Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque

Infobox Military Person
name=Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque


caption=
born=22 November 1902
died=28 November 1947
placeofbirth=Belloy-Saint-Léonard, France
placeofdeath=Colomb-Béchar, Algeria
nickname=
allegiance=France
branch=French Army
serviceyears=1924-1947
rank=Général d'Armée
commands=Colonne Leclerc
L force
2nd Armoured Division
French Far East Expeditionary Corps
unit=
battles=World War II
awards=Marshal of France (posthumous)
Grand Cross of the Légion d'honneur
Companion of the Liberation
Médaille militaire
Croix de Guerre 1939-1945
Croix de Guerre des TOE
Distinguished Service Order (UK)
Silver Star (USA)
laterwork=

Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque (November 22, 1902 – November 28, 1947), was a French general during World War II, he became Marshal of France posthumously, in 1952.

He was born Philippe François Marie, Comte de Hauteclocque, but changed his legal name in 1945 to incorporate his French resistance alias Jacques-Philippe Leclerc. He is generally known in France simply as Maréchal Leclerc.

Ancestry and family

Philippe de Hauteclocque was born on 22 November 1902 at Belloy-Saint-Léonard in the department of Somme. He was the fifth of six children of Adrien de Hauteclocque, comte de Hauteclocque (1864-1945) and Marie-Thérèse van der Cruisse de Waziers (1870-1956). Philippe was named in honour of an ancestor killed by Croats in 1635. harvnb|Clayton|1992|p=34.]

Leclerc came from an old line of country nobility; his direct ancestors had served in the Fifth Crusade against Egypt and again in the Eighth Crusade of Saint Louis against Tunisia in 1270. They had also fought at the great battles of Saint-Omer in 1340 and Fontenoy in 1745. The family managed to survive the French Revolution, with four members of the family serving in French Army during Napoleon's reign, three in La Grande Armée and a fourth, who suffered from weak health, in the supply train. The youngest of these had a son, who became a noted Egyptologist; he in turn had three sons. The first and third became officers in the French Army; serving during the colonial campaigns before both were killed during World War I. The second son was Leclerc’s father; he also served during the war, but survived the conflict and inherited the family estate in Belloy Saint Leonard.

Biography

He attended the École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr, graduating in 1924, and entered the French Army; he attained the rank of captain in 1937.

During World War II, he joined the Free French forces upon the Fall of France and made his way to London. Charles de Gaulle upon meeting him promoted him from Captain to Major (commandant) and ordered him to French Equatorial Africa as Governor of French Cameroon from August 29, 1940 to November 12, 1940. He commanded the column which attacked Axis forces from Chad, and having marched his troops across West Africa distinguished himself in Tunisia.

Sent in from Normandy, his 2nd Armored Division freed Paris. Some argue that General George S. Patton freed the bulk of northern France, and was ordered to halt at the outskirts of Paris by General Dwight D. Eisenhower, to give Leclerc the appearance of freeing the city.Facts|date=July 2007 Others note that the Allied troops were avoiding Paris, moving around it clockwise towards Germany, and that Leclerc and De Gaulle had to persuade Eisenhower to let some troops help the Parisians who had risen against the German troops.Facts|date=July 2007

Together with Maurice Kriegel-Valrimont and Henri Rol-Tanguy Leclerc accepted Dietrich von Choltitz's surrender at the Gare Montparnasse. His troops subsequently liberated Strasbourg and finished their war course in Berchtesgaden, Hitler's headquarters in the Bavarian Alps.

‎ When the war was over in Europe, he received command of the French Far East Expeditionary Corps, and represented France during the surrender of the Japanese Empire in September 2; previously in May 1945 he had been appointed a member of the Légion d'honneur, and the same year legally changed his name to Jacques-Philippe Leclerc de Hautecloque, incorporating his pseudonym.

As new commander of the Far East French Forces, Leclerc's CEFEO Expeditionary Corps set forth in October 1945 in French Indochina, first cracking a Vietminh blockade around Saigon, then driving through the Mekong delta and up into the highlands.

Jean Sainteny flew to Saigon to consult Leclerc, then acting as high commissioner, approved Sainteny's proposal to negotiate with Vietnam. Admiral d'Argenlieu bluntly denounced Leclerc: "I am amazed - yes, that is the word, amazed - that France's fine expeditionary corps in Indochina is commanded by officers who would rather negotiate than fight".Facts|date=July 2007

The negotiation did not work. General Leclerc, returned to Paris from Vietnam, now warned that "anti-communism will be a useless tool unless the problem of nationalism is resolved." But his wisdom was ignored. The French Communists, after breaking with Paul Ramadier, triggered a series of strikes and other disorders that plunged France into civil strife. Leclerc was later replaced by Jean-Etienne Valluy.

He died in 1947 in an airplane accident near Colomb-Béchar, Algeria.

He was awarded the honour of Marshal of France posthumously, in 1952.

Posthumous honours

The Leclerc main battle tank built by GIAT Industries of France is named after him.

There is a monument to Leclerc at coordinates coord|48.82105|N|2.32494|E|, in the Petit-Montrouge quarter of the 14th arrondissement in Paris, between Avenue de la Porte d'Orléans and Rue de la Légion Etrangère. The monument is near the Square du Serment-de-Koufra. The "serment de Koufra" is a pledge that Leclerc made on March 2, 1941, the day after taking the Italian fort at Kufra, Libya: he swore that his weapons would not be laid down until the French flag flew over the cathedrals of Metz and of Strasbourg. [cite web|url=http://www.paris.fr/portail/Parcs/Portal.lut?page_id=5369&document_type_id=5&document_id=9789&portlet_id=11532| accessdate=2006-07-02|title=Square du Serment-de-Koufra|work=Mairie de Paris, cite web|url=http://www.v1.paris.fr/CARTO/nomenclature/7723.nom.html|accessdate=2006-07-02|title=Avenue de la PORTE D'ORLÉANS|work=Extrait de la nomenclature officielle des voies de Paris.]

Two Parisian streets are named for Leclerc: Avenue du Général Leclerc in the 14th arrondissement [cite web|url=http://www.v1.paris.fr/CARTO/Nomenclature/4063.nom.html|accessdate=2006-07-02|title=Avenue du GÉNÉRAL LECLERC|work=Extrait de la nomenclature officielle des voies de Paris] and Rue du Maréchal Leclerc in the 12th arrondissement, between the Bois de Vincennes and the Marne River. [cite web|url=http://www.v1.paris.fr/CARTO/Nomenclature/10486.nom.html|accessdate=2006-07-02|title=Rue du MARÉCHAL LECLERC|work=Extrait de la nomenclature officielle des voies de Paris]

Decorations

*Grand Cross of the Légion d'honneur
*Companion of the Liberation (6 March 1941)
*Médaille militaire (6 June 1946)
*Croix de Guerre 1939-1945 with 8 palms
*Croix de guerre des Théatres d'Opérations Exterieures with palm
*Médaille de la Résistance with rosette
*Médaille Coloniale with agrafes
*Médaille des Evadés
*Médaille des Blessés
*Commander of the Order of the Crown with palm (Belgium)
*Croix de guerre (Belgium)
*Distinguished Service Order (UK)
*Silver Star (USA)

Notes

References

*citation
last=Clayton
first=Anthony
publication-date=1992
date=1992
year=1992
title=Three Marshals of France
publisher=Brassey's
isbn=0-08-040707-2;

ee also

* 2nd Armored Division
* Battle of Kufra
* Liberation of Paris
* Liberation of Strasbourg
* Mémorial du maréchal Leclerc de Hauteclocque et de la Libération de Paris

External links

* [http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FRleclerc.htm spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk]
* [http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2-1Epi-c2-WH2-1Epi-e.html Raids in the Fezzan (includes description of Leclerc's expedition)]
* [http://www.ordredelaliberation.fr/fr_compagnon/569.html Ordre de la Libération]