Pierre Blanchet

Pierre Blanchet (Bollène, September 10, 1907 - Mort pour la France on June 18, 1944, in Radicofani) was a French resistance fighter, Companion of the Liberation. A graduate of HEC Paris, he however put aside a commercial career to become a police officer in Shanghai. Joining the Free French forces after the armistice of June 22, 1940, he fought in the Middle East, North Africa then in Italy where he was killed.

Biography
Son of an officer, Pierre Blanchet was born on September 10, 1907, in Bollène in Vaucluse where he spent his childhood in the absence of his father based in Madagascar. After studying at the high schools of Avignon and Marseille, he passed the written examination of the École polytechnique but was not authorized to take the oral exam due to physical incapacity. He then prepared for the HEC Paris exam which he passed. In October 1929, he was called up for his military service which he carried out in the 10e régiment de tirailleurs sénégalais in Tunisia. Having followed the reserve officer cadet courses, he left with the rank of reserve second lieutenant. In 1931, freshly graduated from HEC Paris, he prepared to join the Banque de l'Indochine. However, his brother-in-law Louis Fabre, director of police in the French concession of Shanghai, suggested that he come and take command of the Municipal Guard. Accepting the position, Pierre Blanchet left for China where his father, prefect of the Tientsin concession, was already working.

Wishing in vain to be mobilized when war was declared in 1939, Pierre Blanchet resigned from the police of the French concession and left for Indochina where he was appointed commander of the Poulo-Condor garrison. The armistice of June 22, 1940 preventing him from going to fight in France, he was demobilized and returned to his position within the Shanghai police. Shortly after, while replacing his brother-in-law on leave as head of the police, he was the victim of an attack in which he was shot and injured. Eager to continue the fight against Germany, he left China again and went to Manila in the Philippines where he obtained help from the British embassy to join the Free French forces in the Middle East. Assigned to Bataillon de marche no 1, he participated in the Syrian campaign at the end of which he was promoted to captain in September 1941. Transferred to the Bataillon du Pacifique in April 1942, he was engaged in the desert war and took part in the battle of Bir-Hakeim during which he was wounded on June 9. Refusing to be evacuated, he led his company in the evacuation of the post on the night of June 10 to 11. Shortly after, his battalion merged with the 1st Marine Infantry Battalion to form the Bataillon d'infanterie de marine et du Pacifique. Within this new unit, Pierre Blanchet participated in the second battle of El Alamein then in the Tunisian campaign.

After the campaigns in North Africa, Pierre Blanchet had several months of calm to train young recruits who were reconstituting his company after the losses of previous battles. He and his unit were then engaged in the Italian campaign. On May 12, 1944, he was injured in the hand by shrapnel from a mortar shell during the capture of Mount Girofano. Evacuated a few days later, he was quickly treated and immediately joined his company in combat. The following June 18, while his unit attacked the village of Radicofani, Pierre Blanchet was killed by a shell explosion. He is buried in the French military cemetery in Rome.

Awards

 * Knight of the Legion of Honour
 * Companion of Liberation
 * Croix de Guerre 1939–1945