Pierre de Froment
Encyclopedia
Georges-Pierre de Froment (alias Pierre Foureix, and Deblé) was a French soldier and member of the World War II resistance.
De Froment was born on November 17, 1913 in Châteauroux
, in the garrison town of his father. His father was a graduate of the Saint-Cyr military academies
who had been killed leading his company in Artois
in May 1915. De Froment enrolled at Saint-Cyr, and after a standard beginning to his career. In 1939, he was sent on as special mission to Poland
, where he was present for the debacle. He then returned to France, in May 1940 he took part in operations to block the German army which had crossed the Meuse river
.
in Marseille
towards the beginning of September 1940. Frenay was engaged in forming an embryonic resistance movement, which would become Combat
, the most important movement in the zone libre
. Frenay made de Froment his representative in the occupied zone. It was de Froment's responsibility to create a massive information network in the north, assigned directly to passing on clandestine news which Frenay intended would inform the general population and promote a spirit of resistance. Along with Frenay, Robert Guédon
and Jacques-Yves Mulliez, de Froment was involved in the creation of the newspaper Les Petites Ailes de France, which was first circulated on 17 May 1941. Towards the beginning of February 1942, Combat Zone Nord, the group led by Guédon and to which de Froment was attached, was scourged by a wave of arrests. Greatly isolated, de Froment nonetheless continued to expand his network in industrial and railway circles across the whole of the zone occupée
.
. He was imprisoned in Fresnes prison
, and then in summer 1934 deported to Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria
. In May 1945 the camp was liberated by the Americans. Terribly weakened, de Froment reached France and recuperated in the sanatorium at Briançon
, where in 1946 he transcribed the story of his deportation to Mauthausen, published in 2004, a text infused with fervent Christian humanism.
Pierre de Froment died on 14 November 2006 à Moulins in Allier
. He was buried in the cemetery at Montlevicq
in Indre
.
Georges-Pierre de Froment (alias Pierre Foureix, and Deblé) was a French soldier and member of the World War II resistance.
De Froment was born on November 17, 1913 in Châteauroux
, in the garrison town of his father. His father was a graduate of the Saint-Cyr military academies
who had been killed leading his company in Artois
in May 1915. De Froment enrolled at Saint-Cyr, and after a standard beginning to his career. In 1939, he was sent on as special mission to Poland
, where he was present for the debacle. He then returned to France, in May 1940 he took part in operations to block the German army which had crossed the Meuse river
.
in Marseille
towards the beginning of September 1940. Frenay was engaged in forming an embryonic resistance movement, which would become Combat
, the most important movement in the zone libre
. Frenay made de Froment his representative in the occupied zone. It was de Froment's responsibility to create a massive information network in the north, assigned directly to passing on clandestine news which Frenay intended would inform the general population and promote a spirit of resistance. Along with Frenay, Robert Guédon
and Jacques-Yves Mulliez, de Froment was involved in the creation of the newspaper Les Petites Ailes de France, which was first circulated on 17 May 1941. Towards the beginning of February 1942, Combat Zone Nord, the group led by Guédon and to which de Froment was attached, was scourged by a wave of arrests. Greatly isolated, de Froment nonetheless continued to expand his network in industrial and railway circles across the whole of the zone occupée
.
. He was imprisoned in Fresnes prison
, and then in summer 1934 deported to Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria
. In May 1945 the camp was liberated by the Americans. Terribly weakened, de Froment reached France and recuperated in the sanatorium at Briançon
, where in 1946 he transcribed the story of his deportation to Mauthausen, published in 2004, a text infused with fervent Christian humanism.
Pierre de Froment died on 14 November 2006 à Moulins in Allier
. He was buried in the cemetery at Montlevicq
in Indre
.
Georges-Pierre de Froment (alias Pierre Foureix, and Deblé) was a French soldier and member of the World War II resistance.
De Froment was born on November 17, 1913 in Châteauroux
, in the garrison town of his father. His father was a graduate of the Saint-Cyr military academies
who had been killed leading his company in Artois
in May 1915. De Froment enrolled at Saint-Cyr, and after a standard beginning to his career. In 1939, he was sent on as special mission to Poland
, where he was present for the debacle. He then returned to France, in May 1940 he took part in operations to block the German army which had crossed the Meuse river
.
in Marseille
towards the beginning of September 1940. Frenay was engaged in forming an embryonic resistance movement, which would become Combat
, the most important movement in the zone libre
. Frenay made de Froment his representative in the occupied zone. It was de Froment's responsibility to create a massive information network in the north, assigned directly to passing on clandestine news which Frenay intended would inform the general population and promote a spirit of resistance. Along with Frenay, Robert Guédon
and Jacques-Yves Mulliez, de Froment was involved in the creation of the newspaper Les Petites Ailes de France, which was first circulated on 17 May 1941. Towards the beginning of February 1942, Combat Zone Nord, the group led by Guédon and to which de Froment was attached, was scourged by a wave of arrests. Greatly isolated, de Froment nonetheless continued to expand his network in industrial and railway circles across the whole of the zone occupée
.
. He was imprisoned in Fresnes prison
, and then in summer 1934 deported to Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria
. In May 1945 the camp was liberated by the Americans. Terribly weakened, de Froment reached France and recuperated in the sanatorium at Briançon
, where in 1946 he transcribed the story of his deportation to Mauthausen, published in 2004, a text infused with fervent Christian humanism.
Pierre de Froment died on 14 November 2006 à Moulins in Allier
. He was buried in the cemetery at Montlevicq
in Indre
.
De Froment was born on November 17, 1913 in Châteauroux
Châteauroux
Châteauroux is the capital of the Indre department in central France and the second-largest town in the province of Berry, after Bourges. Its residents are called Castelroussines or Castelroussins....
, in the garrison town of his father. His father was a graduate of the Saint-Cyr military academies
École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr
The École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr is the foremost French military academy. Its official name is . It is often referred to as Saint-Cyr . Its motto is "Ils s'instruisent pour vaincre": literally "They study to vanquish" or "Training for victory"...
who had been killed leading his company in Artois
Artois
Artois is a former province of northern France. Its territory has an area of around 4000 km² and a population of about one million. Its principal cities are Arras , Saint-Omer, Lens and Béthune.-Location:...
in May 1915. De Froment enrolled at Saint-Cyr, and after a standard beginning to his career. In 1939, he was sent on as special mission to Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, where he was present for the debacle. He then returned to France, in May 1940 he took part in operations to block the German army which had crossed the Meuse river
Meuse River
The Maas or Meuse is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea...
.
Resistance (1940-1943)
After the French army's defeat, de Froment met Captain Henri FrenayHenri Frenay
Henri Frenay was a French military officer and French resistance member.Henri Frenay was born in Lyon, France on 11 November 1905, into a Catholic family with a military tradition. He studied the Germanic languages at the University of Strasbourg...
in Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
towards the beginning of September 1940. Frenay was engaged in forming an embryonic resistance movement, which would become Combat
Combat (French Resistance)
Combat was a large movement in the French Resistance created in the non-occupied zone of France during the Second World War .Combat was one of the eight great resistance movements which constituted the Conseil national de la Résistance....
, the most important movement in the zone libre
Zone libre
The zone libre was a partition of the French metropolitan territory during the Second World War, established at the Second Armistice at Compiègne on June 22, 1940. It lay to the south of the demarcation line and was administered by the French government of Marshal Philippe Pétain based in Vichy,...
. Frenay made de Froment his representative in the occupied zone. It was de Froment's responsibility to create a massive information network in the north, assigned directly to passing on clandestine news which Frenay intended would inform the general population and promote a spirit of resistance. Along with Frenay, Robert Guédon
Robert Guédon
Robert Guédon was a founding member of the French resistance in the zone occupée during World War II.- Biography :...
and Jacques-Yves Mulliez, de Froment was involved in the creation of the newspaper Les Petites Ailes de France, which was first circulated on 17 May 1941. Towards the beginning of February 1942, Combat Zone Nord, the group led by Guédon and to which de Froment was attached, was scourged by a wave of arrests. Greatly isolated, de Froment nonetheless continued to expand his network in industrial and railway circles across the whole of the zone occupée
Zone occupée
The zone occupée was the area of France where German occupying troops were deployed during the Second World War after the signature of the Second Armistice at Compiègne...
.
Deportation (1943-1945)
On 14 January 1943, de Froment, whose hideout had been spotted by a treacherous comrade, was arrested by two men from the AbwehrAbwehr
The Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
. He was imprisoned in Fresnes prison
Fresnes Prison
Fresnes Prison is the second largest prison in France, located in the town of Fresnes, Val-de-Marne South of Paris...
, and then in summer 1934 deported to Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. In May 1945 the camp was liberated by the Americans. Terribly weakened, de Froment reached France and recuperated in the sanatorium at Briançon
Briançon
Briançon a commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department....
, where in 1946 he transcribed the story of his deportation to Mauthausen, published in 2004, a text infused with fervent Christian humanism.
After the war
- 1947: Reintegrated into the French armyFrench ArmyThe French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...
. - 1953: École supérieure de guerre. After graduation, he became military attachéMilitary attachéA military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission . This post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer who retains the commission while serving in an embassy...
for four years in YugoslaviaYugoslaviaYugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
and AlbaniaAlbaniaAlbania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
. - 1961: Arrived in AlgeriaAlgeriaAlgeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
as adjoint of the sector commandant of BlidaBlidaBlida is a city in Algeria. It is the capital of Blida Province, and it is located about 45 km south-west of Algiers, the national capital. The name Blida, i.e...
. After the Algiers putsch of 1961, became commandant of Blida sector. - 1962-1964: Head of Action servic of the SDECE (Service de documentation extérieure et de contre-espionnage).
- He ended his career as général de division at the head of the 44th région militaire at ToulouseToulouseToulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
, in 1973.
Pierre de Froment died on 14 November 2006 à Moulins in Allier
Allier
Allier is a department in central France named after the river Allier.- History :Allier is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Auvergne and Bourbonnais.In 1940, the government of Marshal...
. He was buried in the cemetery at Montlevicq
Montlevicq
Montlevicq is a commune in the Indre department in central France.-References:*...
in Indre
Indre
Indre is a department in the center of France named after the river Indre. The inhabitants of the department are called Indriens.-History:Indre is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
.
Decorations
- Grand-Croix de l'Ordre national du MériteOrdre National du MériteThe Ordre national du Mérite is an Order of State awarded by the President of the French Republic. It was founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle...
- Grand Officier de la Légion d'honneurLégion d'honneurThe Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
- Médaille de la RésistanceMédaille de la RésistanceThe French Médaille de la Résistance was awarded by General Charles de Gaulle "to recognise the remarkable acts of faith and of courage that, in France, in the empire and abroad, have contributed to the resistance of the French people against the enemy and against its accomplices since June 18,...
See also
Henri Frenay, Volontaires de la nuit, Robert Laffont, 1975 and La Nuit Finira, Robert Laffont, 1973 re-edited Michalon 2006Georges-Pierre de Froment (alias Pierre Foureix, and Deblé) was a French soldier and member of the World War II resistance.
De Froment was born on November 17, 1913 in Châteauroux
Châteauroux
Châteauroux is the capital of the Indre department in central France and the second-largest town in the province of Berry, after Bourges. Its residents are called Castelroussines or Castelroussins....
, in the garrison town of his father. His father was a graduate of the Saint-Cyr military academies
École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr
The École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr is the foremost French military academy. Its official name is . It is often referred to as Saint-Cyr . Its motto is "Ils s'instruisent pour vaincre": literally "They study to vanquish" or "Training for victory"...
who had been killed leading his company in Artois
Artois
Artois is a former province of northern France. Its territory has an area of around 4000 km² and a population of about one million. Its principal cities are Arras , Saint-Omer, Lens and Béthune.-Location:...
in May 1915. De Froment enrolled at Saint-Cyr, and after a standard beginning to his career. In 1939, he was sent on as special mission to Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, where he was present for the debacle. He then returned to France, in May 1940 he took part in operations to block the German army which had crossed the Meuse river
Meuse River
The Maas or Meuse is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea...
.
Resistance (1940-1943)
After the French army's defeat, de Froment met Captain Henri FrenayHenri Frenay
Henri Frenay was a French military officer and French resistance member.Henri Frenay was born in Lyon, France on 11 November 1905, into a Catholic family with a military tradition. He studied the Germanic languages at the University of Strasbourg...
in Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
towards the beginning of September 1940. Frenay was engaged in forming an embryonic resistance movement, which would become Combat
Combat (French Resistance)
Combat was a large movement in the French Resistance created in the non-occupied zone of France during the Second World War .Combat was one of the eight great resistance movements which constituted the Conseil national de la Résistance....
, the most important movement in the zone libre
Zone libre
The zone libre was a partition of the French metropolitan territory during the Second World War, established at the Second Armistice at Compiègne on June 22, 1940. It lay to the south of the demarcation line and was administered by the French government of Marshal Philippe Pétain based in Vichy,...
. Frenay made de Froment his representative in the occupied zone. It was de Froment's responsibility to create a massive information network in the north, assigned directly to passing on clandestine news which Frenay intended would inform the general population and promote a spirit of resistance. Along with Frenay, Robert Guédon
Robert Guédon
Robert Guédon was a founding member of the French resistance in the zone occupée during World War II.- Biography :...
and Jacques-Yves Mulliez, de Froment was involved in the creation of the newspaper Les Petites Ailes de France, which was first circulated on 17 May 1941. Towards the beginning of February 1942, Combat Zone Nord, the group led by Guédon and to which de Froment was attached, was scourged by a wave of arrests. Greatly isolated, de Froment nonetheless continued to expand his network in industrial and railway circles across the whole of the zone occupée
Zone occupée
The zone occupée was the area of France where German occupying troops were deployed during the Second World War after the signature of the Second Armistice at Compiègne...
.
Deportation (1943-1945)
On 14 January 1943, de Froment, whose hideout had been spotted by a treacherous comrade, was arrested by two men from the AbwehrAbwehr
The Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
. He was imprisoned in Fresnes prison
Fresnes Prison
Fresnes Prison is the second largest prison in France, located in the town of Fresnes, Val-de-Marne South of Paris...
, and then in summer 1934 deported to Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. In May 1945 the camp was liberated by the Americans. Terribly weakened, de Froment reached France and recuperated in the sanatorium at Briançon
Briançon
Briançon a commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department....
, where in 1946 he transcribed the story of his deportation to Mauthausen, published in 2004, a text infused with fervent Christian humanism.
After the war
- 1947: Reintegrated into the French armyFrench ArmyThe French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...
. - 1953: École supérieure de guerre. After graduation, he became military attachéMilitary attachéA military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission . This post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer who retains the commission while serving in an embassy...
for four years in YugoslaviaYugoslaviaYugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
and AlbaniaAlbaniaAlbania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
. - 1961: Arrived in AlgeriaAlgeriaAlgeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
as adjoint of the sector commandant of BlidaBlidaBlida is a city in Algeria. It is the capital of Blida Province, and it is located about 45 km south-west of Algiers, the national capital. The name Blida, i.e...
. After the Algiers putsch of 1961, became commandant of Blida sector. - 1962-1964: Head of Action servic of the SDECE (Service de documentation extérieure et de contre-espionnage).
- He ended his career as général de division at the head of the 44th région militaire at ToulouseToulouseToulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
, in 1973.
Pierre de Froment died on 14 November 2006 à Moulins in Allier
Allier
Allier is a department in central France named after the river Allier.- History :Allier is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Auvergne and Bourbonnais.In 1940, the government of Marshal...
. He was buried in the cemetery at Montlevicq
Montlevicq
Montlevicq is a commune in the Indre department in central France.-References:*...
in Indre
Indre
Indre is a department in the center of France named after the river Indre. The inhabitants of the department are called Indriens.-History:Indre is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
.
Decorations
- Grand-Croix de l'Ordre national du MériteOrdre National du MériteThe Ordre national du Mérite is an Order of State awarded by the President of the French Republic. It was founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle...
- Grand Officier de la Légion d'honneurLégion d'honneurThe Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
- Médaille de la RésistanceMédaille de la RésistanceThe French Médaille de la Résistance was awarded by General Charles de Gaulle "to recognise the remarkable acts of faith and of courage that, in France, in the empire and abroad, have contributed to the resistance of the French people against the enemy and against its accomplices since June 18,...
See also
Henri Frenay, Volontaires de la nuit, Robert Laffont, 1975 and La Nuit Finira, Robert Laffont, 1973 re-edited Michalon 2006Georges-Pierre de Froment (alias Pierre Foureix, and Deblé) was a French soldier and member of the World War II resistance.
De Froment was born on November 17, 1913 in Châteauroux
Châteauroux
Châteauroux is the capital of the Indre department in central France and the second-largest town in the province of Berry, after Bourges. Its residents are called Castelroussines or Castelroussins....
, in the garrison town of his father. His father was a graduate of the Saint-Cyr military academies
École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr
The École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr is the foremost French military academy. Its official name is . It is often referred to as Saint-Cyr . Its motto is "Ils s'instruisent pour vaincre": literally "They study to vanquish" or "Training for victory"...
who had been killed leading his company in Artois
Artois
Artois is a former province of northern France. Its territory has an area of around 4000 km² and a population of about one million. Its principal cities are Arras , Saint-Omer, Lens and Béthune.-Location:...
in May 1915. De Froment enrolled at Saint-Cyr, and after a standard beginning to his career. In 1939, he was sent on as special mission to Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, where he was present for the debacle. He then returned to France, in May 1940 he took part in operations to block the German army which had crossed the Meuse river
Meuse River
The Maas or Meuse is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea...
.
Resistance (1940-1943)
After the French army's defeat, de Froment met Captain Henri FrenayHenri Frenay
Henri Frenay was a French military officer and French resistance member.Henri Frenay was born in Lyon, France on 11 November 1905, into a Catholic family with a military tradition. He studied the Germanic languages at the University of Strasbourg...
in Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
towards the beginning of September 1940. Frenay was engaged in forming an embryonic resistance movement, which would become Combat
Combat (French Resistance)
Combat was a large movement in the French Resistance created in the non-occupied zone of France during the Second World War .Combat was one of the eight great resistance movements which constituted the Conseil national de la Résistance....
, the most important movement in the zone libre
Zone libre
The zone libre was a partition of the French metropolitan territory during the Second World War, established at the Second Armistice at Compiègne on June 22, 1940. It lay to the south of the demarcation line and was administered by the French government of Marshal Philippe Pétain based in Vichy,...
. Frenay made de Froment his representative in the occupied zone. It was de Froment's responsibility to create a massive information network in the north, assigned directly to passing on clandestine news which Frenay intended would inform the general population and promote a spirit of resistance. Along with Frenay, Robert Guédon
Robert Guédon
Robert Guédon was a founding member of the French resistance in the zone occupée during World War II.- Biography :...
and Jacques-Yves Mulliez, de Froment was involved in the creation of the newspaper Les Petites Ailes de France, which was first circulated on 17 May 1941. Towards the beginning of February 1942, Combat Zone Nord, the group led by Guédon and to which de Froment was attached, was scourged by a wave of arrests. Greatly isolated, de Froment nonetheless continued to expand his network in industrial and railway circles across the whole of the zone occupée
Zone occupée
The zone occupée was the area of France where German occupying troops were deployed during the Second World War after the signature of the Second Armistice at Compiègne...
.
Deportation (1943-1945)
On 14 January 1943, de Froment, whose hideout had been spotted by a treacherous comrade, was arrested by two men from the AbwehrAbwehr
The Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
. He was imprisoned in Fresnes prison
Fresnes Prison
Fresnes Prison is the second largest prison in France, located in the town of Fresnes, Val-de-Marne South of Paris...
, and then in summer 1934 deported to Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. In May 1945 the camp was liberated by the Americans. Terribly weakened, de Froment reached France and recuperated in the sanatorium at Briançon
Briançon
Briançon a commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department....
, where in 1946 he transcribed the story of his deportation to Mauthausen, published in 2004, a text infused with fervent Christian humanism.
After the war
- 1947: Reintegrated into the French armyFrench ArmyThe French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...
. - 1953: École supérieure de guerre. After graduation, he became military attachéMilitary attachéA military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission . This post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer who retains the commission while serving in an embassy...
for four years in YugoslaviaYugoslaviaYugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
and AlbaniaAlbaniaAlbania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
. - 1961: Arrived in AlgeriaAlgeriaAlgeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
as adjoint of the sector commandant of BlidaBlidaBlida is a city in Algeria. It is the capital of Blida Province, and it is located about 45 km south-west of Algiers, the national capital. The name Blida, i.e...
. After the Algiers putsch of 1961, became commandant of Blida sector. - 1962-1964: Head of Action servic of the SDECE (Service de documentation extérieure et de contre-espionnage).
- He ended his career as général de division at the head of the 44th région militaire at ToulouseToulouseToulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
, in 1973.
Pierre de Froment died on 14 November 2006 à Moulins in Allier
Allier
Allier is a department in central France named after the river Allier.- History :Allier is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Auvergne and Bourbonnais.In 1940, the government of Marshal...
. He was buried in the cemetery at Montlevicq
Montlevicq
Montlevicq is a commune in the Indre department in central France.-References:*...
in Indre
Indre
Indre is a department in the center of France named after the river Indre. The inhabitants of the department are called Indriens.-History:Indre is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
.
Decorations
- Grand-Croix de l'Ordre national du MériteOrdre National du MériteThe Ordre national du Mérite is an Order of State awarded by the President of the French Republic. It was founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle...
- Grand Officier de la Légion d'honneurLégion d'honneurThe Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
- Médaille de la RésistanceMédaille de la RésistanceThe French Médaille de la Résistance was awarded by General Charles de Gaulle "to recognise the remarkable acts of faith and of courage that, in France, in the empire and abroad, have contributed to the resistance of the French people against the enemy and against its accomplices since June 18,...
See also
Henri Frenay, Volontaires de la nuit, Robert Laffont, 1975 and La Nuit Finira, Robert Laffont, 1973 re-edited Michalon 2006