Émile Coulaudon
| Émile Coulaudon | |
|---|---|
Memorial at the Mont Mouchet museum, France.
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| Nickname(s) | Colonel Gaspard |
| Born |
29 December 1907 Clermont-Ferrand |
| Died | 1 June 1977 (aged 69) Clermont-Ferrand |
| Allegiance | French Resistance |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Awards | Légion d'honneur |
| Relations | Aimé Coulaudon |
Émile Coulaudon (29 December 1907 - 1 June 1977), known as Colonel Gaspard, was one of the principal leaders of the French Resistance in Auvergne during the Second World War.
Coulaudon was born on 29 December 1907 in Clermont-Ferrand to a socialist family. His father ran a business that distributed electrical goods for Philips. His brother, Aimé Coulaudon, a lawyer, was elected as a député for the French Section of the Workers' International in 1936.
After military service, Coulaudon became commercial director of the family business, in 1930. In 1939, he was conscripted as a medical master sergeant. Following the Battle of France, he was imprisoned at Gérardmer on 22 June 1940, and escaped on 8 July. Soon after, with Jean Mazuel, he founded in Clermont-Ferrand and Brioude one of the first Resistance groups in Auvergne.
By November 1942, Coulaudon was head of Combat in Puy-de-Dôme. In April 1943, he went into hiding and created the Auvergne 1st Corps Franc, whose command post was situated in the hamlet of Lespinasse, in the commune of Pulvérières. He led this group in numerous acts of sabotage (including Ancizes steel mill, a German transmitter at Royat, a train carrying German troops at Martres de Veyre) and rescued numerous Resistance fighters. His acts also enabled the recovery from Vichyist stores of over 200,000 litres of petrol, 100 tonnes of food and clothing (from the Chantiers de la jeunesse française youth organisation at Chatelguyon), and 150 vehicles of different kinds, among which was the Hotchkiss belonging to Joseph La Porte du Theil, national chief of Chantiers de la jeunesse française. While looking for the command centre of the Mouvements unis de la Résistance in Puy-de-Dôme on 11 December 1943, the Sicherheitsdienst launched an offensive at Saint Maurice. Coulaudon, Antoine Llorca ("Laurent") and the main local Resistance members fled, but the next day the Sicherheitsdienst found a briefcase containing important documents, which it had not been possible to dispose of. The next day, at Billom, Gaspard and his comrades ("Laurent", Robert "Prince" Huguet, Max "Bénevol" Menut, Camille "Buron" Leclanché), narrowly evaded a search party led by Hugo Geissler, comprising 2,000 soldiers from the 66th Army Reserve Corps. In the following days, Resistance munitions and supplies were seized.
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