Gabriel Brunet de Sairigné (9 February 1913 – 1 March 1948) 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 ...

officer of the

French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (, also known simply as , "the Legion") is a corps of the French Army created to allow List of militaries that recruit foreigners, foreign nationals into French service. The Legion was founded in 1831 and today consis ...

. He was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, and was killed in the line of duty close to Lagnia Bien Hoa (

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

Education

He went to the Lycée Pasteur and the

Lycée Saint-Louis The Lycée Saint-Louis () is a selective post-secondary school located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, 6th arrondissement of Paris, in the Latin Quarter. It is the only state-funded French lycée that exclusively offers ''Classe Préparatoir ...

before joining the famous

École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr The École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr (, , abbr. ESM) is a French military academy, and is often referred to as Saint-Cyr (). It is located in Coëtquidan in Guer, Morbihan, Brittany. Its motto is ''Ils s'instruisent pour vaincre'', litera ...

in 1933.

World War II

During

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 ...

, he participated 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: *1941 : the East African Campaign (in

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

and

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

) and the Syria-Lebanon Campaign) *1942 : the Battle of Bir Hakeim, then the

Tunisia Campaign The Tunisian campaign (also known as the battle of Tunisia) was a series of battles that took place in Tunisia during the North African campaign of the Second World War, between Axis and Allied forces from 17 November 1942 to 13 May 1943. The ...

*1943 : the

Allied invasion of Sicily The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as the Battle of Sicily and Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allies of World War II, Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis p ...

*1944 : the

Operation Dragoon Operation Dragoon (initially Operation Anvil), known as Débarquement de Provence in French ("Provence Landing"), was the code name for the landing operation of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Provence (Southern France) on 15Augu ...

. *1944 : the campaign of

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

. He finished the war with the rank of lieutenant colonel, commandant in chief of the ''First French Free Division'' (in French: ''"Première division française libre"'', or ''"1ère DFL"''). His personal notes dealing with his campaigns during

(exactly from 28 February 1940 to 18 June 1945) were published after his death.

First Indochina War

He was a

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

during the

First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam, and alternatively internationally as the French-Indochina War) was fought between French Fourth Republic, France and Việ ...

serving with the

and became the commanding officer of the 13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade between 21 August 1946 and his death in the line of duty on 1 March 1948.

Honour

* Commander of the Légion d'honneur * Compagnon de la Libération (9 September 1942) * Croix de guerre 1939-1945 (7 citations) * Croix de guerre des Théatres d'Opérations Extérieures (4 citations) * Colonial medals with "Tunisia 1942-1943" and "EO" clasps * Commemorative medal of the 1939-1945 war, with "Norway", "Africa", "France", campaign in Indochina clasps

Books

* ''Les Carnets du Lieutenant-colonel Brunet de Sérigné'', by André-Paul Comor, collection ''Nouvelles Éditions Latines'', Paris, 1990. * ''L'épopée de la 13e demi-brigade de Légion étrangère, 1940-1945'', by André-Paul Comor, collection ''Nouvelles Éditions Latines'', Paris, 1988.

External links

*
Complete biography on the website of the Order of Libération
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brunet De Sairigne 1913 births 1948 deaths Military personnel from Paris French Army personnel of World War II French military personnel killed in the First Indochina War École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr alumni Commanders of the Legion of Honour Companions of the Liberation Recipients of the Croix de guerre des théâtres d'opérations extérieures Officers of the French Foreign Legion Lycée Saint-Louis alumni Lycée Pasteur (Neuilly-sur-Seine) alumni Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France)