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

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

general who served during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Stationed in

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China), officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to 1954. It was initial ...

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 Château-Gontier () is a former commune in the Mayenne department in north-western France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Château-Gontier-sur-Mayenne. Geography It is about south of Laval, the préfecture of the depa ...

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 Il ...

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

École Polytechnique (, ; also known as Polytechnique or l'X ) is a ''grande école'' located in Palaiseau, France. It specializes in science and engineering and is a founding member of the Polytechnic Institute of Paris. The school was founded in 1794 by mat ...

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 The ''Troupes coloniales'' (, "Colonial Troops") or ''Armée coloniale'' (,"Colonial Army"), commonly called ''La Coloniale'', were the colonial troops of the French colonial empire from 1900 until 1961. From 1822 to 1900, these troops wer ...

, 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 (, ) was a federation of eight French colonial empires#Second French colonial empire, French colonial territories in West Africa: Colonial Mauritania, Mauritania, French Senegal, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), French Guin ...

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

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

. Lemonnier declined to personally attend the event, although he allowed some of his staff to take part. 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 pharmaceut ...

-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 and executed after the war.

Legacy

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

. *

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 (AFRICOM). ...

, adjacent to

Djibouti–Ambouli International Airport Djibouti–Ambouli International Airport (, ) is a joint civilian/military-use airport situated in the town of Ambouli, Djibouti. It serves the national capital, Djibouti. The airport is located approximately 6 kilometres (4 miles) from the c ...

(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). The U.S. War on terror begun after the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001. In October 2002, headquarters elements of th ...

) 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 military personnel of World War I French Army generals of World War II French Army personnel killed in World War II French people executed abroad French prisoners of war in World War II People executed by Japan by decapitation People executed by Japanese occupation forces Executed military leaders École Polytechnique alumni Knights of the Legion of Honour Murdered prisoners of war World War II prisoners of war held by Japan Japanese war crimes