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Brigouleix, Martial

Date of birth:
April 24th, 1903 (Ambrugeat, France)
Date of death:
October 2nd, 1943 (Suresnes, France)
Buried on:
Commonwealth War Graves Bagneux
Nationality:
French (1870-present, Republic)

Biography

In 1920 he entered the Ecole Normale of Tulle. In 1923 he was a reserve officer cadet.

In 1924, he was appointed second lieutenant and assigned to the 22nd Infantry Regiment in Verdun. The same year, he was also appointed professor of French and history and geography at the École Militaire Preparatoire Technique in Tulle.

Socialist and Freemason, he is one of the founders of the newspaper "La Voix Corrézienne".
In September 1939, he commanded the 5th company of the 126th Régiment d'Infanterie in Brive. During the funny war, it was deployed in operation in Alsace.

In May 1940 he fought in the Aisne, retreated and brought the survivors of his company back to Haute-Vienne.

In July 1940, he was cited twice for his courage, was appointed captain and was discharged.

Back in Corrèze he resumed his post at the EMPT in Tulle.

In 1941, he was revoked by the Vichy regime, because of his membership in Freemasonry.

In 1941, He became secretary to the chamber of trades and devoted himself to the organization of the French internal resistance. In 1942, under the name of "Beaudouin", he led the first groups of the Secret Army (AS) in Corrèze, of which he became the departmental chief.

At the end of 1942, he prepared the investment plans for Tulle and insurrectional action with the help of Pierre Souletie and an agent from the Intelligence Service. The weapons being insufficient to arm the 19 companies of Resistance fighters, they made some parachuting zones approved by the RAF.

On February 19, 1943, an Avro Lancaster parachuted 5 containers of Sten submachine guns with their ammunition near Chamboulive and Martial Brigouleix transported them to Tulle.
In March 1943, the Militia demanded his arrest from the prefect who refused. Martial Brigouleix then considered going underground, but on April 17, 1943, the Gestapo arrested him at his place of work.

On April 18, 1943 he was imprisoned in Limoges prison and held for almost three weeks during which he was tortured, but he did not speak. On May 26, 1943, he was transferred to Fort Romainville.
On September 27, a German officer was shot dead in Paris. In retaliation, the Nazis demanded 50 hostages to be shot. On October 2, 1943, he was executed at Mont-Valérien.
He is buried in the military square of the Parisian cemetery of Bagneux in the Hauts-de-Seine and on February 8, 1945 he was mentioned "Death for France".

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Period:
Second World War (1939-1945)
Rank:
Compagnon
Awarded on:
October 19th, 1945
l' Ordre de la Libération
Period:
Second World War (1939-1945)
3 citations
Croix de Guerre (1939-1945)

Sources

Photo