Raoul Salan
Raoul Salan | |
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Birth name | Raoul Albin Louis Salan |
Born | Roquecourbe, France | 10 June 1899
Died | 3 July 1984 Paris, France | (aged 85)
Allegiance | ![]() ![]() |
Service/ | French Army |
Years of service | 1917–1959 |
Rank | Général d'Armée |
Commands held | 6th Senegalese Tirailleur Regiment 14th Infantry Division French Far East Expeditionary Corps French forces in Algeria |
Battles/wars | World War I World War II First Indochina War Algerian War Algiers putsch of 1961 |
Awards | Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor |
Other work | Leader of the OAS |
Raoul Albin Louis Salan (French pronunciation: [ʁaul salɑ̃]; 10 June 1899 – 3 July 1984) was a French Army general. He served as the fourth French commanding general during the First Indochina War. He was one of four generals who organized the 1961 Algiers Putsch operation.[1] He was the founder of the Organisation armée secrète and the most decorated soldier in the French Army at the end of his military career.
World War I[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7c/Jacquot_elie_1945_14DI_d%C3%A9fil%C3%A9_paris_18_juin_1945.jpg/220px-Jacquot_elie_1945_14DI_d%C3%A9fil%C3%A9_paris_18_juin_1945.jpg)
Salan was born on 10 June 1899 in Roquecourbe, Tarn.[1] Enlisted in the French Army for the duration of the war on 2 August 1917, he was accepted in the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr[1] on 21 August 1917, being assigned to the cadet student platoon of the 16th Infantry Regiment stationed at Montbrison, as part of the promotion "de Saint-Odile et de La Fayette" (1917-1918).[2][3] Salan graduated as an aspirant on 25 July 1918, and was assigned to the 5th Colonial Infantry Regiment (5e RIC) in Lyon on 14 August 1918.
As a platoon leader in the 5e RIC's 11e Compagnie, he took part in the fighting in the Verdun region (Saint-Mihiel, Les Éparges, Fort de Bois-Bourru, Côte de Oie, Cumières-le-Mort-Homme). He was mentioned in the Order of the Brigade by Order dated 29 December 1918.
Indochina and Algeria[]
Salan served as the commander of French forces in Vietnam from 1945 to 1947.[4] By 1948, he was commander of all French land forces in East Asia, and after the death of Jean de Lattre de Tassigny in 1952, Salan became the commander-in-chief in Indochina.[4]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b6/FrenchLaos1953.png/220px-FrenchLaos1953.png)
Salan served as commander-in-chief of French forces in French Algeria in 1956.[4] In 1958, Salan called for the return to power of Charles De Gaulle, believing that the latter would protect French Algeria.[4] He retired shortly after, first moving to Spain, then to mainland France.[4] He was banned from entering Algeria in 1960.[4]
Nevertheless, Salan returned to Algeria to organize the putsch on 21 April 1961 with André Zeller, Edmond Jouhaud and Maurice Challe.[4] After the failure of the putsch, he became the chief of Organisation armée secrète (OAS), which attempted to disrupt the April 1962 Peace Evian Accords.[4] He was arrested in April 1962.[4]
Salan was charged with treason[5] and condemned in absentia to death. Then, in April 1962, he was arrested[6] in Algiers. The death sentence on him was commuted to life imprisonment. He was pardoned in 1968.[1]
Salan was the most decorated soldier in the French Army.[4]
Death[]
Salan died on 3 July 1984. Every year, former members of the OAS bring flowers to his tomb on his death anniversary.[7]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2c/Salanb10.jpg/220px-Salanb10.jpg)
Decorations[]
French and Colonial Decorations
- Légion d'honneur
Knight (5 April 1922)
Officer (21 August 1940)
Commander (10 February 1945)
Grand Officer (27 October 1948)
Grand Cross (28 August 1952)
Médaille militaire (12 July 1958)
Croix de guerre 1914-1918 (1 citation)
Croix de guerre 1939-1945 (8 citations)
Croix de guerre des Théatres d'Opérations Exterieures (7 citations)
Croix de la Valeur Militaire (1 citation)
Volunteer combatant's cross
Combatant's Cross
Colonial Medal (Far East clasp)
Grand Cross of the Order of the Black Star
(with GC rosette)Grand Cordon of the Order of the Dragon of Annam with Military and Civil title
Officer and (later)
Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Cambodia
Grand Cross of the Order of the Million Elephants and the White Parasol
Grand Cross of the Tai Order of Civil Merit (Sip Song Chau Tai)
Grand Cross of the Order of Glory (Tunisia)
Grand Cordon of the Order of Ouissam Alaouite
Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of Anjouan
- Grand Cross of the Étoile des Comores
Royal Order of Monisaraphon
Gallantry Cross (South Vietnam), with palm
National Defense Medal (Cambodia)
Syria-Cilicia commemorative medal
Order of Civil Merit of the Syrian Arab Republic
Médaille Interalliée de la Victoire
Médaille commémorative de la guerre 1914–1918
Médaille commémorative de la guerre 1939–1945 with clasps "Africa", "Italy", "France", "Germany"
Médaille de l'Aéronautique
Medal for the War Wounded
- Annam Order of Military Merit
- Order of the Reign of King Savang Vatthana
Médaille commémorative de la campagne d'Italie 1943-1944
Médaille commémorative de la campagne d'Indochine
Médaille Commémorative des Opérations de Sécurité et de Maintien de l'Ordre en Afrique du Nord with "Algeria" clasp
Foreign Decorations
Distinguished Service Cross (US)
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) (UK)
- Vietnam Campaign Medal (Thailand)
Sena Jayaseddh Medal(Cambodia)
Decorations of General Raoul Salan.
Bibliography[]
- Mémoires Fin d’un empire (4 volumes), Editions Presses de la Cité, 1970–74
- Le sens d’ un engagement, 1970
- Le Viêt-minh mon adversaire, 1971
- Algérie française, 1972
- L'Algérie de Gaulle et moi, 1974
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Krebs, Albin (July 4, 1984). "RAOUL SALAN DIES; LED ALGERIA PLOT". The New York Times. Retrieved June 5, 2016.
- ^ "Saint-Cyr – Promotion « de Saint-Odile et de La Fayette » (1917~1918) - Forum PAGES 14-18". forum.pages14-18.com. 8 December 2011. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
- ^ Boÿ, Général de brigade (2s) Jean (25 October 2010). "Historique des 101e et 102e promotions (1917-18), promotions de Sainte-Odile et de La Fayette" (PDF). La Saint-Cyrienne: 11 – via Saint-Cyr.org.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j "Gen. Raoul Salan. France's most decorated soldier dies". Santa Cruz Sentinel. Santa Cruz, California. July 4, 1984. p. 10. Retrieved June 5, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Silence in the Dock TIME Magazine Friday, 25 May 1962
- ^ To the guillotine TIME Magazine Friday, 27 Apr 1962
- ^ Cros, Philippe (June 11, 2014). "Les « fidèles » du chef de l'OAS commémorent". La Montagne. Retrieved June 5, 2016.
Further reading[]
- Alexander, Martin S., and John FV Keiger, eds. France and the Algerian War, 1954-1962: Strategy, Operations and Diplomacy (Routledge, 2013)
- General Paul Aussaresses, The Battle of the Casbah: Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism in Algeria, 1955-1957. (New York: Enigma Books, 2010) ISBN 978-1-929631-30-8.
External links[]
- (in French) Association of Friends of Raoul Salan
- (in French) Raoul Salan, a colonial General by Madeleine Rebérioux
- BBC article on Salan's 1962 sentencing
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Raoul Salan. |
- 1899 births
- 1984 deaths
- People from Roquecourbe
- French generals
- French military personnel of World War I
- French military personnel of World War II
- French military personnel of the First Indochina War
- French military personnel of the Algerian War
- Members of the Organisation armée secrète
- People sentenced to death in absentia
- École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr alumni
- Order of the Francisque recipients
- Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur
- Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)
- Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France)
- Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United States)
- Recipients of the Croix de guerre des théâtres d'opérations extérieures
- Recipients of the Cross for Military Valour
- Recipients of the Aeronautical Medal
- Honorary Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
- Governors of Cochinchina