Josef Šnejdárek

Josef Šnejdárek
Šnejdárek in uniform of the French Foreign Legion
Born	(1875-04-02)2 April 1875 Napajedla, Moravia, Austria-Hungary
Died	13 May 1945(1945-05-13) (aged 70) Casablanca, French Morocco
Buried at	Casablanca (until 1996), Napajedla (since 1996)
Allegiance	Austria-Hungary France Czechoslovakia
Service/branch	French Foreign Legion  Czechoslovak Army
Years of service	1895–1935; 1940
Rank	General of the army
Battles/wars	Second Franco-Moroccan War World War I Poland–Czechoslovakia war World War II
Awards	Czechoslovak War Cross 1918 Commander of the Légion d'honneur Croix de guerre 1914–1918 Order of St Michael and St George

Josef Šnejdárek (2 April 1875 – 13 May 1945) was a Czech soldier. He served in the French Foreign Legion for 28 years, before joining the Czechoslovak Army. He saw service in World War I, the Poland–Czechoslovakia war over Cieszyn Silesia and in the war with the Hungarian Soviet Republic over territories in what is now Slovakia. He claimed in his memoirs never to have lost a battle nor a duel.

Šnejdárek was born into a miller's family in Napajedla. After graduating from cadet school on 18 August 1895 he entered the Austro-Hungarian Army as a cadet, and sent to the 2nd Rear Regiment in Budapest. On 1 November 1895 he was promoted to lieutenant and transferred to the 14th Rear Battalion in Innsbruck. During this period, while on leave, he volunteered to fight with the Turkish Army, which was defending Preveza against the Greeks. He spent 30 days in an Austrian Army prison as a result, and an injury from the engagement left a scar on his head. He left the Austro-Hungarian Army by request on 1 October 1896, and travelled around the Mediterranean Basin, North Africa and Central Africa for about two years.

Šnejdárek joined the French Foreign Legion on 24 January 1899, as a private, 2nd Class. His first military campaign began in the Sahara on 10 May 1900, and he was promoted to corporal on 26 September of that year, sergeant on 1 March the following year, and sergeant major on 1 April 1906, at which point he was awarded French citizenship and began studying. He graduated from military school in Saint-Maixent-l'École one year later, and was promoted to Second Lieutenant and transferred to the 1st Regiment of Algerian Gunners. On 1 April 1909 he was promoted to Lieutenant. On 25 September 1911 he transferred to the 4th Regiment of Algerian Gunners, and began a military expedition in Morocco the following June, a couple of weeks after he was married. He transferred to 4th Regiment of the Colonial Infantry on 15 April 1913, and was sent for recuperative leave to Tunisia in July of that year.