Marie Pierre Kœnig CB DSO (10 October 1898 – 2 September 1970) was a French general. He commanded a Free French Brigade at the Battle of Bir Hakeim in North Africa in 1942.
Marie Pierre Kœnig was born on 10 October 1898, in Caen, Calvados. He fought in the French Army during World War I and served with distinction. After the war, he served with French forces in Morocco and Cameroon.
When World War II broke out, Kœnig returned to France. He was first assigned as a captain with the French troops in Norway, for which, in 1942, he was awarded the Krigskorset med Sverd or Norwegian War Cross with Sword. After the fall of France, he escaped to England from Brittany.
In London, Kœnig joined general Charles de Gaulle and was promoted to colonel. He became chief of staff in the first divisions of Free French Forces. In 1941 he served in the campaigns in Syria and Lebanon. He was later promoted to general and took command of the First French Brigade in Egypt. His unit of 3700 men held ground against five axis divisions for 16 days at the Battle of Bir Hakeim until they were ordered to evacuate on 11 June 1942. De Gaulle to Kœnig: "Hear and tell your troops: the whole of France is watching you, you are our pride."[1]
Later Kœnig served as Free French delegate to supreme Allied headquarters under General Dwight D. Eisenhower. In 1944 he was given command of the Free French that took part of the Normandy Invasion. Kœnig also served as a military advisor of De Gaulle. In June 1944 he was given command of the French Forces of the Interior to unify various French Resistance groups under de Gaulle's control. Under his command, the FFI stopped range battle in the Maquis to prefer sabotage that helped the invasion army. Important in D-Day, the role of the FFI became decisive in the battle for Normandy and in the landing in the Provence of the US Seventh Army and French Army B. On 21 August 1944, de Gaulle appointed him military governor of Paris to restore law and order. In 1945 he was sent to arrest Philippe Pétain, who had taken refuge in Germany, but who surrendered himself at the frontier with Switzerland.[2]
After the war, Kœnig became a commander of the French army on the French occupation zone in Germany until 1949. In 1949 he became inspector general in North Africa and in 1950 vice-president of the Supreme War Council. In 1951, after his retirement, he was elected as Gaullist representative to French National Assembly and briefly served as a minister of defense under Pierre Mendès-France and Edgar Faure until 1955.
Marie Pierre Kœnig died on 2 September 1970, in Neuilly-sur-Seine. In 1984 he was posthumously declared Marshal of France. In addition to memorials in France, there are streets named after him in Jerusalem, Israel, and in Netanya, Israel. He was awarded a large number of military honorus and decorations during his career, including the British Distinguished Service Order and appointment as Companion of the Order of the Bath.[3]
| Preceded by René Pleven |
Minister of National Defense 19 June - 14 August 1954 |
Succeeded by Emmanuel Temple |
| Preceded by Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury |
Minister of National Defense 23 February - 6 October 1955 |
Succeeded by Pierre Bilotte |
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