Aimé Teisseire

Aimé Teisseire
Aimé Teisseire
	Teisseire c. 1960
Birth name	Aimé Louis Albert Teisseire
Born	18 December 1914; Puget-Théniers, France
Died	28 June 2008 (aged 93); Nice, France
Allegiance	France
Service/branch	French Army
Years of service	1934 - 1961
Rank	Captain
Battles/wars	World War II ; Indochina War ;
Awards	Croix de Guerre ; Ordre de la Libération ; Légion d'honneur ;

Last updated March 06, 2019

Aimé Teisseire (18 December 1914 – 28 June 2008) was a French military officer who fought with the Free French Forces in the African campaign of World War II and later in Europe for the Liberation of France. Wounded multiple times in battle, he was awarded the Croix de Guerre and Order of Liberation. For his service in French Indochina after the war he was made a Grand Officier of the Légion d'Honneur.^[1]^[2]

The Order of Liberation is a French Order which was awarded to heroes of the Liberation of France during World War II. It is a very high honour, second only after the Légion d’Honneur. Very few people, military units and communes were ever awarded it; and only for their deeds during World War II. A different order, the Médaille de la Résistance, was created and awarded for lesser but still distinguished deeds by members of the Resistance.

French Indochina, officially known as the Indochinese Union after 1887 and the Indochinese Federation after 1947, was a grouping of French colonial territories in Southeast Asia.

Life and career

The son of an employee at the Monte Carlo Casino, Teisseire was born in Puget-Théniers and studied at the Lycée Rouvière in Toulon before taking up a position at Barclays Bank in Monte Carlo. He then decided to enlist in the French army but was initially rejected on medical grounds. After spending some time in Gabon, he managed to enlist in the Senegalese Tirailleurs in 1934. He was sent to the non-commissioned officers' training school in Saint-Maixent-l'École and then assigned to the French Congo where he was promoted to Sergeant in 1938. He returned to France later that year and at the outbreak of World War II was stationed at the Rochefort-sur-Mer air base. He demanded a combat job and was finally assigned to the 6th Regiment of the Colonial Infantry. He fought with them in the Battle of France and was promoted to Sergent-chef for his valor in battle near Ardennes. Wounded at Meurthe-et-Moselle in June 1940. he was taken prisoner by the Germans, and sent to the hospital at Nancy but escaped and eventually re-joined the Armée d'Armistice in Frejus.^[2]^[3]

The Monte Carlo Casino, officially named Casino de Monte-Carlo, is a gambling and entertainment complex located in Monaco. It includes a casino, the Grand Théâtre de Monte Carlo, and the office of Les Ballets de Monte Carlo.

Puget-Théniers is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France.

Toulon is a city in southern France and a large military harbour on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department.

In Frejus Teisseire attempted to convince the men to join the Free French Forces but without success. Instead, he was sent to West Africa where after many vicissitudes, he escaped from Dahomey to Lagos. Once there, a British administrator helped him to join the Free French Army in Chad. He was assigned to the 1st Company of the Regiment of Senegalese soldiers of Chad and in February 1942 was promoted to Adjutant. While training in Morocco, his regiment was evacuated to England. From there he took part in the D-Day landings and went on to fight German tank and infantry divisions in the Forêt d'Écouves. Badly wounded in a battle on the outskirts of Paris, he was discharged and sent to a hospital from which he escaped and hitch-hiked to Paris to rejoin his unit. He then fought with them in a series of battles at Andelot, Hourcourt, and Châtel-sur-Moselle. For his role in establishing the bridgehead across the Moselle, he was promoted to Sub-lieutenant in September 1944. In November, he was again wounded (so seriously this time that he was given the Last Rites), but recovered and rejoined his unit to fight in the Ardennes-Alsace Campaign and eventually in Germany at Berchtesgaden.^[2]^[3]

French Dahomey was a French colony of and a part of French West Africa from 1904 to 1958. After World War II, by the establishment of the French Fourth Republic in 1947, Dahomey became part of the French Union with an increased autonomy. On 11 December 1958, the French Fifth Republic was established and the French Union became the French Community. The colony became the self-governing Republic of Dahomey within the Community, and two years later on 1 August 1960 it gained full independence.

Lagos is a city in the Nigerian state of Lagos. The city, with its adjoining conurbation, is the most populous in Nigeria, and the most populous on the African continent. It is one of the fastest growing cities in the world, and also one of the most populous urban agglomerations. Lagos is a major financial centre in Africa; the megacity has the highest GDP, and also houses one of the largest and busiest seaports on the continent.

Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration. The term adjudant is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commissioned officer rank similar to a staff sergeant or warrant officer but is not equivalent to the role or appointment of an adjutant.

After the war ended, Teisseire was promoted to Lieutenant and assigned to French Indochina, arriving in Saigon in December 1946. He served as a company commander there, receiving three battle citations, the Ordre Royal du Cambodge, and later the Légion d'Honneur. On his return to France in 1949, he was promoted to Captain. He then served as a company commander in Réunion, Madagascar, Cameroon, and finally in Algeria before retiring from the army in 1961.^[2] In 1955 he had been made an Officier of the Légion d'Honneur and was subsequently promoted to Commandeur and then Grand Officier. Teisseire's wife and daughter were present when Jacques Chirac presented him with the Grand Officier insignia on 6 October 2005.^[4]

The Royal Order of Cambodia was a French colonial chivalric order in French Cambodia, and is still in use in the present-day Cambodia.

Réunion is an overseas department and region of France and an island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar and 175 km (109 mi) southwest of Mauritius. As of January 2019, it had a population of 866,506.

Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, and previously known as the Malagasy Republic, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately 400 kilometres off the coast of East Africa. The nation comprises the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Following the prehistoric breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana, Madagascar split from the Indian subcontinent around 88 million years ago, allowing native plants and animals to evolve in relative isolation. Consequently, Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot; over 90% of its wildlife is found nowhere else on Earth. The island's diverse ecosystems and unique wildlife are threatened by the encroachment of the rapidly growing human population and other environmental threats.

After his retirement from the military, Teisseire worked as the chief of staff in a department store in Nice where he lived for the rest of his life. When he died at the age of 93, he was one of the 59 surviving Compagnons de la Libération.^[1]^[3]

Nice is the seventh most populous urban area in France and the capital of the Alpes-Maritimes département. The metropolitan area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of about 1 million on an area of 721 km² (278 sq mi). Located in the French Riviera, on the south east coast of France on the Mediterranean Sea, at the foot of the Alps, Nice is the second-largest French city on the Mediterranean coast and the second-largest city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region after Marseille. Nice is approximately 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) from the principality of Monaco and 30 kilometres (19 mi) from the French-Italian border. Nice's airport serves as a gateway to the region.

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References

1 2 Le Figaro (30 June 2008). "Décès d'Aimé Teisseire, ancien résistant". Retrieved 19 January 2016 (in French).
1 2 3 4 Musée de l'Ordre de la Libération. "Aimé Teisseire". Retrieved 19 January 2016 (in French).
1 2 3 Fondation de la France Libre (20 November 2009). "Le témoignage d’un soldat français". Retrieved 19 January 2016 (in French)
↑ Union des Officiers de Réserve de la Côte d'Azur (2005). "Un ami a l'honneur", Contact O.R., No. 8, p. 3. Retrieved 20 January 2016 (in French).

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[Figaro-1] 1 2 Le Figaro (30 June 2008). "Décès d'Aimé Teisseire, ancien résistant". Retrieved 19 January 2016 (in French).

[MOL-2] 1 2 3 4 Musée de l'Ordre de la Libération. "Aimé Teisseire". Retrieved 19 January 2016 (in French).

[FFL-3] 1 2 3 Fondation de la France Libre (20 November 2009). "Le témoignage d’un soldat français". Retrieved 19 January 2016 (in French)

[4] Union des Officiers de Réserve de la Côte d'Azur (2005). "Un ami a l'honneur", Contact O.R., No. 8, p. 3. Retrieved 20 January 2016 (in French).