Émile Lemonnier

Émile René Lemonnier (November 27, 1893 – March 12, 1945) was a French Army general who served during World War I and World War II. Stationed in French Indochina in 1945, he was beheaded by the Japanese during their March coup d'état.

Early life Lemonnier was born to Émile Jean Lemonnier, a saddler by trade, and Marie Ernestine Fournier on November 27, 1893, in Château-Gontier in the Mayenne. He graduated from the College Château-Gontier in 1910 and entered the École Polytechnique in 1912.

Military service In 1914 Lemonnier was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the 25th Artillery Regiment and received several citations. In 1918, he transferred to the French Colonial Forces, subsequently serving with various regiments of the artillerie coloniale. In 1920 Lemonnier was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour. From 1925–1936 he served in French West Africa. He left France for the last time in 1937.

World War II and death

On March 9, 1945, General Lemonnier while commander of the Lang Son area received an invitation from the Japanese forces to a banquet of the headquarters of the division of the Imperial Japanese Army. Camille Auphelle.

Legacy Lemonnier was re-interred in France on March 3, 1950, at Château-Gontier. Camp Lemonnier, adjacent to Djibouti–Ambouli International Airport (now headquarters of the American Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa) is named after him. On March 25, 1957, the former Rue des Tuileries (1st district of Paris) was renamed Avenue du Général-Lemonnier in his honor.