Aimé Teisseire (18 December 1914 – 28 June 2008) was a French military officer who fought with the

Free French Forces __NOTOC__ The French Liberation Army ( ; AFL) was the reunified French Army that arose from the merging of the Armée d'Afrique with the prior Free French Forces (; FFL) during World War II. The military force of Free France, it participated ...

in the African campaign of World War II and later in Europe for the Liberation of France. Wounded multiple times in battle, he was awarded the

Croix de Guerre The (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awarded during World ...

and

Order of Liberation The Order of Liberation (, ) is a French Order which was awarded to heroes of the Liberation of France during World War II. It is a worn by recipients only before the ''Légion d’Honneur'' (Legion of Honour). In the official portrait of G ...

. For his service 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 ...

after the war he was made a Grand Officier of the

Légion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

.''

Le Figaro () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It was named after Figaro, a character in several plays by polymath Pierre Beaumarchais, Beaumarchais (1732–1799): ''Le Barbier de Séville'', ''The Guilty Mother, La Mère coupable'', ...

'' (30 June 2008)
"Décès d'Aimé Teisseire, ancien résistant"
Retrieved 19 January 2016 .

Musée de l'Ordre de la Libération The Musée de l'Ordre de la Libération () is a military museum located in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France. The museum is dedicated to the Ordre de la Libération, France's second national order after the Légion d'honneur, which was cre ...

"Aimé Teisseire"
Retrieved 19 January 2016 .

Life and career

The son of an employee at the

Monte Carlo Casino The Monte Carlo Casino, officially named Casino de Monte-Carlo, is a gambling and entertainment complex located in Monaco. It includes a casino, the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, and the office of Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo. The Casino de Monte-Carlo ...

, Teisseire was born in Puget-Théniers and studied at the Lycée Rouvière in

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

before taking up a position at Barclays Bank in Monte Carlo. He then decided to enlist in the French army but was initially rejected on medical grounds. After spending some time in

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

, he managed to enlist in the Senegalese Tirailleurs in 1934. He was sent to the non-commissioned officers' training school in

Saint-Maixent-l'École Saint-Maixent-l'École () is a commune in the department of Deux-Sèvres, region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine (before 2015: Poitou-Charentes), western France. Geography Saint-Maixent-l'École is located in the Haut Val de Sèvre area of western Franc ...

and then assigned to the

French Congo The French Congo (), also known as Middle Congo (), was a French colony which at one time comprised the present-day area of the Republic of the Congo and parts of Gabon, and the Central African Republic. In 1910, it was made part of the larger ...

where he was promoted to sergeant in 1938. He returned to France later that year and at the outbreak of World War II was stationed at the Rochefort-sur-Mer air base. He demanded a combat job and was finally assigned to the 6th Regiment of the Colonial Infantry. He fought with them in the

Battle of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...

and was promoted to Sergent-chef for his valor in battle near Ardennes. Wounded at

Meurthe-et-Moselle Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a '' département'' in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. Its prefecture and largest city is Nancy and it borders the departments of Meuse to the west, Vosges to the south, ...

in June 1940. he was taken prisoner by the Germans, and sent to the hospital at Nancy but escaped and eventually re-joined the Armée d'Armistice in Frejus.Fondation de la France Libre (20 November 2009)
"Le témoignage d’un soldat français"
Retrieved 19 January 2016 In Frejus Teisseire attempted to convince the men to join the

but without success. Instead, he was sent to West Africa where after many vicissitudes, he escaped from

Dahomey The Kingdom of Dahomey () was a West African List of kingdoms in Africa throughout history, kingdom located within present-day Benin that existed from approximately 1600 until 1904. It developed on the Abomey Plateau amongst the Fon people in ...

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

. Once there, a British administrator helped him to join the Free French Army in Chad. He was assigned to the 1st Company of the Regiment of Senegalese soldiers of Chad and in February 1942 was promoted to

Adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an Officer (armed forces), officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of “human resources” in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed ...

. While training in Morocco, his regiment was evacuated to England. From there he took part in the

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

landings and went on to fight German tank and infantry divisions in the

Forêt d'Écouves The Forêt d'Écouves (; eng. Écouves Forest) is a large area of woodland in the Normandy region of northern France. Location and topography The forest is located in the Orne département of France, north of Alençon, between the communes of Ca ...

. Badly wounded in a battle on the outskirts of Paris, he was discharged and sent to a hospital from which he escaped and hitch-hiked to Paris to rejoin his unit. He then fought with them in a series of battles at Andelot, Hourcourt, and Châtel-sur-Moselle. For his role in establishing the bridgehead across the

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; ; ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A sm ...

, he was promoted to sub-lieutenant in September 1944. In November, he was again wounded (so seriously this time that he was given the

Last Rites The last rites, also known as the Commendation of the Dying, are the last prayers and ministrations given to an individual of Christian faith, when possible, shortly before death. The Commendation of the Dying is practiced in liturgical Chri ...

), but recovered and rejoined his unit to fight in the Ardennes-Alsace Campaign and eventually in Germany at

Berchtesgaden Berchtesgaden () is a municipality in the district Berchtesgadener Land, Bavaria, in southeastern Germany, near the border with Austria, south of Salzburg and southeast of Munich. It lies in the Berchtesgaden Alps. South of the town, the Be ...

. After the war ended, Teisseire was promoted to lieutenant and assigned to

, arriving in Saigon in December 1946. He served as a company commander there, receiving three battle citations, the Ordre Royal du Cambodge, and later the

. On his return to France in 1949, he was promoted to captain. He then served as a company commander in

Réunion Réunion (; ; ; known as before 1848) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France. Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located approximately east of the isl ...

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

, and finally in

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

before retiring from the army in 1961. In 1955 he had been made an Officier of the Légion d'Honneur and was subsequently promoted to Commandeur and then Grand Officier. Teisseire's wife and daughter were present when

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, ; ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Pari ...

presented him with the Grand Officier insignia on 6 October 2005.Union des Officiers de Réserve de la Côte d'Azur (2005)
"Un ami a l'honneur"
''Contact O.R.'', No. 8, p. 3. Retrieved 20 January 2016 . After his retirement from the military, Teisseire worked as the chief of staff in a department store in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionCompagnons de la Libération.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Teissiere, Aime 1914 births 2008 deaths People from Alpes-Maritimes French military personnel of World War II Free French military personnel of World War II Companions of the Liberation Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour