François-Henry Laperrine

François-Henry Laperrine (born Marie Joseph François Henry Laperrine d'Hautpoul, September 29, 1860 – March 5, 1920) was a French general who served during World War I.

Biography Laperrine entered the École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr in October 1878 and became a captain in the 2nd Dragoons in November 1891. Laperrine organized the Compagnie Méharistes Sahariennes in 1897. He was a friend of Charles de Foucauld who was killed in 1916 in Tamanrasset. The two were honored on a stamp of Algeria in 1950.

Laperrine died after a plane crash (a Breguet) in the Sahara in 1920. His companions, Lieutenant Bernard and mechanic Marcel Vasselin survived and recorded Laperrine's last words, "People think they know the desert...People think I know it. Nobody really knows it. I have crossed the Sahara ten times and I will stay here." Bernard and Vasselin buried Laperrine near the plane, but when a rescue party arrived he was disinterred and buried in Tamanrasset next to Foucauld. The fort was named for Laperrine.

Honors

Grand officier de la Légion d'honneur Croix de guerre 1914–1918 Médaille coloniale avec agrafes Algérie, Soudan, Sénégal, Sahara, AOF Croix de guerre belge 1914–1918 avec palme