Commemorative Medals, Numismatic Books

France, Maréchal DE LATTRE DE TASSIGNY, 1952, a bronze galvano for the obv. of the medal by P. Turin, bust in uniform to left, wearing the insignia of the First French Army, legend around, 280mm (cf. CGMP p.1836). Much as made
£120-150

Jean-Joseph Marie Gabriel de Lattre de Tassigny, Maréchal de France (1889-1952), graduated from Saint Cyr in 1911, serving with distinction through World War I and was the youngest General in the French army when war was declared in 1939. In 1940 he accepted the armistice and remained on active duty as commander of Vichy forces in Tunisia [1941] before taking charge of the 16th Division at Montpellier in 1942. He was the only Vichy commander to resist the German occupation of the southern zone that followed the Allied landings in North Africa. His efforts saw him arrested. He was given a 10 year prison sentence from which he escaped to Algiers where he took command of the French 1st Army in October 1943. He landed in Provence on August 16, 1944, liberated Toulon and Marseilles, fighting his way through France and Germany, finally representing France at the formal German surrender in Berlin on 9 May 1945. He commanded French troops in Vietnam until 1951 when illness forced his return to France. He died in January 1952 and was made Maréchal posthumously