1. Philippe Kieffer joined the French Navy, in which he was a reserve officer, a week later.
10 Facts About Philippe Kieffer
1. 2.
Philippe Kieffer served on the battleship Courbet, and at the headquarters of the Northern Fleet during the Battle of Dunkirk.
3.
Philippe Kieffer left for London on 19 June 1940 and joined the Free French Naval Forces on 1 July 1940, the day they were founded.
4.
Philippe Kieffer was promoted to lieutenant de vaisseau on 1 July 1942.
5.
Philippe Kieffer, recently promoted to capitaine de corvette, led his men personally.
6.
The unit suffered 21 killed and 93 wounded; Philippe Kieffer himself was almost immediately wounded twice, hit by shrapnel in the leg, but refused evacuation for two days.
7.
Philippe Kieffer led it during the attacks on Vlissingen and Walcheren to capture the port of Antwerp.
8.
Philippe Kieffer later took part in raids against occupied Dutch islands.
9.
Philippe Kieffer was promoted to capitaine de fregate in 1954.
10.
Philippe Kieffer died in Cormeilles-en-Parisis, France on 20 November 1962 after a long illness, and was buried in Grandcamp, Calvados.