François-Joseph was brought to power in Olmütz on the 2nd December 1848 following the revolutionary uprising of 1848, succeeding his uncle Ferdinand the Ist. He was the eldest son of the archduke François-Charles and princess Sophie of Bavaria. He married Elisabeth of Bavaria in 1854. The victories of his chancellor, prince Schwartzenburg and general Radetzki was to re-establish Austrian domination over the Hungarians and Italians (1849). Allied by Russia, he was to impose an authoritarian military regime, hostile to national minorities, however he was to lose this support in 1855 because of his hesitation during the Crimean War. The emperor was overthrown in 1859 by the troops of Victor-Emmanuel and Napoleon III (during the battles of Solferino and Magenta). He was forced to give up Lombardy as part of the Zurich treaty (10th November 1859). The rivalry with Prussia over the domination of the dukedoms of Schleswig and Holstein, seized from Denmark in 1864), gave the latter a reason to declare war in 1866. Defeated at Sadowa on the 3rd July 1866, he made peace with Prussia (Prague treaty, the 23rd August 1866), thus relinquishing his rights in Northern Germany to the victor and renouncing all involvement in the unification of Germany - the government of Vienna having crushed the "Little Germany" movement inspired by Prussia. He was also forced to give up Venetia to Italy, via France (treaty of Vienna, 3rd October 1866), who were allied to Prussia following the secret meeting between Napoleon III with Bismarck in Biarritz (October 1865).

To quell nationalist movements in his empire, he passed a statute in 1867 which effectively transformed Austria into a dualist, essentially federalist monarchy (Austro-Hungarian). The territories of the former Austrian empire were separated into two parts either side of the Leithasont to make up Cisleithania around Austria and Transleithania around Hungary. Cisleithania was made up of Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, Gabissia, Slovenia, Istria, and the territories along the Dalmatian coast. Universal suffrage was granted to men. Eastern Transleithania was formed of Hungary, Croatia, the territories around Temesvar, and Trans-sylvania. There was no male right to vote here, fact which gave the other people under the domination of Budapest an advantage. The emperor was still torn between an authoritarian rule (inspired by Germany), and the federalist politics of Ministers Taaffe and Badeni. François-Joseph accepted this situation of interior political deadlock.

The policy of rapprochement with Prussia led by Andrassy resulted in a rallying towards Bismarck's politics: in 1873 the alliance of the three emperors (Germany, Russia, Austria), who were to become the Dual Alliance in 1879 (Germany and Austria), and finally the Triple Alliance in 1883 when Italy joined - this is even spoken of in terms of "diplomatic subordination of Germany", from 1892-1893 onwards. Austria occupied (in 1878) and annexed (1908) Bosnia-Herzegovina in order to limit the Russian influence in the Balkans which since leaving the alliance had led to Pan-Slav politics, intensifying and thus becoming involved itself in the affairs of the Dual Monarchy. The annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina resulted in an international crisis. The problem with Bosnia appeared to be linked to that of Serbia and the situation of the southern Slavs under the domination of Budapest, who tended to be turned more towards Belgrade. Torn therefore between Pan-Slav and a dominant Pan-German politics, François-Joseph failed in his attempt to embody the middle way in central-eastern Europe. His long reign of 68 years saw him endure the execution of his brother Maximilian in Mexico in 1867, the suicide of his son Rodolphe in Mayerling in 1889, the assassination of his wife in by an anarchist in Geneva in 1898 and that of his nephew and presumed heir, François-Joseph, on the 28th June 1914 in Sarajevo, the event which triggered the first world war. The dual monarchy was thus relatively stable politically when it entered the war. His sovereign succeeded in imposing a certain dynastic sense of loyalty on most of his subjects and also among the army and other institutions. Austro-Hungary had suffered far heavier losses due to the war and its million victims than the antimonarchist movements by the time its founder passed away.

Jean-Marie Degoutte enlisted on the 7th March 1887 in the 31st artillery regiment and got into Saint-Cyr in October 1988 with the class of "Great Triumph". He graduated 9th out of 435. Having chosen to join the "Zouaves", he served in Tunisia for four years. A key player in the French colonial venture He asked to take part in the Madagascar expedition in 1895. To get around the refusal of his superiors, he requested three months' leave and joined a Jesuit mission on board a civilian ocean liner. As he was already there when the French expeditionary corps landed, he offered his services to General Dechesnes, who put him under arrest for thirty days. Young officer Degoutte owed his salvation to Colonel Bailloud, the Head of the expedition, who convinced his superiors of the usefulness of his experience and Madagascan language skills. He returned to Tunisia in March 1896 for three years. In 1899 he was admitted to the Upper War Academy, from which he graduated. In 1900, Baillaud included him in the China expeditionary corps. He was cited twice on the corps' order of merit. Returning to North Africa, he became the ordnance officer to the Major General of the Algiers division in January 1905, and then, the following year, to the Major General of the 20th corps.

At the end of 1906, he returned to the Zoaves as Head of Battalion, before joining the headquarters of the Algiers division three years later. From February 1911 to December 1912 he took part in the operations in western Morocco as Head of the Expedition.
On his return to France and promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, he took a course at the Centre for Higher Military Studies. As second in command and then chief of staff of the 4th corps between February and March 1914, he distinguished himself in battle and was appointed Colonel on the 1st November the same year, before becoming an Officer of the Légion d'Honneur on the 10th April 1915. He was appointed Chief of Staff following the attacks of September 1915 in the Champagne region and made Brigade General on the 25th March 1916. In August he took command of the Moroccan troops. The corps distinguished itself in the Somme, in Champagne and at Verdun, feats that earned him two citations and the cravat of Commander of the Légion d'Honneur. As Division General in September 1917, he ran the 21st corps of General Maistre's 6th army. He took part in the Malmaison offensive, which resulted in the fall of the Chemin des Dames, earning him another citation on the Order of the Army. On the 10th June 1918, leading the 6th army, he halted the German advance on the Marne and on the 15th July 1918 he embarked with General Mangin on the attack that marked the start of the French campaign. He liberated Château-Thierry, holding back the Germans on the Marne and the Ourcq and at La Vesle. In September he was designated Major General to the Belgian King. He then led the offensive of Flanders, capturing the Passchendaele crest and taking back the south of Belgium with Belgian, British and French troops. Once the war was over and promoted to Great Officer of the Légion d'Honneur, he was given the responsibility of writing the clauses of the Treaty of Versailles under Foch's supervision.
He was appointed commander of the army of the Rhine in October 1919 and in January 1920 he became a member of the Upper War Council. In 1923 he carried out the occupation of the Ruhr until its complete evacuation in 1925. His qualities helped him reach the rank of Great Cross of the Légion d'Honneur in 1923. He received the military medal in 1928. Remaining active, he influenced the strategic options for the defence of the country at the Upper War Council. The establishment of the line of defence of the Alps occupied his final years.

O ihr, die ihr so viel wisst,

Wisst ihr, wie die Augen vor Hunger leuchten und der Durst sie verblassen lässt

O ihr, die ihr so viel wisst,

Wisst ihr, wie es ist, seine Mutter sterben zu sehen und keine Tränen zu haben

O ihr, die ihr so viel wisst,

Wisst ihr, wie sehr man am Morgen sterben möchte, und am Abend nur noch Angst hat

O ihr, die ihr so viel wisst,

Wisst ihr, dass ein Tag länger dauert als ein Jahr und eine Minute länger als ein ganzes Leben

O ihr, die ihr so viel wisst,

Wisst ihr, wie die Beine keinen Schmerz mehr empfinden, die Augen und Nerven immer schwerer werden und unsere Herzen schwerer sind als Stahl

Wisst ihr, dass die Pflastersteine nicht weinen, dass es keine Worte gibt für dieses Grauen, keine Worte für diese Angst

Wisst ihr, dass das Leiden und der Horror keine Grenzen kennen

Wisst ihr das

Ihr, die ihr alles wisst

Charlotte Delbo, aus Keiner von uns wird zurückkehren, Verlag Gonthier, 1965

Charlotte Delbo wird am 10. August 1913 in Vigneux-sur-Seine, in Seine-et-Oise, als Tochter von Charles Delbo, Maschinenbauer, und Erménie Morero geboren. Sie ist die älteste von vier Kindern.

Nach abgeschlossenem Abitur studiert sie Philosophie an der Sorbonne und schließt sich den jungen Kommunisten an. Dort lernt sie Georges Dudach kennen, den sie dann am 17. März 1936 heiratet. 1937 unterbricht sie ihr Studium und wird 1939 die Sekretärin des Comedian und Regisseurs Louis Jouvet. Im Mai 1941 begleitet sie die Truppe von Jouvet auf deren Tournee durch Südamerika. Ihr Ehemann bleibt in Frankreich und schließt sich dem kommunistischen Widerstand an.

Im September 1941 erfährt Charlotte in Buenos-Aires von der Hinrichtung ihres Freundes Jacques Woog, verurteilt wegen „kommunistischer Propaganda“. Voller Wut und bereit für den Widerstand, kehrt sie nach Frankreich zurück. In Paris tritt das Ehepaar dem Widerstand bei. Charlotte schreibt die Mitteilungen von Radio London und Radio Moskau mit und arbeitet für die von Jacques Decour gegründete französische Zeitschrift Les Lettres.

Am 2. März 1942 werden Charlotte und ihr Mann von fünf französischen Polizisten des Sonderkommandos verhaftet. Sie wird ins Gefängnis von Santé gebracht, wo sie am 23. Mai von der Hinrichtung Georges am Mont Valérien erfährt. Am 17. August wird sie in die Festung von Romainville verlegt, wo sie auf zahlreiche andere Frauen trifft, insbesondere Kommunistinnen. Eine Woche später wird sie nach Fresnes verlegt.

Sie ist eine von 230 Frauen, die Compiègne am 24. Januar 1943 in Richtung Auschwitz verlassen. Als diese Frauen am 27. Januar in Auschwitz ankommen, singen sie die Marseillaise. Die zunächst dem Block 14 der Frauen von Birkenau zugewiesenen Frauen, werden dann isoliert von den anderen zu schweren Arbeiten gezwungen, insbesondere in den Sümpfen. Viele von ihnen starben an Typhus. Am 3. August waren nur noch 57 von ihnen am Leben. Auch sie kommen unter Quarantäne. Am 7. Januar 1944 wird Charlotte Delbo mit sieben anderen Deportierten ins Lager Ravensbrück verlegt. Sie kommt nach Furstenberg, ein Arbeitskommando des Hauptlagers.

Die meisten der Überlebenden des Konvois wurden im Sommer 1944 nach Ravensbrück deportiert. Dank des Roten Kreuzes gelang es ihr mit anderen Frauen, das Lager am 23. April 1945 in Richtung Schweden zu verlassen und im Juni 1945 nach Frankreich zurückzukehren. Von den 230 Frauen des Transports vom 24. Januar 1943 haben 49 überlebt.

Nachdem sie in der Schweiz Fuß gefasst hatte, verfasste sie mit dem Buch „Keiner von uns wird zurückkehren“ ihr erstes literarisches Werk über die Deportation und die Transporte von Frankreich in Richtung Auschwitz. Das Buch wird erst im Jahr 1965 vom Gonthier Verlag veröffentlicht.

Nach Kriegsende arbeitet sie bei der UNO und dann im Französischen Zentrum für Wissenschaft. Sie stirbt im März 1985. Zuvor hatte sie zahlreiche Werke verfasst: Berichte über ihre Erfahrungen in den Konzentrationslagern und den Transport am 24. Januar (1965), Une connaissance inutile (1970), Mesure de nos jours (1971, Minuit-Verlag) und Qui rapportera ses paroles (1974, Verlag P.J. Oswald).

Georges Dudach:
_Zum Zum Gedächtnis der erschossenen Männer von Mont-Valérien 1939−1945

Name: Dudach. Familienname. Vornamen: Georges Paul. Geburtsdatum 18.09.1914. Geburtsort: Saint Maur des Fossés. Département des Geburtsorts: Seine. Geburtsland: Frankreich. Beruf: Journalist. Wohnort: Paris 16. Département Wohnort: Seine. Land des Wohnsitzes: Frankreich. Ort der Inhaftierung. Anklage: Geiselnahme. Prozessdatum. Ort der Hinrichtung: Mont Valérien. Datum der Hinrichtung: 23.05.1942.

Wilhelm Keitel joins the army in 1901 and holds several posts during the First World War, serving primarily as an officer in the General Staff. After Germany falls in 1918, he pursues his military career at the heart of the new German army, the Reichswehr, as it was authorized by the Treaty of Versailles.

When Adolf Hitler came into power in 1933 and started rebuilding the armed forces, Wilhelm Keitel's career began to rapidly progress. He was named a brigadier in 1934 and the following year became chief of the War Cabinet and the director of the Wehrmachtsamt, in charge of the coordination of the armed forces. In 1938, Wilhelm Keitel became chief of the newly-created Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW - Armed Forces High Command). On 22 June 1940, he signed the Franco-German armistice at Rethondes. This zealous executor of Adolf Hitler's orders was named chief of the OKW -- the Armed Forces High Command -- in 1938, and during the war authorized all Hitler's military decisions as well as the terror tactics he employed in countries taken by the Germans, most notably the execution of hostages and NN (Night and Fog) prisoners. He was promoted to Marshal in July 1940. Despite several attempts on the part of the leading circles of the army and the General Staff to shake up the top of the military hierarchy, he kept his positions until the end of the Second World War. On 9 May 1945, he signed the unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht on the orders of Grand Admiral Doentiz. In 1946, the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg condemned him to death for Crimes against Peace, War Crimes, and Crimes against Humanity.

Heureux ceux qui sont morts pour la terre charnelle,

Mais pourvu que ce soit pour une juste guerre.

Heureux ceux qui sont morts pour quatre coins de terre.

Heureux ceux qui sont morts d'une mort solennelle »

Charles PEGUY, Prière pour nous autres charnels

Charles Péguy is born on January 7th 1873 in Orléans in the bosom of family of modest conditions. His father, who was a carpenter dies the same year of his birth and he is raised by his mother, who works as a upholsterer. Very good pupil, Charles Péguy, will benefit of an university grant, which will give him the chance to do brilliant studies after the elementary school. After having accomplished his military service in the 131st I.R. in 1892 he enters the University preparing him for senior posts in teaching, where he will be taught of prestigious professors as the medievalist Joseph Bédier, the writer Romain Rolland or the philosopher Henri Bergson, this last professor will have a great influence on his intellectual maturity. In 1896 he will get his bachelor degree in arts. After failing the competitive examination in philosophy for the posts in the teaching, he will leave the institution in 1897. He will give up any religious practice and commit himself in the conviction of the dreyfusic cause, after having met Bernard Lazare. In 1897, Peguy collaborates for the "Revue Blanche" and completes his fist work, "Jeanne d'Arc" in June. The next year he will write "Marcel, premier dialogue de la cité harmonieuse."

In 1898 Charles Péguy will marry with Charlotte Baudouin, sister of his best friend, who died little time before. The couple lives in 7, rue de l'Estrapade in Paris and will have four children : Marcel in 1898, Germaine in 1901, Pierre in 1903 and Charles-Pierre in 1915. Marcel Baudouin oriented him towards socialistic ideals. Vharles Péguy will be involved in political actions, at the side of Jean Jaurès, Lucien Herr and Charles Andler. Furthermore he collaborates in the creation of the "Revue Socialiste" (Socialistic Revue). With George Bellais he will also invest in a bookshop, which will quickly become a meeting point of the resistance to the Marxian socialism, preached by Jules Guesde and Jean Jaurès will try to influence the parliamentary left. In January 1900, Charles Péguy founds the "Cahier de la Quinzaine" an independent publishing house, which publishes every month it's own literary review. Installed in 8, rue de la Sorbonne he will personally take the leadership. It will publish 229 parts between the January 5th and July 1914, which will give Péguy the chance to publish his works,as well as those of his friends such as André Suarès, Anatole France, Georges Sorel or Julien Benda. Péguy also writes topical essays about the separation between the church and the government, the crises of the teaching sector.

In 1905, the incident of Tanger reveals to him the German threat and the "universal evil". Péguy will protest against pacifism and internationalism of the left. Thus in October he will publish "Notre Patrie" (Our Fatherland), a polemic and patriotic work. During the following years the writer also denounces the scientism of the "intellectual party", in other words he criticises his former university professors. In 1908 he will come back to his religious convictions. He will confide this to his friend Joseph Lotte. From 1912 to 1914 Charles Péguy will leave for several pilgrimages in Notre-Dame de Chartres. The writer at present castigates the official socialism, to which he blames its demagogy and its anticlerical sectarianism, after the separation of the church from the government. The writer will write mystical, philosophic essays such as "Clio, Dialogue de l'Histoire et de l'Âme païenne" , published between 1909 and 1912, or "Victor-Marie, comte Hugo" in 1910. His personal and timeless style is expressed in various oratorical poems of insistent rhythms : "Le Mystère de la charité de Jeanne d'Arc", in 1910 ; "Le Porche du Mystère de la deuxième Vertu", one year after; "Le Mystère des et La Tapisserie de sainte Geneviève et de Jeanne d'Arc" in 1912 ; "La Tapisserie de Notre-Dame", en 1913. In his last works Péguy re-discusses the the confrontation between mysticism and politics and the interior life of the citizens, of whom he already talked at the beginning of his work. Finally with "Eve", written in 1913, this vast symphonic poem of some 3000 quatrains, the patriotic writer again celebrates the dead of "the carnal world", the world of the ancestors.

On August 2nd 1914, the general mobilization, forces Péguy to interrupt his essay about M. Descartes et the Cartesian philosophy, a speech for the defence ofBergson. On August 4th he takes the command of the reservists unit in Colommiers and reaches Lorraine. After a short campaign in Metz his 276th I.R. moves backwards to Aisne, where the French army retreats. On September 5th 1914 in Villeroy, close to Meaux, at the time of the Marne battle, General Péguy's unit will be confronted with the enemy, who is trying to reach Paris. Here the officer will be shoot in the middle of his forehead. His body is buried among his other companions in the cemetery of Chaucoin-Neufmontiers.

Heureux les grands vainqueurs.

Paix aux hommes de guerre.

Qu'ils soient ensevelis dans un dernier silence.

Que Dieu mette avec eux la juste balance

Un peu de ce terreau d'ordure et de poussière.

Que Dieu mette avec eux dans le juste plateau

Ce qu'ils ont tant aimé, quelques grammes de terre.

Un peu de cette vigne, un peu de ce coteau,

Un peu de ce ravin sauvage et solitaire.

Mère voici vos fils qui se sont tant battus.

Vous les voyez couchés parmi les nations.

Que Dieu ménage un peu ces êtres débattus,

Ces coeurs pleins de tristesse et d'hésitations.

Et voici le gibier traqué dans les battues,

Les aigles abattus et les lièvres levés.

Que Dieu ménage ces coeurs tant éprouvés

Ces torses déviés, ces nuques rebattues.

Que Dieu ménage un peu de ces êtres combattus,

Qu'il rappelle sa grâce et sa miséricorde.

Qu'il considère un peu de ce sac et cette corde

Et ces poignets liés et ces reins courbatus.

Mère voici vos fils qui se sont tant battus.

Qu'ils ne soient pas pesés comme Dieu pèse un ange.

Que Dieu mette avec eux un peu de cette fange

Qu'ils étaient en principe et sont redevenus."

Extrait de l'œuvre poétique Eve, publiée dans le Quatorzième cahier de la quinzième série, le 28 décembre 1913.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was born on 29 June 1900 in Lyon, and received a classical education in a series of religious schools. Would he best be described as an aviator-poet, or perhaps as a writer-pilot? The life of one of the most legendary men and women who "died for France" during the World War 2 was short but exceptionally full. The writer and the poet On the eve of his first flying experience, the young Antoine, aged twelve at the time, presented one of his teachers with a poem about areonautical exploits, the first sign of the unusual duality of his destiny. Throughout his childhood, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote short texts, mostly in verse. In 1926, the author definitively adopted prose and his first story "L'aviateur" ("The Aviator") was published in a magazine. He went on to write "Courrier sud" ("Southern Mail") in 1929 in Morocco, the first of a series of five novels that would secure the legend of Saint-Ex, even before his tragic disappearance. In 1931, "Vol de nuit" ("Night Flight") won the 'Prix

Femina' (a French literary prize awarded by an exclusively female panel), which foreshadowed the resounding success of "Terre des hommes" ("Wind, Sand and Stars"), published in 1938. During his period in exile in the United States, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry published his last two literary works: "Pilote de Guerre" ("Flight to Arras") in 1942, and "Le Petit Prince" ("The Little Prince") in 1943. In 1948, the unfinished "Citadelle" ("The Wisdom of the Sands"), which he wrote in the months before his disappearance, was posthumously published. Many more of his letters and writings would be published later, including essays, correspondence, and press articles. As well as his literary genius, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was also a visionary in the world of cinema, turning out several film scripts in his lifetime.

The inventor and technician

From a very young age, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry showed extraordinary ingenuity, and spent much of his time experimenting with technical innovations with the help of his brothers and sisters. Consequently, from 1934 to 1940, his scientific curiosity and his piloting skills led him to register a series of patents with France's National Institute of Industrial Property, all relating to his inventions in the field of aviation. These discoveries were dedicated to creating materials that would improve piloting performance, or to developing procedures for more accurate navigation in the air. Two of these patents proposed a new system for safely 'blind' landing planes (i.e. in extremely poor or no visibility), accompanied by plans for the necessary mechanisms and equipment. Like the other innovations registered by Saint-Ex, these ideas were never followed up.

The pioneer of civil aviation

Called up for military service in 1921, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was assigned to the 2nd Regiment of Chasseurs in Strasbourg, where he obtained his pilot's licence. In 1926, this qualification gained him a place as mechanic and subsequently as an air mail pilot for the commercial postal airline Aéropostale owned by Pierre Latécoère . Saint-Exupéry was appointed director of the Cap Juby airfield in Morocco, and was responsible for securing this section of the Toulouse-Dakar route. In 1929, he joined Mermoz and Guillaumet in Buenos Aires, and became director and pilot of Aeroposta Argentina, a subsidiary of Aéropostale. His task was to create the flight route to Patagonia. The Aéropostale story came to an end in 1933 when the various civil airlines were grouped together under the name Air France. After a spell working as test pilot and surviving several serious accidents, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry joined the external relations department of the new company, and took part in a series of conferences on the subject of aviation from 1934.

The intrepid military pilot

Mobilized in September 1939, Reserve Captain Saint-Exupéry was assigned on his request to the reconnaissance group 2/33 based in Orconte in the Haute-Marne, and took part in missions over Germany and Belgium, then over occupied nothern France. In March 1943, he was called up a second time and he rejoined the group 2/33, then based in Morocco. Despite his age, he persuaded the military authorities to allow him to fly and found himself in the line of fire once again.

Neither Vichy supporter nor Gaullist

After the armistice in 1940, Saint-Exupéry wanted no part in the national Vichy 'revolution' and left for the United States, where he kept his distance from the rest of the French community in exile. The now greatly-respected author could not find his place in a Manichean universe split between supporters of General de Gaulle and those who preferred to collaborate with the enemy. Both sides tried vainly to secure his support, but Saint-Exupéry refused to commit to either, preferring to extol the need for national reconciliation in a country divided by defeat and occupation. A man of letters who refused to remain silent in defeat, in 1943 he published his "Lettre à un otage" ("Letter to a Hostage") addressed to his friend Léon Werth who had remained in France, and urging the French to unite in the fight for the respect of human rights .

The mysterious disappearance

Finally, he decided to act and joined the Free France resistance movement in 1943. On the morning of 31 July 1944, he took off from Borgo in Corsica at the controls of his P-38 Lightning fighter plane as part of a reconnaissance mission in preparation for the Allied landing in Provence. He would never return. On 7 April 2004, some sixty years after his disappearance, France-Presse released news of a discovery made by the French Underwater Archaeological Department in Marseille. A diver had deciphered four figures on the left wing of the wreckage of a plane resting 70m deep on the seabed off the coast of Marseille. These four figures correspond to the civil manufacturing number of Saint-Exupéry's Lockheed P-38 Lightning. Sixty years underwater means that we will never be able to identify the exact reasons behind the disappearance of the 'father of the Little Prince'. The mythical poet of aviation has definitively entered into legend. As someone who, in both his writings and actions, rose above life's chance happenings in his search for what is essential, many see him as one of the brightest stars of the 20th century.

Resistant, deported to Buchenwald in 1943 and several times Minister under General de Gaulle, Pierre Sudreau tells the story of his extraordinary encounter with the legendary pilot in "Au-delà de toutes les frontières"

Bertie Albrecht was born in Marseille on 15 February 1893 into a Protestant family. She qualified as a nurse and worked in a military hospital during the war. In 1919 she married a Dutch financier, Frédéric Albrecht, with whom she had two children. She left for London in 1924. On her return to Paris in 1931, she devoted her time to the League of Human Rights and Women condition. In 1934, she took up the cause of German refugees fleeing fascism, helping them to find work, money, and accommodation. She did the same for the refugees of the Spanish civil war. During the war she was mobilised as superintendent at Usines Fulmen to Vierzon. Profoundly shocked by the armistice, she refused to accept defeat and moved to the free zone where she met up with her friend Henri Frenay who had escaped from Germany and with whom she organised what was to become the major Resistance movement "Combat", first in Vichy and then in Lyon.

She was arrested by the Vichy government, end of November 1942, placed under administrative detention and refused a lawyer or a trial. She went on hunger strike to obtain the right to a trial and her demand was met after 13 days. After being transferred to Saint-Joseph prison in Lyon she was judged six months later and was condemned to spend the rest of the war in an internment camp set up by the Vichy government. She feigned madness, and was interned at the psychiatric hospital in Bron, from which she escaped with the help of a commando raid organised by the Combat movement on 23 December 1942. Hunted by both the French and German police, she spent two months in hiding in the region of Toulouse before joining Henri Frenay in Cluny and taking up the clandestine struggle once again. She was denounced and arrested by the Gestapo in Mâcon on 28 May 1943. She was taken to the Montluc prison in Lyon and then incarcerated at Fresnes, May 31 at 0:15, where she managed to escape the supervision of its guards and commits suicide by hanging in the night.

In May 1945 his body was found in the vegetable garden in the Fresnes prison and buried in the crypt of the Memorial Fighting France Mont Valerian. She was posthumously awarded the 'Croix de Compagnon de la Libération', the 'Médaille Militaire', the 'Croix de Guerre avec Palmes' and the 'Médaille de la Résistance'.

She was arrested by the Vichy government, end of November 1942, placed under administrative detention and refused a lawyer or a trial. She went on hunger strike to obtain the right to a trial and her demand was met after 13 days. After being transferred to Saint-Joseph prison in Lyon she was judged six months later and was condemned to spend the rest of the war in an internment camp set up by the Vichy government. She feigned madness, and was interned at the psychiatric hospital in Bron, from which she escaped with the help of a commando raid organised by the Combat movement on 23 December 1942. Hunted by both the French and German police, she spent two months in hiding in the region of Toulouse before joining Henri Frenay in Cluny and taking up the clandestine struggle once again. She was denounced and arrested by the Gestapo in Mâcon on 28 May 1943. She was taken to the Montluc prison in Lyon and then incarcerated at Fresnes, May 31 at 0:15, where she managed to escape the supervision of its guards and commits suicide by hanging in the night.

In May 1945 his body was found in the vegetable garden in the Fresnes prison and buried in the crypt of the Memorial Fighting France Mont Valerian. She was posthumously awarded the 'Croix de Compagnon de la Libération', the 'Médaille Militaire', the 'Croix de Guerre avec Palmes' and the 'Médaille de la Résistance'.

Charles Delestraint was born in Biache-Saint-Vaaste (Pas-de-Calais) in 1879 and admitted to the Saint-Cyr military academy in 1897. On 1 October 1900, the young second lieutenant chose the 16th infantry battalion as his outfit. In 1914, Delestraint took a brilliant, noteworthy part in the retreating French army's earliest fighting, but the Germans captured him during the attack on Chesnoy-Auboncourt on 30 August 1914. He spent four years in the Plasemburg POW camp and was released in December 1918. Then, Delestraint led a brilliant military career. A passionate interest in heavy cavalry led him to become second in command of the Versailles tank school in 1930. Promoted to the rank of colonel in 1932, he commanded the 505th Vannes tank regiment; in 1936 Delestraint became a general and took over the third tank brigade in Metz. As a reserve officer, he was recalled to active duty when the Second World War broke out in September 1939 and demobilised in July 1940.

Delestraint rejected the armistice, resisted the occupation and fiercely opposed Nazism; his Christian faith led him to loathe theories that debase human beings and espouse racism and anti-Semitism; he refused to believe that barbarism would replace civilisation. His opposition, which crystallised in 1942, was philosophical and theological. When Jean Moulin contacted him on 28 August 1942, both men agreed on the appropriateness of separating the military from the political in the resistance. Under the alias Vidal, he became head of the secret army that grouped together the Combat, Libération and Franc-Tireur networks' fighting units. Delestraint went underground and moved to Lyon, near Gestapo headquarters, where he put together the secret army's general staff: Frenay, Commandant Castaldo, General Desmazes, Hardy, Aubrac and Lassagne. In February 1943, Delestraint and Moulin went to London to coordinate the secret army's actions with those of the inter-allied command. Back in France, he developed the Resistance, in particular in Vercors. "Vidal" tirelessly worked on his troops' unification and operational cohesiveness and prepared demonstrative, occasional actions, preferably in the daytime. A series of arrests on 15 March 1943 decimated his staff. On Tuesday 8 June 1943, the Abwehr arrested Delestraint at the Muette metro stop while he was on his way to a secret meeting. After nine months of interrogation, during which the general disclosed no information, he was sent before the tribunal of Breslau and interned at Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp on 10 March 1944 as part of Nacht und Nebel. As the allies pressed forward, the prisoners were transferred to the Dachau concentration camp, where Delestraint was executed in cold blood on 19 April 1945.

A French general and politician (1890-1970), Charles de Gaulle was the first person to advocate the need for France to have armoured military vehicles. A leader of the French resistance during World War II, he was the founding father of the Fifth Republic, which was particularly noteworthy due to the election of the president under universal suffrage.

Charles de Gaulle was born in Lille on 22 November 1890 to a patriotic Catholic family. He spent his childhood in Paris, studying with the Jesuits and very early opted for a career in the forces. In 1908 he entered the special Military Academy at Saint-Cyr. After four years of study, he was transferred to Arras in 1912 as a sub-lieutenant.

During the First World War he was wounded in combat three times and left for dead in the Battle of Douaumont (1916). Taken prisoner by the Germans, he attempted to escape on five occasions, but was recaptured each time. He was not freed until the Armistice, on 11th November 1918. Pursuing his military career, Captain De Gaulle saw active service in several countries (including Poland and The Lebanon). Between the wars he wrote several works in which he was critical of French defence policy: in particular he believed that the army must be subject to the decisions of politicians and that it was essential for the defence of France, to raise a corps of armoured vehicles in order to face the threat of German mechanised power. At the same time he began his involvement with politics: in 1931 he was seconded to the General Secretariat for National Defence in Paris. Promoted to Colonel in 1937, de Gaulle was given the command of the 507th tank regiment in Metz. When France and Britain declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939, he was given temporary command of the tanks of the 5th army. At the time of the German invasion, de Gaulle distinguished himself several times at the head of his unit, in particular halting the Germans at Abbeville (27-30 May 1940). Appointed General on 1 June 1940, de Gaulle became Under Secretary of State for War and National Defence a few days later, in the Government of Paul Reynaud.

On 17 June, de Gaulle left to continue fighting the war from London; he launched an appeal for resistance over the BBC, on 18 June. As a rebel General, he was sentenced to death in absentia. Recognised by Churchill as the "leader of the Free French", de Gaulle organised armed forces that became the Free French Forces. Meanwhile, he provided Free France with a kind of Government in exile, the French National Committee, which became the French Committee for National Liberation (CFLN) on 3 June 1943, following its arrival in Algiers. From 1942 onwards, De Gaulle gave Jean Moulin the task of organising the National Committee for Resistance (CNR) in France within which political parties of all persuasions, trades unions and resistance movements had to be represented, in order to co-ordinate the struggle. After the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, de Gaulle insisted with General Eisenhower, supreme commander of allied armies, that Paris should be quickly liberated, although the strategy was to head directly eastwards, bypassing the Capital. Eventually, the 2nd Armoured Division of General Leclerc liberated Paris on 25 August.

Once the fighting was over, de Gaulle began to rebuild the country at the head of the interim government. He introduced several major measures (including the founding of the Social Security system). But, on 20 January 1946, he left power due to a disagreement of the role played by political parties. The Constitution of the 4th Republic, adopted shortly afterwards, greatly displeased him. He criticised it several times (such as in his speech in Bayeux, in June 1946), reproaching it for the weakness of its executive power. De Gaulle then entered the opposition. In 1947, he launched the Rassemblement du peuple français (RPF or Alliance of the French People), a movement that performed badly in elections, despite attracting many members. This was the beginning of the "wilderness years" : de Gaulle withdrew to Colombey-les-Deux-Églises, wrote his memoirs and travelled.

From 1954, France was involved in a war of decolonisation in Algeria. On 13 May 1958, the French Algerians launched an insurrection in Algiers to consolidate their position. They called for de Gaulle to take power. The President of the French Republic, René Coty, fearing that this crisis might descend into civil war, offered de Gaulle the position of Leader of the Cabinet. De Gaulle refused to return to power unless he could change government institutions. During the summer of 1958, he inspired the writing of a new Constitution: this was approved in a referendum on 28 September 1958 by almost 80% of French people. The 5th Republic was born. On 21 December 1958, Charles de Gaulle was elected President of the Republic by indirect universal suffrage.

The most urgent task to be faced was Algeria. De Gaulle offered the Algerians self-government in 1959 and organised a referendum on the subject in 1961: 75% of French people said "yes" to Algerian self-government. In April 1961, disaffected partisans of French Algeria staged an attempted coup that failed. Negotiations between the French and Algerians ended with the Evian agreements, signed on 22 March 1962 and accepted by referendum in both France and Algeria. 1962 was a real turning point, firstly on an institutional level: the General proposed electing the Head of State through universal suffrage. This reform aroused strong opposition, but the referendum on constitutional reform was successful, with a "yes" vote of 62.2%. In 1965, the presidential election was conducted by direct universal suffrage for the first time. Through to the second round (with 43.7% of the vote), de Gaulle was finally elected, beating Mitterrand, with 54.8%. In terms of foreign affairs, de Gaulle pursued a policy of national independence, providing France with its own means of defence: the first French atomic bomb was detonated at Reggane in the Sahara in February 1960. De Gaulle refused the protection of the United States and in 1966 withdrew France from the integrated NATO system - but France remained a member of the Atlantic alliance. At the same time, France entered the European Economic Community (EEC) on 1 January 1959. The country faced a major crisis in May 1968. Students organised huge demonstrations, and were joined by workers, triggering a general strike. De Gaulle succeeded in calming the situation by granting certain benefits to workers. On 27 April 1969, he put a plan for regionalisation and reform of the senate before the French people. His proposal was rejected in a referendum by 52.4% of the vote. Failing to gain the approval of the French people, he felt he lo longer had their trust and preferred to resign. Charles de Gaulle retired to Colombey-les-Deux-Églises and continued to write his memoirs; he died on 9 November 1970. In accordance with his will, de Gaulle was not given a state funeral. He was buried next to his daughter Anne, with a simple inscription on his grave, "Charles de Gaulle 1890-1970".

Born in Rivesalter on January 12th 1852, Joseph Joffre proved to be a brilliant pupil and entered the Ecole Polytechnique (Polytechnic School) at the age of 17. Taking up the military career, he chose the Engineer Corps, which best corresponded to his engineering capacities. After the war of 1870-71, he contributed in the fortification of Paris, enlarged by Séré de Rivières. From here he will leave on 1874 to the colonies. In 1885 he was captain of Indochina, where he participated in the Tonkin campaign and was decorated with the Legion of Honour on September 1985. In the role of sapper he fortifies the Formose island, which at the time was the fleet base of Admiral Courbet. In 1892 in the French Sudan, he created railways Then in the framework of the operations against sultan Samory he conquers Timbuktu. Later he was appointed colonel, under General Galliéni and fortified the Diego-Suarez harbour in Madagascar.

Appointed major general, he reached the position as engineering director of the ministry of war in 1905; after other important assignments such as chief of the 2nd army corps , he became member of the higher Council of war and on 1911 he was appointed chief of staff and future commander-in-chief in the event of a conflict. From this important position he had the possibility to reform the army, the doctrine, the rules, the material, the manpower, the mobilization, etc. he didn't miss any aspect. He reinforced the defence of the country, conscious of an increasingly German threat. With this aim in view, he was a convinced supporter of the military alliance with imperial Russia and who furthermore reinforced this connection in 1913. The hostilities with the II Reich broke out on April 3rd 1914, when Germany declared war to France. The operations started in the East as well as in the West and this conflict soon turned to be of a world dimension. Joffre adopted his Plan XVII from Alsace to Belgium. During the battle known as "border battle" he will suffer heavy retreats, by the time he managed to produce an offensive operation the army had already reached the Parisian suburbs, the Marne and beyond, then stopped in Ourcq, Verdun and on the frontline beyond Nancy, Epinal and Belfort. His armies and generals with the support of the English army, won the Marne battle from the 5th to the 12th September 1914. He led this battle with his general staff and thanks to Gallieni's initiative, governor of Paris.

Then, after the "race to the sea" thanks to General Foch and the support of the British and Belgians, he manages to create a troop barrier, blocking the Calais road in Dixmude on Yser. On November 26th 1914 he received the Military Medal. Once stabilized the battle got stuck on a front of 770 km and became siege war which he led from his General Headquarter in Chantilly, facing also the ammunition and material crises. He succeeded to equip his troops of better arms, uniformes and in particular Adrian helmets, 58 mm trench mortars, hand grenades, gas madks, Chauchat machine guns, Berthier rifles, heavy Schneider and Saint-Chamond tanks, etc.

In 1916 he commanded the entirety of the French armies and no longer only those of the north-eastern front. For several months he had been coordinating the offensive operations with those of the English, Italian and Russian allies, as he was convinced of the advantage of imposing the fact of common actions onto the central empires. In 1916 he led an imperturbable defence in Verdun, thanks to the Generals Castelnau and Pétain and in Somme he passed then to the offensive with Haig, Foch and Foyolle Launching in Verdun the offensives Nivelle-Mangin, in autumn he takes Fleury, Douaumont and Vaux back. Despite everything, in December 1916, the president of the Council, Astrid Briand, replaced him by General Nivelle. Joffre was promoted to the post of Marshal of France.

Keeping its uncontested fame to the allies, Joffre was used in 1917 by the French government as military adviser for the Viviani mission, in charge to integrate the Americans in the conflict. Later he was appointed general Inspector of the U.S. troops in France. Here he had to judge their improvement in the training of the trenches fight, as well as in the utilization of the new arms. On November 13th November 1918, the Unites States decorated him with the Distinguished Service Medal. Once the war was won and the peace signed, Joffre led the Victory procession of July 14th 1919 in Paris. Then he devoted himself to his memoirs and is journeys, he was elected to the French Academy and worked until his last days. He died in 1931 at the age of 79. He was honoured with a state funeral and was buried in his property in Louveviennes (Yvelines) where he still rests.