Michel Abalan

Michel Henri Charles Abalan (born June 5, 1920 in Brest , † February 16, 2000 in Saint-Renan ) was a French soldier, a member of the Forces françaises libres and Compagnon de la Liberation during World War II and later a colonial official in Indochina and Africa.

Life

Michel Abalan came from the Finistère department in Brittany , his father was an insurance agent.

After graduating from school, he passed the entrance exam for the Saint-Cyr military school after a year of preparation in mid-1940, during the war . Before he received the test result, however, the French troops in the western campaign , which is why he decided to follow De Gaulle to Great Britain in the resistance. He reached Plymouth by sea on June 21, and a few days later he joined the Free French Armed Forces in London. First he was assigned to the short-lived Battalion de Chasseurs at the Delville Camp regrouping camp .

In mid-1941 he was sent to Pointe-Noire in the French Central Congo , Equatorial Africa , and there, in Brazzaville , assigned to the Bataillon du Pool . In December of the same year he was transferred to the Levant , in Damascus he joined the Spahis Marocains as a brigadier in early 1942 as part of the Groupe de Reconnaissance de Corps d'Armée . His unit was soon reformed to the 1st Regiment de Marche de Spahis Marocains ; Abalan stayed with the regiment until the end of the war. He took part in the allied counter-offensives in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia . In March 1943 he received his first combat award ( citation ) during the battle for Oued Gragour , which enabled him to become an officer. After attending a course in Sabrata ( Tripolitania ), he received the rank of aspirant in June .

After the conclusion of the Tunisian campaign , Abalan was involved in the development and training of the 2nd Panzer Division under Major General Leclerc in Morocco , to whom his regiment was subordinate. In 1944 the entire division was relocated to England and participated in the Normandy landing . As part of the vanguard, Abalan fought near Argentan and suffered a head wound here, but was still there for the liberation of Paris on August 25th. In November he fought successfully in the Vosges and during the advance to Strasbourg , was wounded by a shrapnel, awarded a second citation and promoted to Sous-lieutenant . At the beginning of 1945, a mission followed in front of La Rochelle , before Abalan ended the war on German soil.

Immediately after the end of the war, Abalan went to Indochina as a civilian administrative officer with the rank of attaché de liaison administrative , where a new war ( Indochina War ) broke out. In 1946 he worked on behalf of the French High Commissioner in Annam before he was subsequently transferred to Tonkin . There he was in Hanoi in the political affairs department, and from 1946 to 1949 he also worked as a regional advisor in the Hòa Bình province . In 1948 he was recognized for his services in the operations to pacify the Mường .

From 1950 Abalan worked with the rank of Administrateur adjoint and then Administrateur des Colonies in French Equatorial Africa, first in Brazzaville in the Congo and then in Gabon , where he held the offices of Interim Prefect and Deputy Prefect of Ogooué-Maritime from 1959 to 1960 held in Port-Gentil .

From 1961 to 1976 Abalan was then Chargé de Mission (special representative) of the Ministry of Education . He died in 2000 and was buried in Porspoder .

As an officer and high-ranking official, Michel Abalan had received a large number of state and military medals, such as the Ordre de la Liberation on November 17, 1945 , combined with the title Compagnon de la Liberation . In later years he was accepted into the Legion of Honor , in 1990 his rank was increased to Officier , and in 1996 to Commandeur . Abalan also wore the Order of the Star of Anjouan in the Officier class . Other awards include the Croix de guerre 1939–45 , the Croix de guerre des Théâtres d'Opérations Extérieurs , the Médaille des évadés , the Croix du Combattant 39/45 , the Croix du Combattant Volontaire 39/45 , the Croix du Combattant Volontaire de la Résistance , the Médaille des Blessés , the Médaille Commémorative de la France Libre and the Médaille coloniale with the clasps Libye , Tunisie and Extreme-Orient .

literature

• Christopher E. Goscha : Historical Dictionary of the Indochina War (1945–1954) , University of Hawaii Press, 2011, Lemma "Abalan, Michel"

Web links

• CV on www.ordredelaliberation.fr (French)
• Société des Membres de la Légion d'Honneur Finistère Nord: MICHEL HENRI CHARLES ABALAN (French)