Birth: 8 May 1898
Death: 1 May 1971
Companion of the Liberation – Decree of 28 May 1945
Born in Verdun, Lorraine, he chose a military career and joined the army at the age of 18 for the duration of the war. In August 1917, he was attached to the 278th Infantry Regiment as an officer cadet. His unit took part in the Battle of the Observatories, which involved the French Army taking possession of the Chemin des Dames ridge (Aisne). He distinguished himself in June 1918 in Argonne and then again in the following month, during the second Battle of the Marne, in which he was wounded. He was named an “officer of exceptional military value” and continued his career after the war.
In June 1940, he was surrounded but refused to surrender and walked to the unoccupied zone over 250 km away. After serving in the Armistice Army, he joined the Resistance following the Germans’ invasion of the southern zone in November 1942. As the head of the FFI in the South-West, poorly armed and far smaller in numbers, he reduced the Atlantic pockets (La Rochelle, Royan) while preserving the strategic ports. By the end of the war he had earned the rank of brigadier general.
Credits: Fort de Liez (Oise), September 1917, Officer Cadet Henri Adeline at the front © Famille d’Henri Adeline
Ajouter un commentaire