René Cogny
| René Cogny | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Le General Vitesse (General Hurry-Up), 'Coco the Siren' |
| Born | 25 April 1904 Saint-Valery-en-Caux, Normandy, France |
| Died | 11 September 1968 (aged 64) Mediterranean |
| Allegiance | France |
| Service/branch | French Army |
| Rank | Général de division |
| Commands held | Forces Terrestres du Nord Viêtnam |
| Battles/wars |
World War II First Indochina War |
| Awards | Croix de guerre |
René Cogny (25 April 1904, Saint-Valery-en-Caux – 11 September 1968) was a French Général de division, World War II and French Resistance veteran and survivor of Buchenwald and Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camps. He was a commander of the French forces in Tonkin (northern Vietnam) during the First Indochina War, and notably during the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. His post-war private and legal conflict with superior General Henri Navarre became a public controversy. Known to his men as Le General Vitesse (General Hurry-Up), and reputable for his military pomp, physical presence and skill with the press, Cogny was killed when Air France Flight 1611 crashed in the Mediterranean near Nice.
Cogny was born in Normandy in April 1904, the son of a police sergeant. An academically gifted boy, Cogny was awarded a scholarship to École Polytechnique, where he received an engineering degree, a diploma from the French Institute of Political Science, and a doctorate in law. Cogny enlisted in the French Army before the outbreak of World War II, graduating in 1929 from the Fontainebleau artillery school, and was a battery commander by the time the war started. He was awarded the Croix de guerre during early engagements.
In June 1940, he was one of 780,000 soldiers captured by the German army as it circumvented the Maginot Line. He was held in captivity for almost a year before he escaped in May by crawling naked through a drain pipe with three companions, pushing their disguises out in front of them. Cogny moved back to Vichy France through Bavaria in 1941 to join the Armistice Army and the underground French Resistance. In 1943, now a Major, Cogny was again arrested by the Gestapo and underwent six months of interrogation and torture in Fresnes prison before being sent to Buchenwald, and later Mauthausen, concentration camps. Cogny was liberated in April 1945 in a poor state of health. Though he did recover from being a "walking skeleton", his severe limp would require the use of a cane for the rest of his life.
...
Wikipedia