1. Charles Huntziger was born at Lesneven, in Brittany of a family which settled in the region, after the Prussian invasion of Alsace during the 1870 Franco-Prussian War.
13 Facts About Charles Huntziger
1. 2.
Charles Huntziger graduated from Saint-Cyr in 1900 and joined the colonial infantry.
3.
Charles Huntziger was chief of staff of operations of the Allied Expeditionary Force.
4.
In 1933, Huntziger was named commander-in-chief of the troops in the French Mandate of Syria.
5.
Charles Huntziger participated in the negotiations for the cession of the Sanjak of Alexandretta, then part of French Syria, to Turkey.
6.
Charles Huntziger joined the Superior Council of War in 1938.
7.
Charles Huntziger fought in the Battle of France with the Second Army.
8.
Charles Huntziger became Minister of War on 6 September 1940, serving until 11 August 1941.
9.
Charles Huntziger was one of the signatories of the anti-Semitic law on the status of Jews of 3 October 1940 together with Philippe Petain, Pierre Laval, Raphael Alibert, Marcel Peyrouton, Paul Baudouin, Yves Bouthillier, and Francois Darlan.
10.
Charles Huntziger died on 11 November 1941, when his aircraft crashed near Le Vigan, Gard.
11.
Charles Huntziger had been on an inspection tour in North Africa and tried to land at Vichy Airport in bad visibility, and with obsolete radio equipment.
12.
Charles Huntziger's funeral was held on 15 November 1941 at the cathedral of Vichy.
13.
Charles Huntziger's widow was the first recipient of the Vichy regime's Order of the Francisque.