François-Henry Laperrine
French general
François-Henry Laperrine | |
|---|---|
| Born | Marie Joseph François Henry Laperrine d'Hautpoul September 29, 1860 (1860-09-29) Castelnaudary, France |
| Died | March 5, 1920 (1920-03-06) (aged 59) Sahara, French Algeria |
| Nationality | French |
François-Henry Laperrine (born Marie Joseph François Henry Laperrine d'Hautpoul, September 29, 1860 – March 5, 1920) was a French general who served during World War I.
Biography
Laperrine entered the École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr in October 1878 and became a captain in the 2nd Dragoons in November 1891. Laperrine organized the Compagnie Méharistes Sahariennes in 1897.[1][2] He was a friend of Charles de Foucauld who was killed in 1916 in Tamanrasset.[3][4] The two were honored on a stamp of Algeria in 1950.
Laperrine died after a plane crash (a Breguet) in the Sahara in 1920. His companions, Lieutenant Bernard and mechanic Marcel Vasselin survived and recorded Laperrine's last words, "People think they know the desert...People think I know it. Nobody really knows it. I have crossed the Sahara ten times and I will stay here."[1] Bernard and Vasselin buried Laperrine near the plane, but when a rescue party arrived he was disinterred and buried in Tamanrasset next to Foucauld. The fort was named for Laperrine.
Honors
- Grand officier de la Légion d'honneur
- Croix de guerre 1914–1918
- Médaille coloniale avec agrafes Algérie, Soudan, Sénégal, Sahara, AOF
- Croix de guerre belge 1914–1918 avec palme
References
- ^ a b Fleming, Fergus (2004). The sword and the cross : two men and an empire of sand. New York: Grove Press. pp. 299. ISBN 978-0802141736.
- ^ Blaudin de Thé; Jacques Soustelle (1955). Historique des compagnies méharistes: 1902-1952. Imprimerie officielle.
- ^ de Foucauld, C.; Laperrine, M.J.F.H. (1954). Lettres inédites au général Laperrine: pacificateur du Sahara. La Colombe.
- ^ Foucauld, Charles de, and Marie Joseph François Henri Laperrine. Lettres inédites au général Laperrine, pacificateur du Sahara. Paris: La Colombe, 1954.
Further reading
- Germain, José; Stéphane Faye (1922). Un fils de France : le général Laperrine, grand Saharien. Paris : Plon.
- Gorée, G.; Thiout, M. (1948). Laperrine: la plus belle amitié saharienne du pére de Foucauld. B. Arthaud.
- Lehuraux, Léon. Laperrine, le saharien. Paris: Éditions de l'Encyclopédie de l'Empire français, 1947.
- Porch, Douglas (2005). The conquest of the Sahara (1st pbk. ed.). New-York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0374128791.
- Smith, Tony (1978). The French stake in Algeria, 1945-1962. Ithaca: Cornell U.P. ISBN 978-0801411250.
External links
- Works by or about François-Henry Laperrine at Internet Archive
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