Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque

Marshal Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque
Leclerc in August 1944 during the Liberation of Paris
Member of the Superior Council of Defence
In office 12 April 1947[1] – 28 November 1947
Personal details
Born	(1902-11-22)22 November 1902 Belloy-Saint-Léonard, France
Died	28 November 1947(1947-11-28) (aged 45) Colomb-Béchar, French Algeria
Cause of death	Aviation accident
Resting place	Les Invalides
Spouse	Thérèse de Gargan
Children	Bénédicte Charles Henri Hubert Jeanne Michel
Parents	Adrien de Hauteclocque (father) Marie-Thérèse van der Cruisse de Waziers (mother)
Alma mater	Lycée Sainte-Geneviève École Spéciale Militaire Cavalry School École Supérieure de Guerre[2]
Nickname(s)	Leclerc, le maréchal Leclerc
Military service
Allegiance	Third Republic Free France Fourth Republic
Branch/service	French Army Cavalry
Years of service	1924–1947
Rank	Army general[a]
Unit	List 24th Dragoons Regiment[3] 5th Cuirassiers Regiment[4] 8th Moroccan Spahis Regiment[5] 1st Chasseurs d'Afrique Regiment[6] 4th Infantry Division
Commands	List Colonne Leclerc L force 2nd Armoured Division French Far East Expeditionary Corps
Battles/wars	List Occupation of the Ruhr Second World War Battle of France Battle of Gabon Battle of Kufra Battle of the Mareth Liberation of Paris Liberation of Strasbourg First Indochina War

Philippe François Marie Leclerc de Hauteclocque^[b][c] (22 November 1902 – 28 November 1947) was a Free-French general during World War II. 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.

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