Serge Andolenko (26 June 1907 - 27 August 1973) was a French military officer of Ukrainian origin who became brigade

général is the French word for general. There are two main categories of generals: the general officers (), which are the highest-ranking commanding officers in the armed forces, and the specialist officers with flag rank (), which are high-level office ...

of the

French Army History Early history The first permanent army, paid with regular wages, instead of feudal levies, was established under Charles VII of France, Charles VII in the 1420 to 1430s. The Kings of France needed reliable troops during and after the ...

. Born in Volochysk in 1907 in the

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

, then in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

, he was the only son, of an aristocratic family of military traditions (

Cossacks The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...

). His father, Paul, a tsarist

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," f ...

, was a magistrate and

dragoon Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat w ...

captain in the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...

who died in 1931 in one of Stalin's first purges.

Military career

Admitted into Saint-Cyr in 1924 ("Rif promotion"), he served with prince Dimitri Amilakvari. He was assigned to the

French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, cavalry, engineers, airborne troops. It was created in 1831 to allow foreign nationals into the French Army ...

at the end of his scholarity. In 1926, at 19, he became a sub-lieutenant in the 1st Foreign Regiment (1^er RE) at

Sidi Bel Abbès Sidi Bel Abbès ( ar, سيدي بلعباس), also called Bel Abbès, is the capital (2005 pop. 200,000)''Sidi Bel Abbes'', lexicorient.com (Encyclopaedia of the Orient), internet article. of the Sidi Bel Abbès wilaya (2005 pop. 590,000), Alger ...

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

. He participated in campaigns in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...

and the French

Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...

and was naturalized as a French citizen in May 1928. He then served in the

1st Foreign Regiment The 1st Foreign Regiment (french: 1er Régiment étranger, 1er RE) and the 2nd Foreign infantry Regiment are the original and most senior founding regiments of the Foreign Legion in the French Army. The regiment is also responsible for running sp ...

(1^er RE),

3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment The 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment (french: 3e Régiment étranger d'infanterie, 3e REI) is an infantry regiment of the Foreign Legion in the French Army. The regiment is stationed in French Guiana. Its mission includes the protection of the Ce ...

(3^e REI),

4th Foreign Regiment The 4th Foreign Regiment (french: 4e Régiment étranger, 4e RE) is a training regiment of the Foreign Legion in the French Army. Prior to assuming the main responsibility of training Legion recruits, it was an infantry unit which participated ...

(4^e RE), 5th Foreign Infantry Regiment (5^e REI), the 6th Foreign Infantry Regiment (6^e REI) and the Inspection of the Foreign Legion (1959-1960). During the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

, he was chief of the 2nd bureau of the

3rd Algerian Infantry Division The 3rd Algerian Infantry Division (french: 3e Division d'Infanterie Algérienne, 3e DIA) was an infantry division of the Army of Africa (french: Armée d'Afrique) which participated in World War II. Following the liberation of French North Afr ...

(french: 3^e Division d'Infanterie Algérienne) under the orders of General Joseph de Goislard de Monsabert. At this occasion during the Italian campaign, he assured the liaison between the

(3^e DIA) and the 4th Mountain Moroccan Division (4^e DMM) (french: 4^e Division Marocaine de Montagne). Following the disembarkation in Provence, he took part in the liberation of Marseille. Due to his functions, he assured the liaison coordination between various units ( 3^e DIA/ Resistance/ U.S. American units/ Liberation of Grenoble/ Liberation of Starsbourg). He finished the conflict with the 3^e DIA at Stuttgart. Following the war, he commanded the 5th Infantry Battalion in Germany. He commanded the 5th Foreign Infantry Regiment 5^e REI during 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 ...

. Following that command, he was designated as Inspector-adjoint of the Foreign Legion, then integrated the CHEM (french: Centre des hautes études militaires). Designated Military Attaché to Vienna (1961-1963), he was promoted to Général de Brigade. He was admitted to the second section of the officer corps of generals in 1963. A passionate historian, he was renowned for several publications on the French Army and the Imperial Russian Army. He created an entire hall for the Russian Army of the 1st World War in the Musée des Invalides. He died in France on 27 August 1973.

Literature

He wrote several publications, notably on military history, out of which certain were translated to several languages: * La filiation des bataillons de Légion étrangère, 1935 - (''The Filiation of French Foreign Legion Battalions''). * Visite aux salles d'honneur et au musée du Souvenir de la Légion, 1938 - (''Visit to the Halls of Honor and the Museum of Memory of the Legion''). * Les drapeaux de la Grande Guerre, 1945 - (''The Flags of the Great War''). * Aperçus sur la guerre 1914-1918 sur le front Russe, 1945 - ('' Aspects of the 1914-1918 War on the Russian Front''). * Historique du 5^e étranger d'infanterie, 1957 - (''History of the 5th Foreign Infantry Regiment''). * Recueil d'historiques de l'infanterie française, 1949 (re-edited in 1969) - (''Historical overview of the French Infantry''). * Histoire de l'armée russe, 1952 (re-edited in 1967) - (''History of the Russian Army''). * Recueil d'historiques de l'arme blindée et de la cavalerie, 1968 - (''Historical Overview of the Armored Corps and the Cavalry''). * Aigles de Napoléon contre drapeaux du Tsar, 1969 - (''Napoleon's Eagles against the Flags of the Tsar''). * Histoire du Régiment Préobrajenski (edited in Russian in 2010) - (''History of the Préobrajenski Regiment'') - ( Régiment Préobrajenski (french: Régiment Préobrajensky)) * Généralissime Souvorov (edited in 2015) - (''Generalissimo Souvorov'').

Distinctions

* Commander 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 ...

* Commander of the

National Order of Merit An order of merit is conferred by a state, government or royal family on an individual in recognition of military or civil merit. Order of merit may also refer to: * FIFA Order of Merit, for significant contribution to association football * PDC ...

(France) *

Croix de guerre 1939-1945 Croix (French for "cross") may refer to: Belgium * Croix-lez-Rouveroy, a village in municipality of Estinnes in the province of Hainaut France * Croix, Nord, in the Nord department * Croix, Territoire de Belfort, in the Territoire de Belfort depa ...

(5 citations) *

Croix de guerre des théâtres d'opérations extérieures The ''Croix de guerre des théâtres d'opérations extérieurs'' (War Cross for foreign operational theatres), also called the ''Croix de Guerre TOE'' for short, is a French military award denoting citations earned in combat in foreign countri ...

(1 citation) *

Croix de la Valeur Militaire The Cross for Military Valour (french: Croix de la Valeur Militaire) is a military decoration of France. It recognises an individual bestowed a Mention in Dispatches earned for showing valour in presence of an enemy, in theatres of operations wh ...

(3 citations) * Palmes académiques * Commander of the Nicham Iftikar (Tunisia) * Commander of the

Order of Ouissam Alaouite Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

(Morocco) * Commander of the Ordre pour le Mérite (Austria) *

Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. W ...

(U.S.) Titled of nine citations out of which five at the orders of the armed forces.

References

*Patrimony and History Division of the

and Képi Blanc {{DEFAULTSORT:Andolenko, Serge 1907 births 1967 deaths French generals French military attachés French military personnel of World War II French military personnel of the Algerian War

Military career

Literature

Distinctions

See also

References