1. Henri Giraud was wounded and captured by the Germans during the First World War, but managed to escape from his prisoner-of-war camp.
35 Facts About Henri Giraud
1. 2.
Early in the Second World War, Henri Giraud fought in the Netherlands.
3.
Henri Giraud was born in Paris, of Alsatian descent, and was the son of a coal merchant.
4.
Henri Giraud graduated from the Saint-Cyr Military Academy in 1900 and joined the French Army as a sub-lieutenant in the 4th Zouaves.
5.
On 23 June 1913, Henri Giraud returned to the 4th Zouaves, and commanded Zouave troops in North Africa until he was transferred back to France in 1914 when World War I broke out.
6.
Henri Giraud was seriously wounded while leading a Zouave bayonet charge during the Battle of St Quentin on 30 August 1914, and was left for dead on the field.
7.
Henri Giraud was captured by the Germans and placed in a prison camp in Belgium.
8.
Henri Giraud managed to escape two months later by pretending to be a roustabout with a traveling circus.
9.
Henri Giraud then asked Edith Cavell for help, and eventually he was able to return to France via the Netherlands, with assistance from Cavell's team.
10.
Henri Giraud's feat earned him appointment as a knight of the Legion of Honour on 10 April 1915.
11.
In 1920, Henri Giraud was transferred to Morocco to fight against Rif rebels.
12.
Henri Giraud was awarded the Legion d'Honneur after the capture of Abd-el-Krim.
13.
On 3 February 1930, Henri Giraud was "placed at the disposal of the resident-general of France in Morocco", then Lucien Saint, and was assigned to monitor the Algerian-Moroccan borders as commander of the Moroccan frontier post of Boudenib.
14.
Henri Giraud was promoted to brigadier-general on 22 December 1930.
15.
When World War II began, Henri Giraud was a member of the Superior War Council, and disagreed with Charles de Gaulle about the tactics of using armoured troops.
16.
Henri Giraud became the commander of the 7th Army when it was sent to the Netherlands on 10 May 1940 and was able to delay German troops at Breda on 13 May Subsequently, the depleted 7th Army was merged with the 9th.
17.
Henri Giraud learned German and memorised a map of the area.
18.
Henri Giraud made a 150 feet rope out of twine, torn bedsheets, and copper wire, which friends had smuggled into the prison for him.
19.
Henri Giraud had shaved off his moustache and wearing a Tyrolean hat, travelled to Schandau to meet his Special Operations Executive contact who provided him with a change of clothes, cash and identity papers.
20.
Henri Giraud eventually slipped into Vichy France, where he made his identity known.
21.
Henri Giraud tried to convince Marshal Philippe Petain that Germany would lose, and that France must resist the German occupation.
22.
Henri Giraud's views were rejected but the Vichy government refused to return Giraud to the Germans.
23.
Yet while remaining loyal to Petain and the Vichy government, Henri Giraud refused to cooperate with the Germans.
24.
Henri Giraud was already planning for the day when American troops landed in France.
25.
Henri Giraud agreed to support an Allied landing in French North Africa, provided that only American troops were used, and that he or another French officer was the commander of such an operation.
26.
Henri Giraud considered this latter condition essential to maintaining French sovereignty and authority over the Arab and Berber natives of North Africa.
27.
Henri Giraud designated General Charles Mast as his representative in Algeria.
28.
Henri Giraud said "his honor would be tarnished" and that he would only be a spectator in the affair.
29.
Henri Giraud took part in the Casablanca conference, with Roosevelt, Churchill and de Gaulle, in January 1943.
30.
Later, after very difficult negotiations, Henri Giraud agreed to suppress the racist laws, and to liberate Vichy prisoners from the South Algerian concentration camps.
31.
Henri Giraud made a fool of himself in Detroit with a speech praising Nazi achievements in Germany.
32.
Henri Giraud refused to accept a post of Inspector General of the Army and chose to retire after forty-four years' service.
33.
On 2 June 1946, Henri Giraud was elected to the French Constituent Assembly as a representative of the Republican Party of Liberty and helped to create the constitution of the Fourth Republic.
34.
Henri Giraud remained a member of the War Council and was decorated for his escape.
35.
Henri Giraud died in Dijon, France, on 11 March 1949.