Marie Pierre Kœnig

Marie-Pierre Koenig
General Kœnig (holding baton) poses with Lieutenant General Omar Bradley, General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Air Chief Marshal Arthur Tedder in Paris, 1944
Born	10 October 1898 (1898-10-10) Caen, Calvados, France
Died	2 September 1970 (1970-09-03) (aged 71) Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
Allegiance	Free France  France
Years of service	1917–1951
Rank	General (1941)
Commands held	First Free French Brigade, French Forces of the Interior
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Marshal of France Grand Cross of the Légion d'honneur Companion of the Liberation Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 Croix de guerre des théâtres d'opérations extérieures Médaille de la Résistance Médaille coloniale Croix du combattant Distinguished Service Order (UK) Companion of the Order of the Bath (UK) Grand Cross of the Order of George I (Greece)

Marie Pierre Kœnig (10 October 1898 – 2 September 1970) was a French army officer and politician. He commanded a Free French Brigade at the Battle of Bir Hakeim in North Africa in 1942.

Marie Pierre Kœnig was born on 10 October 1898, in Caen, Calvados. He fought in the French Army during World War I and served with distinction. After the war, he served with French forces in Morocco and Cameroon.

When World War II broke out, Kœnig returned to France. He was first assigned as a captain with the French troops in Norway, for which, in 1942, he was awarded the Krigskorset med Sverd or Norwegian War Cross with Sword. After the fall of France, he escaped to England from Brittany.

In London, Kœnig joined General Charles de Gaulle and was promoted to colonel. He became chief of staff in the first divisions of the Free French Forces. In 1941, he served in the campaigns in Syria and Lebanon. He was later promoted to general and took command of the First French Brigade in Egypt. His unit of 3700 men held ground against five Axis divisions for 16 days at the Battle of Bir Hakeim until they were ordered to evacuate on 11 June 1942. General de Gaulle said to Kœnig: "Hear and tell your troops: the whole of France is watching you, you are our pride."^[1]

Later, Kœnig served as the Free French delegate to the Allied headquarters under General Dwight D. Eisenhower. In 1944, he was given command of the Free French that participated in the Invasion of Normandy. Kœnig also served as a military advisor to de Gaulle. In June 1944, he was given command of the French Forces of the Interior to unify various French Resistance groups under de Gaulle's control. Under his command, the FFI stopped range battle in the Maquis to prefer sabotage that helped the invasion army. Important in D-Day, the role of the FFI became decisive in the battle for Normandy and in the landing in the Provence of the US Seventh Army and French Army B. On 21 August 1944, de Gaulle appointed him military governor of Paris to restore law and order. In 1945, he was sent to arrest Philippe Pétain, who had taken refuge in Germany, but who surrendered himself at the frontier with Switzerland.^[2]

After the war, Kœnig became a commander of the French army on the French occupation zone in Germany until 1949. In 1949, he became inspector general in North Africa and in 1950 vice-president of the Supreme War Council. In 1951, after his retirement, he was elected as Gaullist representative to the French National Assembly and briefly served as a minister of defence under Pierre Mendès-France and Edgar Faure until 1955.

Marie Pierre Kœnig died on 2 September 1970, in Neuilly-sur-Seine. In 1984, he was posthumously declared Marshal of France. In addition to memorials in France, there are streets named after him in Jerusalem, Israel, and in Netanya, Israel. He was awarded a large number of military honours and decorations during his career, including the British Distinguished Service Order, and appointment as Companion of the Order of the Bath.^[3]

Honours and awards

(From the equivalent French Wikipedia article)

• Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour
• Ordre de la Libération (25 June, 1942)
• Médaille militaire
• Croix de guerre 1914-1918 (2 citations)
• Croix de guerre 1939-1945 (4 citations)
• Croix de guerre des théâtres d'opérations extérieures (3 citations)
• Médaille de la Résistance with rosette
• Colonial Medal with clasps "Morocco", "Sahara", "Libya", "Bir-Hakim", "Tunisia 42-43"
• Croix du combattant
• Médaille de l'Aéronautique
• Commander of the Order of Mérite agricole
• Médaille des Évadés
• Médaille Interalliée 1914–1918
• Memorial Medal of the 1914-1918 war
• Memorial Medal of the 1939-1945 war
• Commemorative Medal for voluntary services in Free France
• Médaille de la Reconnaissance française
• Distinguished Service Order (United Kingdom)
• Companion of the Order of the Bath (United Kingdom)
• Commander of the Legion of Merit (United States)
• Congressional Gold Medal (United States)
• Order of Suvorov, 1st Class (Soviet Union)
• Grand Cross of the Knights of Malta
• Grand Officer of the Order of Leopold (Belgium)
• Croix de Guerre with Palm (Belgium)
• Grand Cross Order of the Crown (Belgium)
• Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau (Netherlands)
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Dannebrog (Denmark)
• Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav (Norway)
• War Cross with Sword (Norway)
• Order of Virtuti Militari (Poland)
• Resistance Medal with rosette (Poland)
• War Cross (Czechoslovakia)
• Order of the White Lion for Victory (Czechoslovakia)
• Grand Cross of the Order of George I (Greece)
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Oak Crown (Luxembourg)
• War Cross (Luxembourg)
• Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Charles (Monaco)
• Grand Cross of the Order of the White Elephant (Thailand)
• Military Merit Sherifian (Morocco)
• Grand Cordon of the Order of Ouissam Alaouite (Morocco)
• Grand Cordon of the Nichan Iftikar (Tunisia)
• Grand Officer of the Order of the Star of Anjouan (Comoros)

See also

• Susan Travers

References

1. ^ «Sachez et dites à vos troupes que toute la France vous regarde et que vous êtes son orgueil.»^{[citation needed]}
2. ^ Time Magazine, 1945
3. ^ Pierre Koenig, Order of the Liberation Website (French). Retrieved on 7 September 2009.

External links

• ordredelaliberation.fr

Political offices
Preceded by René Pleven	Minister of National Defense 19 June – 14 August 1954	Succeeded by Emmanuel Temple
Preceded by Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury	Minister of National Defense 23 February – 6 October 1955	Succeeded by Pierre Bilotte

Persondata
Name	Koenig, Marie Pierre
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	10 October 1898
Place of birth	Caen, Calvados, France
Date of death	2 September 1970
Place of death	Neuilly-sur-Seine, France