) is a river in Picardy, northern France. The river is in length, from its source in the high ground of the former at Fonsomme near Saint-Quentin, to the Bay of the Somme, in the English Channel. It lies in the geolog ...

. After three days of resistance, the company was left with only ten Africans and five Europeans, and they surrendered near

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...

. The German commander refused to treat N'Tchoréré as an officer. When he refused to fall in line with the black enlisted soldiers, N'Tchoréré was shot. According to Richardot, the perpetrators were from 25th Infantry Regiment (according to Richardot, the 25th Infantry Regiment was from the 7th Panzer Division under command of Erwin Rommel but Scheck reports that Rommel's division had advanced much farther from the area. N'Tchoréré's eldest son, Jean-Baptiste, was killed in action on the lower Somme later that month. France posthumously honored N'Tchoréré by naturalising him as a citizen in 1940. A memorial dedicated to N'Tchoréré was established in

Airaines Airaines () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography The commune is situated north west of Amiens, about south of Abbeville, at the junction of the D901 and D936 roads. Hamlets and neighbourhood ...

, while a statue of him was erected outside the French embassy in Libreville. In 1962 Gabon featured him on a commemorative postage stamp.

References

Works cited

* * * David Gardinier, ''Historical Dictionary of Gabon'' 2nd ed. (The Scarecrow Press, 1994) pp. 242–243 * Louis Bigmann, ''Le Capitaine Charles N'Tchoréré'' (Abidjan: NEA, 1983) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ntchorere, Charles People from Libreville People of French Equatorial Africa 1896 births 1940 deaths French Army personnel of World War II French military personnel killed in World War II French military personnel of World War I People of the Rif War French Army officers People executed by Nazi Germany by firearm French people executed by Nazi Germany