René Pailleret

René Pailleret
Born	(1921-02-10)10 February 1921 Algiers, French Algeria
Died	24 May 1967(1967-05-24) (aged 46) Versailles, France
Alma mater	HEC Paris
Occupations	Companion of the Liberation

René Pailleret (10 February 1921, Algiers - 24 May 1967, Versailles) was a French resistance fighter and a companion of the Liberation.

Biography

Pailleret was a student at the Collège Stanislas in Paris and at HEC Paris. He joined Great Britain after the armistice in Polish uniform, and enlisted in the Free French Forces.

He was a member of the expeditionary force for Africa, and participated in the operations in Gabon in November 1940 with the 1st Autonomous Company of Combat Tanks of the FFL. He then joined Garoua in the region of North Cameroon.

He joined General Leclerc's Force L in Tunisia with his unit in May 1943.

He was appointed to the 3rd Battalion of the RMT and, in November 1943, was entrusted with the reconnaissance and observation section of his battalion.

He landed with his unit in France on 31 July 1944, took part in the fighting in Normandy, in the liberation of Paris and then in the East.

Pailleret was wounded in the Vosges on 16 September 1944, resumed his command upon his recovery, and found himself wounded on 23 November 1944, during the capture of Strasbourg. Once recovered, he took part in the last battles with his battalion.

Pailleret was assigned to the rear headquarters of the Far Eastern Expeditionary Force in Paris after the German capitulation.

Then, he was appointed officer on the staff of the senior commanding general of the French troops in the Far East in Saigon. He left the army in 1947.

A graduate of ENFOM, René Pailleret joined the Shell d'Indochina company in Annam.

Bibliography

• La Mémoire des Français Libres - Hommes et combats, Fondation de la France Libre
• Dictionnaire des compagnons de la Libération, 2010