Raoul Salan

Raoul Albin Louis Salan (; 10 June 1899 – 3 July 1984) was a French Army general and the founder of the Organisation armée secrète, a clandestine terrorist organisation that sought to maintain French Algeria by preventing Algerian independence. He served as the fourth French commanding general during the First Indochina War. He was one of four retired generals who organized the 1961 Algiers putsch operation.

World War I Salan parading on the Champs-Élysées at the head of the 14th Infantry Division, 18 June 1945.

Salan was born on 10 June 1899 in Roquecourbe, Tarn. Enlisted in the French Army for the duration of the war on 2 August 1917, he was accepted in the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr Salan graduated as an aspirant on 25 July 1918, and was assigned to the 5th Colonial Infantry Regiment (5e RIC) in Lyon on 14 August 1918.

As a platoon leader in the 5e RIC's 11e Compagnie, he took part in the fighting in the Verdun region (Saint-Mihiel, Les Éparges, Fort de Bois-Bourru, Côte de Oie, Cumières-le-Mort-Homme). He was mentioned in the Order of the Brigade by Order dated 29 December 1918.

World War II Until France's surrender in World War II, Colonel Salan commanded a battalion of Senegalese troops. He initially sided with the Vichy Government, but defected to the Allies in December 1942, following the occupation of Vichy France in Case Anton. Between the World Wars he was attached in various capacities to the Ministry of Colonies, and in 1941–43 he served with the Free French forces in French West Africa. After participating in the Allied invasion of France in 1944, he went to Indochina in 1945 and was commander in chief there during 1952–53.

Indochina and Algeria Salan served as the commander of French forces in Vietnam from 1945 to 1947. By 1948, he was commander of all French land forces in East Asia, and after the death of Jean de Lattre de Tassigny in 1952, Salan became the commander-in-chief in Indochina. Salan was pardoned and released from prison in June 1968. He was amnestied by the French parliament and re-instated to the rank of general in 1982.

Death

Salan died on 3 July 1984. Every year, former members of the OAS bring flowers to his tomb on his death anniversary.

Decorations Salan was the most decorated soldier in the French Army.

French and Colonial Decorations Legion of Honour

Grand Cross of the Étoile des Comores

Annam Order of Military Merit Order of the Reign of King Savang Vatthana

Foreign Decorations

Vietnam Campaign Medal (Thailand)