Date of birth:

October 14th, 1903 (Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, France)

Date of death:

November 25th, 1965 (Toulon, France)

Nationality:

French (1870-present, Republic)

Constant Colmay joined the navy in 1922.

He served three years in naval aeronautics and finished flying quartermaster. This specialty opened the doors to the merchant navy where he sailed as a radio until 1939.

He was then mobilized as a radio petty officer aboard the militarized trawler Tarana. Already in London on June 18, 1940, he rallied free France from the early hours.

Incorporated into the expeditionary group sent to Dakar at the end of September 1940, it provided communications for the admiral commanding the operation. The dispersed group, Constant Colmay, landed in Cameroon, in Douala, with his service. He was then assigned to the 1st Marine Rifle Battalion (1st BFM) which he joined in the middle of the Libyan desert at the beginning of 1942.

Commander Amyot d'Inville, who detected in him the qualities of a trainer of men, entrusted him with command of a section of DCA then, in Bir-Hakeim, in May-June 1942, of a battery.

After El-Alamein in October 1942, the Battalion, which is in charge of the air protection of the 1st Free French Division, takes part in the pursuit of the enemy as far as Tunisia. While the 1st BFM was transformed into the 1st Marine Fusiliers Regiment (1er RFM) in September 1943, Constant Colmay was promoted to second officer of the 2nd squadron of the Regiment, becoming the assistant to Lieutenant (Navy) Alain Savary.

During the 1944 Italian campaign, he distinguished himself in the marshy plains of Pontecorvo where, despite the difficulties, he managed to get his crews through. After the Battle of San Andrea, he was appointed Second Class Crew Officer. During the landing in Provence and the liberation of Toulon, Constant Colmay was the leader of a DCA battery and showed proven courage.

In the fall and winter of 1944-1945, he was engaged in the Vosges and removed the Marckolsheim bridge, brilliantly participating in the liberation of Colmar.

Promoted to officer of the first class crews at the end of the war, he was appointed, after the dissolution of the Regiment, to the head of a traditional marines squadron. He was immediately sent to Indochina where he distinguished himself on January 26, 1946, during a fight against the opposing forces which lasted eleven hours, in Tan Uyen, in Cochinchina.

Back in France, he was assigned to the school of Fusiliers Marins de Sirocco near Algiers. He took the opportunity to pass the commando and parachutist certificate.

In 1954, he left again for Indochina and returned to France two years later. He then received command of the Toulon guard company where he remained until his retirement. Finally, he is curator of the Mont-Faron museum where he collects memories of the landing in Provence.

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• - Constant COLMAY | L'Ordre de la Libération et son Musée