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Raoul Salan
Generaal Salan, Bestanddeelnr 909-5643.jpg
Birth name Raoul Albin Louis Salan
Born (1899-06-10)10 June 1899
Roquecourbe, France
Died 3 July 1984(1984-07-03) (aged 85)
Paris, France
Allegiance  France
Organisation armée secrète
Service/branch French Army
Years of service 1917–1959
Rank Général d'Armée
Commands held 6th Senegalese Tirailleur Regiment
14th Infantry Division
French Far East Expeditionary Corps
French forces in Algeria
Battles/wars World War I
World War II
First Indochina War
Algerian War
Algiers putsch of 1961
Awards Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor
Other work Leader of the OAS

Raoul Albin Louis Salan ( 10 June 1899 – 3 July 1984) was a French Army general. He served as the fourth French commanding general during the First Indochina War. He was one of four generals who organized the 1961 Algiers Putsch operation. He was the founder of the Organisation armée secrète and the most decorated soldier in the French Army at the end of his military career.

Early life

Salan was born on 10 June 1899 in Roquecourbe, Tarn. He graduated from the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr. He served in the French Army during World War I.

Military career

Salan served as the commander of French forces in Vietnam from 1945 to 1947. By 1948, he was commander of all French land forces in East Asia, and after the death of Jean de Lattre de Tassigny in 1952, Salan became the commander-in-chief in Indochina.

FrenchLaos1953
French General Salan and the Lao Prince Sisavang Vatthana in Luang Prabang, 4 May 1953

Salan served as commander-in-chief of French forces in French Algeria in 1956. In 1958, Salan called for the return to power of Charles De Gaulle, believing that the latter would protect French Algeria. He retired shortly after, first moving to Spain, then to mainland France. He was banned from entering Algeria in 1960.

Nevertheless, Salan returned to Algeria to organize the putsch on 21 April 1961 with André Zeller, Edmond Jouhaud and Maurice Challe. After the failure of the putsch, he became the chief of Organisation armée secrète (OAS), which attempted to disrupt the April 1962 Peace Evian Accords. He was arrested in April 1962.

Salan was charged with treason and condemned in absentia to death. Then, in April 1962, he was arrested in Algiers. The death sentence on him was commuted to life imprisonment. He was pardoned in 1968.

Salan was the most decorated soldier in the French Army.

Death

Salan died on 3 July 1984. Every year, former members of the OAS bring flowers to his tomb on his death anniversary.

Decorations

French and Colonial Decorations

  • Légion d'honneur
    • Legion Honneur Chevalier ribbon.svgKnight (5 April 1922)
    • Legion Honneur Officier ribbon.svgOfficer (21 August 1940)
    • Legion Honneur Commandeur ribbon.svgCommander (10 February 1945)
    • Legion Honneur GO ribbon.svgGrand Officer (27 October 1948)
    • Legion Honneur GC ribbon.svgGrand Cross (28 August 1952)
  • Medaille militaire ribbon.svgMédaille militaire (12 July 1958)
  • Croix de Guerre 1914-1918 ribbon.svgCroix de guerre 1914-1918 (1 citation)
  • Croix de Guerre 1939-1945 ribbon.svgCroix de guerre 1939-1945 (8 citations)
  • Croix de Guerre des Theatres d'Operations Exterieurs ribbon.svgCroix de guerre des Théatres d'Opérations Exterieures (7 citations)
  • Croix de la Valeur Militaire ribbon.svgCroix de la Valeur Militaire (1 citation)
  • Croix du Combattant Volontaire 1914-1918 ribbon.svgVolunteer combatant's cross
  • Croix du Combattant (1930 France) ribbon.svgCombatant's Cross
  • Medaille d'Outre-Mer (Coloniale) ribbon.svgColonial Medal (Far East clasp)
  • Ordre de l'Etoile Noire GC ribbon.svgGrand Cross of the Order of the Black Star
  • Ordre du Dragon d'Annam (par le Gouvernement Francais) GC ribbon.svgOrdre du Dragon d'Annam (par l’Empereur d’Annam) Chevalier ribbon.svg(with GC rosette)Grand Cordon of the Order of the Dragon of Annam with Military and Civil title
  • Ordre Royal du Cambodge Officier ribbon.svgOfficer and (later)Ordre Royal du Cambodge GC ribbon.svgGrand Cross of the Royal Order of Cambodia
  • LAO Order of the a Million Elephants and the White Parasol - Grand Cross BAR.svgGrand Cross of the Order of the Million Elephants and the White Parasol
  • Barrette de Grand Croix du Merite civil Tai .pngGrand Cross of the Tai Order of Civil Merit (Sip Song Chau Tai)
  • Ordre du Nichan Iftikhar GC ribbon (Tunisia).svgGrand Cross of the Order of Glory (Tunisia)
  • Ordre de l'Ouissam Alaouite GC ribbon (Maroc).svgGrand Cordon of the Order of Ouissam Alaouite
  • Ordre de l'Etoile d'Anjouan GC ribbon.svgGrand Cross of the Order of the Star of Anjouan
  • Grand Cross of the Étoile des Comores
  • KHM Royal Order of Monisaraphon - Knight.pngRoyal Order of Monisaraphon
  • Vietnam Gallantry Cross, with palm.svgGallantry Cross (South Vietnam), with palm
  • KHM National Defence Medal - gold.pngNational Defense Medal (Cambodia)
  • Medaille commemorative de Syrie-Cilicie (Levant) ribbon.svgSyria-Cilicia commemorative medal
  • CivilMerit.Syria.png Order of Civil Merit of the Syrian Arab Republic
  • World War I Victory Medal ribbon.svgMédaille Interalliée de la Victoire
  • Medaille commemorative de la Guerre 1914-1918 ribbon.svgMédaille commémorative de la guerre 1914–1918
  • Medaille commemorative de la Guerre 1939-1945 ribbon.svgMédaille commémorative de la guerre 1939–1945 with clasps "Africa", "Italy", "France", "Germany"
  • Medaille de l'Aeronautique ribbon.svgMédaille de l'Aéronautique
  • Medaille (Insigne) des Blesses Militaires ribbon.svgMedal for the War Wounded
  • Annam Order of Military Merit
  • Order of the Reign of King Savang Vatthana
  • Medaille commemorative de la Campagne d'Italie ribbon.svgMédaille commémorative de la campagne d'Italie 1943-1944
  • Medaille commemorative de la Campagne d'Indochine ribbon.svgMédaille commémorative de la campagne d'Indochine
  • Medaille commemorative des Operations de securite et de Maintien de l'ordre ribbon.svgMédaille Commémorative des Opérations de Sécurité et de Maintien de l'Ordre en Afrique du Nord with "Algeria" clasp

Foreign Decorations

Salanb10.jpg Decorations of General Raoul Salan.

Images for kids

  • Jacquot elie 1945 14DI défilé paris 18 juin 1945

    Raoul Salan parading on the Champs-Élysées at the head of the 14th Infantry Division, 18 June 1945. (fr)

  • Tombe du général Salan, pierre tombale, cimetière de Vichy

    Grave.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Raoul Salan para niños

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