Paul Emile Diou

Paul Emile Diou (6 September 1855 – 23 August 1914) was a French general. Diou entered the army in 1873 and spent much of his early career superintending the training of army personnel. He saw extended service in Tunisia with the Army of Africa and also in the Far East. Diou was praised for his work in Morocco in 1908 and was subsequently appointed to brigade command. In the opening stages of the First World War he led his brigade in an attack on German positions and was mortally wounded.

Early life and career Diou was born on 6 September 1855 at Saint-Julien-lès-Metz in Moselle where a plaque marks his birthplace. Following the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1 his home town was annexed by Germany. Diou volunteered for a five year period of service with the French Army on 22 October 1873 and entered the Ecole Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr two days later. He was commissioned as a sous lieutenant on 1 October 1875 with the 69th Infantry Regiment (Diou's graduating class was named for Archduke Albrecht, Duke of Teschen who had fought against France's enemy Prussia in the Austro-Prussian War). As a subaltern he was reportedly a "shy and timid character, but an energetic worker" and was commended by the Minister of War (Jean Auguste Berthaut) on 31 January 1877 for survey work undertaken in the vicinity of Toul. Diou was promoted to captain in the 45th Infantry Regiment on 29 December 1885 and held responsibility for preparing enlisted candidates for the non-commissioned officer examinations at the Ecole Militaire in Saint-Maixent. Diou's brigade was ordered to attack German positions at Bénestroff the next morning at 4 am in heavy fog. His grave lies next to the cemetery's memorial obelisk. His name is inscribed on the French generals' war memorial at the L'Hôtel des Invalides in Paris.