Pierre Nouailhetas

Pierre-Marie-Élie-Louis Nouailhetas (1894–1985) was a French naval officer who served as the governor (gouverneur) of French Somaliland (Côte française des Somalis) from 7 August 1940 until 21 October 1942 during World War II.

Nouailhetas was born at Cercoux on 17 December 1894, the second son and child of Louis Nouailhetas, an engineer officer in the navy, and Marie-Anne-Françoise Bertet. He entered the École Navale in 1913. He received two citations during World War I (1914–18). In 1925, he left the navy to join the colonial service. His first posting was as an adjutant (adjoint) at Lạng Sơn. In 1927, he was promoted the rank of administrator (administrateur) in charge of Tuyên Quang Province. He later served as chief of staff (chef de cabinet) to the governor of Cochinchina and then administrator of Bến Tre Province and Cần Thơ Province (1933–36). Between 1936 and 1939 he was the secretary-general (secrétaire général) to the Governor General of Indochina.

In August 1940, following the fall of France, he was named by the Vichy government to replace Gaëtan Germain as governor of French Somaliland. He flew into the colony, already threatened with a British interdict, on 2 September. On 18 September the British established a blockade and on 25 September they bombed the capital, Djibouti, from the air. This was the prompt for Nouailhetas to institute a brutal reign of terror. Europeans suspected of contact with the enemy were interned at Obock, while 45 others were condemned to death or forced labour, mostly in absentia. On 7 May 1941, Nouailhetas issued circular letter No. 457, which ordered any native caught carrying a message from the anti-Vichyists (British or Gaullist) to be shot by a firing squad. That month, six illiterate Somalis were shot without trial as "Gaullist traitors" to set an example.

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