Henri d\' Astier of Vigerie

Henri d' Astier of Vigerie (born the September 11th 1897 with Villedieu-on-Indre, deceased the October 10th 1952 with Geneva) was a resistant French and Politician. He is the brother of Emmanuel d' Astier of Vigerie and of François d' Astier of Vigerie.

The engagement of Henri d' Astier, in 1914-18

  • Henri d' Astier of Vigerie, which one should not confuse with his brothers François and Emmanuel, also resistant, was born on September 11th, 1897 with Villedieu-on-Indre.
  • He was volunteer in 1915 and, in its capacity as acceptable with Polytechnique, he was raise-officer with Fontainebleau and was used with the 1st Regiment as Colonial Artillery (1st RAC).
  • Three times wounded and three times quoted, it finished the Guerre like lieutenant and chevalier of the Legion of Honor, on a purely military basis.

The interval wars

During the time which follows, Henri d' Astier was very politically committed in the mediums of extreme-right-hand side. He appreciated the republican mode little and estimated that France would be stronger under the authority of a monarch. He was not indifferent to the doctrines maurrassienne. He passes to have plotted against the capacities in place, in the Leagues, and to have perhaps even soaked in the Hood.

Henri d' Astier, in metropolitan resistance

  • Mobilized in 1939, in the capacity as lieutenant of reserve, it entered Resistance as of September 1940, in metropolis, with Justin Fatigue network Alibi . Indeed, while being of extreme-right-hand side, Henri d' Astier was before a whole patriot. So that with the difference of the majority of the disciples of Maurras, and Maurras itself, it was not mistaken in enemy when France was occupied, and passed immediately to the clandestine fight against the Germans. Thus into a camp of the Luftwaffe in Normandy to collect secret information there, then founded managed he to be introduced thereafter the network Orion .
  • But its comrade Henri Piron was stopped, and Henri d' Astier being known suspected, passed in nonoccupied zone, from where it joined North Africa in January 1941.

Henri d' Astier in the resistance of Algeria

The entry in Oranian resistance

  • It settled initially with Oran, and re-enlisted, was made pour, in March 1941, at the Second Office of the army of armistice.
  • It came then into contact with the founded group of resistance in September 1940 by Roger Carcassonne, young Jewish industrialist and reserve officer, which accommodated it with open arms. Both were directed then, as from December 1941, in the preparation of a allied unloading.

The passage to of Algiers resistance

  • At the beginning of 1942, Henri d' Astier went to Algiers where it contacted initially the young person Jose Aboulker, cousin of Roger Carcassonne, who had constituted there, him-also since September 1940, a chain of perfectly partitioned clandestine action groups.
  • In parallel, it also entered in report/ratio, thanks to the resistant police superintendent, Achiary, with certain numbers of personalities Vichyist, but patriotic, Jacques Lemaigre-Dubreuil, its private collaborator Rigault, and colonel Van Hecke, regional police chief of the Building sites of youth.
  • With the support of this last, Henri d' Astier was made transfer in July 1942 to Algiers, where it entered as tallies with the Building sites of youth, which enabled him to profit from orders of mission of Van Hecke. Thus it had the possibility of moving without problem in North Africa, where it extended its network.

Establishment of the contacts with the United States

  • Henri d' Astier and Jose Aboulker established also contact followed, in Algiers, with Robert Murphy, consul of the United States, and approved the choice of the Général Giraud, proposed by Lemaigre-Dubreuil to direct the re-entry in war of the French Army, in the event of allied unloading.
  • Murphy informed finally in the middle of 1942, Henri d' Astier and Jose Aboulker of the decision of Roosevelt and Churchill to unload in North Africa.

The conference of Cherchell

In October 1942, the Clark general, assistant of Eisenhower, clandestinely met in a villa of Cherchell the representatives of the resistance of Algeria to develop, in the last details, the action of resistance at the time of the unloading and the agreements guaranteeing the respect of French sovereignty by the allied forces.

The Putsch of November 8th, 1942

The catch of Algiers

  • on November 8th, in middle of the night, Henri d' Astier and Jose Aboulker started, with the assistance of colonel Jousse, the operation which gave to their 400 civil volunteers the control of all the strategic places of Algiers and allowed the capture of June, commander-in-chief, and of the admiral collaborationnist Darlan.
  • This coup d'etat neutralized the XIXe Vichyist Army corps of Algiers during 15 hours, thus making it possible the allied armed forces to unload without opposition, to encircle Algiers, and to obtain, the evening even, the capitulation of the city with its intact port.

The success of the Torch Operation

  • Ainsi French resistance ensured it the success of the Opération Torch, very compromised in Oran and the Morocco, where the Vichyist generals accommodated the allies with blows of guns.
  • Because of the evasion of Giraud which, dissatisfied not to have had the supreme command of the Torch operation, had refused to come to Algiers the November 8th 1942, the allies had to treat with Darlan to obtain the cease-fire with Oran and Morocco.

The Darlan business

The maintenance of the mode of Vichy in released Africa

  • At the end of this combat, Darlan, constrained and forced to change camp, founded in Algiers Office of the High Commission of France in Africa and took again the war, while maintaining in North Africa the discriminatory laws of Vichy and the political deportees in their camps of the south. (See the article Mode of Vichy in released Africa (1942-43)) .
  • Darlan named Giraud commander-in-chief, and introduced into his hostile government some resistant of extreme-right-hand side to de Gaulle, like Rigault, odd-job man of Lemaigre-Dubreuil.

D' Astier against Darlan

  • Henri d' Astier organized then with the assistance of young English officers, nauseated to see maintained the Régime of Vichy in the combined camp, a force of shock, gathering volunteers of November 8th, forces which was going to become, later on, the Irregular force of Africa.
  • At this point in time Darlan, eager to stick it, proposed to him the direction of the police force, in the capacity as Secretary-assistant inside the High commissionership. Henri d' Astier accepted this proposal, but with the will stopped well putting an end to the capacity of Darlan. He, indeed, had had the idea to replace the admiral by the Count de Paris, claiming orleanist with the Trône of France, which he had made come to Algiers. It wished that this one seize the power in the place of Darlan and unifies the French authorities of London and Algiers, with De Gaulle as chief of the government and Giraud as chief of the armed forces.

The elimination of Darlan

  • At this point in time the young patriot, Fernand Bonnier of the Vault, volunteer with the Irregular force of Africa indicated by a drawing lot, between brothers in arms of the Irregular force of Africa, resistant of November 8th, cut down Darlan, on December 24th, with blows of revolver.
  • Giraud, indicated by the Vichyist proconsuls to replace Darlan, did not do anything to obtain the grace of Bonnier and let it carry out.

The repression of resistance by Giraud and the Vichyist ones

  • Once removed Bonnier, the principal witness, Giraud, made open a new investigation into the murder of Darlan.
  • At this point in time, under the pressure of the Vichyist officers of its entourage and Rigault, Giraud made stop the majority of the chiefs of of Algiers resistance, while of Astier was constrained to hide. Decree in January 1943, it was released only after the constitution of the French Comité of the national Release (CFLN) and the catch of preponderance in its center of the general de Gaulle, in September of the same year.

Parliamentary Henri d' Astier and commando of France

Henri d' Astier at the Consultative Assembly

In November 1943, Henri d' Astier was named member at the Consultative Assembly of Algiers and there entered to the Commission of National defense.

Henri d' Astier with the Commandos of France

  • Then it created in April 1944, the “Commandos of France” only made up of volunteers recruited within the escaped prisoners of France. At the time of the unloading in Provence, it took the command of a team of 45 men intended to precede the troops while operating inside the enemy lines. It embarked in August 1944 on the " Marietta Madre" who, while waiting for the D-day, made stopover in Corsica. August 17th it unloaded with its detachment with Saint-Tropez and faced the Germans with the Warp ends-Mirabeau. The Commandos of France took part then in the combat of the Vosges and Alsace.
  • Although Member of Parliament, Henri d' Astier remained on the battle fields and continued the combat as far as Germany, after having taken in December 1944, the command of the whole of the Commandos of France.
  • Henri d' Astier of Vigerie is deceased in Geneva the October 10th 1952.

Decorations

Random links:Lascaux (Corrèze) | Indian Pacific | 1978 in architecture | South Amboy | George_Meade