Alfred Touny
| Alfred Touny | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
24 October 1886 Paris, France |
| Died | April 1944 (aged 57) Arras, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation | Soldier, lawyer and businessman |
| Known for | Resistance hero |
Alfred Touny (24 October 1886 – April 1944) was a French soldier, lawyer and businessman who became one of the leaders of the French Resistance during World War II (1939–45). He was arrested by the Gestapo towards the end of the war and shot.
Alfred Touny was born on 24 October 1886 in Paris, son of the Director of the Paris municipal police. He studied at the lycée Henri-IV in Paris, where he was a brilliant pupil, then attended the Ecole Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr (1904–06). He was made a sub-lieutenant and served in succession with the 11th, 9th and 1st Regiment of Cuirassiers. In 1910 he was promoted to lieutenant and in parallel obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Bachelor of Law. In 1913 he was granted leave of absence without pay for three years.
With the outbreak of World War I (1914–18) Touny was recalled to the army in August 1914, and assigned to the General Staff of the Cavalry Corps. On 9 September he was wounded by a bullet at Nanteuil-le-Haudouin. He was appointed captain in 1917, and was awarded the Legion of Honour at the end of the war, with six citations. He resigned from the army in 1920 and joined the Bar of Paris. In 1923 he left the bar and entered industry. In 1938 Touny was a Lieutenant-colonel of the reserve.
With the start of World War II (1939–45) Touny was recalled in August 1939 to again serve on the 2nd Bureau of the General Staff of the Cavalry Corps in Saint-Quentin. In January 1940 he was assigned to the General Staff of the Fourth Army on the Lorraine front. In July, after the armistice, he was demobilized in Tulle and returned to Paris. His eldest son, Roger Touny, came to England in June 1940 and would later receive the Cross of Liberation. Alfred Touny refused to accept defeat and in November 1940 began to establish contacts and seek information. Touny soon met Jacques Arthuys and helped him create the Organisation civile et militaire (OCM).
The OCM was formed in December 1940 through the merger of the group headed by the industrialist Jacques Arthuys and the professional officers Colonels Alfred Heurtaux and Alfred Tourney with the group headed by the economic consultant and lobbyist Maxime Blocq-Mascart. Arthuys and Heurtaux were arrested at the end of 1941, and Blocq-Mascart and Touny took over leadership of the OCM. The OCM drew its recruits from senior industrialists, civil servants and professionals. The first priorities were collection of intelligence and arganization of fighting units. The group also published Cahiers that discussed the post-war economy and politics, which gave it the reputation of being elitist and technocratic. Touny personally recruited many agents covering the north and west of the occupied zone. He organized communications through which the reports of the agents were collected and synthesized centrally.
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