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Philippe François Marie Leclerc de Hauteclocque (22 November 1902 – 28 November 1947) was a Free-French general during the Second World War. He became Marshal of France posthumously in 1952, and is known in France simply as le maréchal Leclerc or just Leclerc. The son of an aristocratic family, Hauteclocque graduated from the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr, the French military academy, in 1924. After service with the French Occupation of the Ruhr and in Morocco, he returned to Saint-Cyr as an instructor. He was awarded the croix de guerre des théâtres d'opérations extérieures for leading goumiers in an attack on caves and ravines on Bou Amdoun on 11 August 1933. During the Second World War he fought in the Battle of France. He was one of the first who defied his government's Armistice to make his way to Britain to fight with the Free French under General Charles de Gaulle, adopting the nom de guerre of Leclerc so that his wife and children would not be put at risk if his name appeared in the papers. He was sent to French Equatorial Africa, where he rallied local leaders to the rebel Free French cause, and led a force against Gabon, whose leaders supported the French Government. From Chad he led raids into Italian Libya. After his forces captured Kufra, he had his men swear an oath known today as the Serment de Koufra, in which they pledged to fight on until their flag flew over the Strasbourg Cathedral. The forces under his command, known as L Force, campaigned in Libya in 1943, covered the Eighth Army's inland flank during its advance into Tunisia, and participated in the attack on the Mareth Line. L Force was then transformed into the 2e Division Blindée, although it was often referred to as La Division Leclerc. It fought under Leclerc's command in the Battle of Normandy, and participated in the liberation of Paris and Strasbourg. After the end of World War II in Europe in May 1945, he was given command of the French Far East Expeditionary Corps (Corps expéditionnaire français en Extrême-Orient, CEFEO). He represented France at the surrender of the Japanese Empire in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945. He quickly perceived the necessity for a political solution to the nascent conflict in Indochina, but once again was ahead of his countrymen, and was recalled to France in 1946. He was killed in an air crash in Algeria in 1947. Early life Philippe François Marie de Hauteclocque was born on 22 November 1902 at Belloy-Saint-Léonard in the department of Somme, France. 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 Croatian soldiers in service of Habsburg monarchy during Thirty Years' War in 1635.Hauteclocque 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 Battle of Saint-Omer in 1340 and the Battle of Fontenoy in 1745. The family managed to survive the French Revolution. Three members of the family served in Napoleon's Grande Armée and a fourth, who suffered from weak health, served in the supply train. The third son, Constantin, who had served in Napoleon's Russian Campaign, was created a chevalier by King Louis XVIII, and a Papal count by Pope Pius IX in 1857. Constantin had two sons. The older, Alfred François Marie (1822–1902), died childless. The younger, Gustave François Marie Joseph (1829–1914), became a noted Egyptologist.Gustave, in turn, had three sons. The first, Henry (1862–1914), and third, Wallerand (1866–1914), became officers in the French Army, serving during the colonial campaigns, including fighting Samory in the Sudan. Both were killed in the early fighting of the First World War. The second son was Adrien, who enlisted in August 1914 as a trooper in the 11e Régiment de Chasseurs à Cheval, the regiment in which his son Guy was a cornet. Adrien was later commissioned, and was twice awarded the Croix de Guerre for gallantry. He survived the war, and inherited the family title and estate in Belloy-Saint-Léonard. Early military career Philippe de Hauteclocque was homeschooled until he was 13, when he was sent to L'école de la Providence, a Jesuit school in Amiens. In 1920, at the age of 17, he went to Lycée privé Sainte-Geneviève, known as Ginette, a preparatory school in Versailles. He then entered the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr, the French military academy. Each class has a name; his was Metz et Strasbourg after towns in Alsace and Lorraine returned to France by the Treaty of Versailles. He graduated on 1 October 1924, and was commissioned as a sous lieutenant in the French Army. Having chosen the cavalry branch, he then had to attend the Cavalry School in Saumur, from which he graduated first in his class on 8 August 1925.Hauteclocque's older brother Guy had married Madeleine de Gargan, the daughter of the Baron de Gargan. Philippe became a frequent visitor to the Gargan household, and became enchanted by Madeleine's youngest sister Thérèse. The two courted while he was at Saint-Cyr. In the tradition of old noble families, Count Adrien asked Baron de Gargan for permission for Philippe to marry Thérèse. The wedding ceremony took place in the Church of St Joan of Arc in Rouen on 10 August 1925. For a wedding present, Adrien gave them a chateau in Tailly. They had six children: Henri (1926–1952), who was killed in the First Indochina War; Hubert (1927–), who served as mayor of Tailly from 2001 to 2008; Charles (1929–); Jeanne (1931–); Michel (1933–2014); and Bénédicte (1936–). Philippe and Thérèse hired an Austrian governess, and spoke German in front of their children to improve their command of the language.Having graduated from Saumur, Hauteclocque joined his regiment, the 5e Régiment de Cuirassiers, which was then on occupation duty in Trier as part of the Franco-Belgian occupation of the Ruhr. Garrison duty was not to his liking, so he volunteered for service with the 8e Régiment de Spahis Marocains, based at Taza in Morocco. He was promoted to lieutenant in October 1926. In 1927, he was posted as an instructor at the Military School of Dar El-Beida at Meknes, the military academy of French Morocco. Here, he met Paul de Langlade, a First World War veteran eight years his senior, who would later volunteer to serve under his command. In 1929, he was attached to the 38e Goum Mixte Marocains, a Moroccan Goumier unit at M'Zizel in the Atlas Mountains. He saw action in the fighting against the Ait Hammou guerrillas. In one action, two horses were shot out from under him. Afterwards, he was posted to the 1er Régiment de Chasseurs d'Afrique, the senior cavalry regiment of the Armée d'Afrique, based at Rabat.In February 1931, Hauteclocque went back to Saint-Cyr as an instructor, but wanted to return to active service. Duri.... Discover the Jacques Philippe popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Jacques Philippe books.