Bernard de Lattre de Tassigny - Early Life and World War II

Early Life and World War II

Bernard de Lattre de Tassigny was born on 11 February 1928 in Paris, France. He was the only child of the French soldier and future war hero and general Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, and his wife Simonne de Lamazière, both French aristocrats.

Bernard was 12 when France was conquered by Nazi Germany in July 1940 during World War II. His father fought in the army during the invasion, later commanding forces in the "free zone" in Montpellier and Tunisia, but he was arrested for resisting the German military occupation of Vichy France in November 1942, and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Bernard de Lattre, then aged 15, aided his father's escape from Riom prison on 3 September 1943. His father went to Algiers via London, while Bernard and his mother went into hiding. Bernard eventually escaped France through the Pyrenees, and crossed Spain to reach North Africa. There, like his father, he joined the forces of the Free French.

Still only 16, Bernard received special dispensation from General Charles de Gaulle to join the army being assembled to invade France, and subsequently fought in the liberation of southern France and also in Germany. He was seriously wounded on 8 September 1944, at Autun, returning later to fight again in Germany. It was for his actions in these campaigns that he received the Médaille militaire, the youngest to receive that medal, and his first Croix de guerre.

Following the war, Bernard de Lattre studied at the French military school (the EMIA) from August 1945, training in the armoured cavalry section. He was promoted to Lieutenant on 26 November 1948.