Hélie de Saint Marc | |
---|---|
Birth name | Hélie Denoix de Saint Marc |
Born |
Bordeaux, France |
11 February 1922
Died | 26 August 2013 La Garde-Adhémar, France |
(aged 91)
Allegiance | France |
Service/branch |
French Foreign Legion Foreign Airborne |
Years of service | 1946–1961 |
Rank | Commandant, Chef de Bataillon |
Unit |
3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment 10e DP |
Commands held |
1st Foreign Parachute Regiment 1er R.E.P |
Battles/wars |
World War II First Indochina War Suez Crisis Algerian War |
3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment
3e REI
1st Foreign Parachute Battalion
1e BEP
2nd Foreign Parachute Battalion
2e BEP
Legion Indochinese Parachute Company
2e CIPLE
1st Foreign Parachute Regiment
1er R.E.P
Hélie Denoix de Saint Marc or Hélie de Saint Marc, (11 February 1922 – 26 August 2013) was a senior member of the French resistance and a senior active officer of the French Army, having served in the French Foreign Legion, in particular at the heart and corps of the Foreign Airborne Battalions and Regiments, the heirs of the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment 2ème REP, a part constituent of the 11th Parachute Brigade. Commandant by interim of the 1st Foreign Parachute Regiment 1er REP (disbanded in 1961), Hélie assumed full responsibility for commanding exclusively his regiment towards the Generals' Putsch in April 1961 and would be charged for such action while also distancing accusations that would compromise the integrity of the men acting under his direct orders of command. He was rehabilitated within his civilian and military rights in 1978 and awarded the high distinction of the Grand-Croix of the Legion of Honor on 28 November 2011.