Roger Blaizot

Roger Blaizot
Arrival of General Blaizot in Saigon in 1948: from left to right, General de Perier, General Salan, General Blaizot and Admiral Battet.
Born17 May 1891
Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, France
Died21 March 1981(1981-03-21) (aged 89)
Lyon, France
Allegiance France
Service / branchFrench Army
RankGénéral de corps d'armée
UnitFrench Liaison Officer to Supreme Allied Commander South-East Asia[1]
Commands1st Motorized Colonial Division
9th Colonial Division
Forces Francaises Extrême Orient[1]
Battles / warsWorld War II
First Indochina War

Roger Charles André Henri Blaizot (17 May 1891 – 21 March 1981)[2] was a French military leader, who commanded French forces during World War II and the First Indochina War.[1] Blaizot served in Indochina through the last two years of the World War II,[3] having been sent to command the Far East French Expeditionary Forces (Forces Francaises Extrême Orient) by Charles de Gaulle.[4] Following the war, Blaizot led a fifty-member staff group to Indochina as part of a cooperation between British Special Operations Executive agents of Force 136 and the French government to ensure French retention of South East Asia,[5] this having been approved by Lord Philip Mountbatten in 1943.[6] Blaizot then went on to command the French forces in Indochina from 1948 until 1949,[7] succeeding Jean-Étienne Valluy and being succeeded himself by Marcel Carpentier.[8]

  1. ^ a b c Biography of: Blaizot, Roger-Charles-André-Henri, Lieutenant-General. (1895 – 1981) retrieved June 26, 2008
  2. ^ Tucker, Spencer C. (2011-05-20). The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History, 2nd Edition [4 volumes]: A Political, Social, and Military History. Abc-Clio. ISBN 9781851099610.
  3. ^ Thomas, p. 943.
  4. ^ Chapuis, p. 138.
  5. ^ Lawrence and Logevall, p. 109.
  6. ^ Duiker, p. 12.
  7. ^ Currey, p. 401.
  8. ^ Tucker, p. 52.