Marcel Carpentier

Marcel Maurice Carpentier (French pronunciation: [maʁsɛl mɔʁis kaʁpɑ̃tje]; 2 March 1895 – 14 September 1977) was a French Army general who served in World War I, World War II and First Indochina War.

Marcel Carpentier
Carpentier (centre, 1953)
Born	2 March 1895 (1895-03-02) Marseille, France
Died	14 September 1977(1977-09-14) (aged 82) Mettray, France
Allegiance	France
Service / branch	French Army
Years of service	1914–1956
Rank	Général d'Armée
Commands	2nd Moroccan Infantry Division French Far East Expeditionary Corps
Battles / wars	World War I World War II First Indochina War
Awards	Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor

Early life

Born on 2 March 1895 in Marseille, he was the eldest son in his family. At 18 he entered the French military academy of Saint-Cyr, in August 1914 he was commissioned as a second lieutenant, less than a year later he was the youngest captain in the French Army at only 20, he started training to become a pilot. During the First World War he was wounded multiple times.

Military career

In 1937 he was Chef d'état-major (chief of staff) of the Commandant supérieur of Levantine Troops. From 1940-1941 he served under Jean de Lattre de Tassigny as chief of staff of the commander in chief of North Africa at the headquarters of Vichy French forces in Tunisia. In 1942 Carpentier joined General Charles de Gaulle's Free French forces, becoming chief of staff of the French Expeditionary Corps in 1943. He continued in this post until 1944, when he became Commander of the 2nd 2nd Moroccan Infantry Division, with which he served until 1945. After World War II he was in charge of France's 15 military regions and was appointed Commandant supérieur of Tunisian Troops in 1946. He was made Grand Officer of the French Legion of Honor in 1947. In 1949 he was appointed commander-in-chief of French Union forces in Indochina, but in 1950 following the disastrous defeat in the Battle of Route Coloniale 4 he was replaced by de Lattre. Carpentier then returned to Europe to become chief of staff assigned to NATO in 1951, serving there until 1952. In 1956 he was appointed Inspector General of Infantry, eventually retiring as Commander in Chief of NATO for Central Europe.

References

Sources

• Fredrik Logevall (2012). Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam. Random House Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-679-64519-1.
• Spencer C. Tucker (20 May 2011). The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History, 2nd Edition [4 volumes]: A Political, Social, and Military History. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-85109-961-0.

Further reading

• Obituary (in French)