A tank-war innovator who became the Secret Army's first commander
On 9 June 1943, the Secret Army commander Vidal was arrested at Paris's La Muette station.
Charles Delestraint was a French general shaped by captivity in the First World War and by command of armoured units, whose advocacy of tanks reflected a changing theory of modern war. After France's defeat and the armistice, he chose resistance and, selected by Charles de Gaulle, became the first commander of the Secret Army, bringing several movements' military structures together. Working with Jean Moulin, he helped extend the organisation across occupied France, but his arrest on 9 June 1943 created the succession crisis behind the Caluire meeting. Deported to Natzweiler-Struthof and Dachau, he was killed shortly before liberation and posthumously made a Companion of the Liberation.
Career Timeline
- 1897–1900Cadet, Saint-Cyr military academy
- 1914–1918First World War service, German prisoner of war
- 1923–1936Armoured-unit commander, colonel
- 1936–1939Commander, 3rd Tank Brigade; brigadier general
- 1939–1940Commander of the 7th Army's tanks and 1st Armoured Group
- 1942–1943First commander of the Secret Army, code name Vidal
- 1943–1945Imprisoned at Natzweiler and Dachau; executed