Paul Lardry

Paul Lardry
Born	(1928-09-02) 2 September 1928
Died	January 24, 2012
Allegiance	France
Service/branch	French Army French Foreign Legion
Years of service	1951 - 1991
Rank	Général d'armée
Commands held	13th Demi-Brigade of Foreign Legion 13e DBLE (1974) Foreign Legion Groupment & 31st Brigade (1980-1982) Area Forces of the Indian Ocean (1983) Force d'Action Rapide (FAR) (1986)
Battles/wars	Indochina War Algerian War

Paul Lardry was a Général d'armée of the French Army who served almost an entire career and Commandant of the French Foreign Legion.^[1]

Military career

After completing a course in private military institution, he entered Saint-Cyr in the "général Aubert Frère (French: général Frère) promotion". He accordingly commenced his career at the 27th Alpine Chasseur Battalion (French: 27^e bataillon de chasseurs alpins). In 1951, he joined the French Foreign Legion. He was assigned to the 13^e DBLE engaged in Indochina, a tour during which he was wounded. He received accordingly the Croix de guerre des théâtres d'opérations extérieures (2 palms and 2 stars), and upon his return, he was assigned to Morocco at the corps of the 4th Foreign Infantry Regiment 4^e RE in 1955.

He served in Algeria, where he was cited three times with Cross for Military Valour. He commanded notably the 2nd Mounted Saharan Company of the Foreign Legion (French: 2^e Compagnie Saharienne Portée de la Légion, 2^e CSPL).

At the beginning of 1960, he was a captain in the 1st Foreign Regiment 1^e RE at Aubagne then follows a course at the École supérieure de guerre, and served thereafter as a lieutenant colonel in the headquarter staff (French: état-major) at Paris beginning of 1970.

In 1974, he received the command of the 13th Demi-Brigade of Foreign Legion 13^e DBLE, promoted to rank of colonel in 1975 and received the Légion d'honneur in 1976. He left the command of the 13^e DBLE in the summer of 1976. He commanded thereafter French elements in Tchad from February until September 1980.

He was nominated to the first action of general officers, at the rank of général de brigade in quality of a commandant of the Foreign Legion Groupment (1980-1982)^[1] and 31st Brigade (1981-1982), a post which he occupied from 1980 to 1982, then was accordingly promoted to général de division. He was then accordingly designated as commandant of the Area Forces of the Indian Ocean stationed at the Réunion in 1983.

In 1986, he was promoted to général de corps d'armée. He accordingly commanded the Force d'Action Rapide (FAR) and organized the following years several designated manoeuvers in Germany. In 1988, he was promoted to général d'armée and accordingly left the command of the FAR. He was admitted to the second section of officiers généraux in 1991.

Recognitions and Honors

• Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur
• Grand croix de l'ordre national du Mérite
• Croix de guerre des théâtres d'opérations extérieures
• Croix de la Valeur militaire
• Médaille coloniale with clasp « Extrême-Orient » and clasp « Tchad »
• Médaille commémorative de la campagne d'Indochine with 2 stars for wounded
• Médaille commémorative des opérations de sécurité et de maintien de l'ordre en Afrique du Nord with clasp « Maroc » - « Algérie », "Sahara"

See also

• Jacques Lefort
• Pierre Jeanpierre
• Pierre Darmuzai
• Saharan Méharistes Companies (méharistes sahariennes)

References

Sources

• Répertoire des chefs de corps
• Centre de documentation de la Légion étrangère
• Répertoire des citations (BCAAM)

Foreign Legion Command French Foreign Legion
Honneur et Fidélité History of the French Foreign Legion Foreign Legion Pioneers (Pionniers) List of French paratrooper units Képi Blanc (publication)
Current Foreign Legion Units	Administrative Communal Depot of the Foreign Regiments 1st Foreign Regiment Foreign Legion Command Foreign Legion Recruiting Group Infantry & Parachute Infantry 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment 13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade Foreign Legion Detachment in Mayotte Cavalry 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment Engineer & Parachute Engineer 1st Foreign Engineer Regiment 2nd Foreign Engineer Regiment Training 4th Foreign Regiment Jungle Training Center Combat Training Center at Arta Beach
Defunct Foreign Legion Units	Administrative and Training Communal Depot of the Foreign Regiments Parachute Parachute Company of the 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment 1st Foreign Parachute Regiment 1st Foreign Parachute Battalion 2nd Foreign Parachute Battalion 3rd Foreign Parachute Battalion Foreign Air Supply Company 3rd Foreign Parachute Regiment 1st Foreign Parachute Heavy Mortar Company Infantry 1st Foreign Infantry Regiment 1st Marching Regiment of the 1st Foreign Regiment 2nd Marching Regiment of the 1st Foreign Regiment 3rd Marching Regiment of the 1st Foreign Regiment 4th Marching Regiment of the 1st Foreign Regiment/Garibaldi Legion 1st Marching Regiment of the 2nd Foreign Regiment 2nd Marching Regiment of the 2nd Foreign Regiment Marching Regiment of the Foreign Legion 5th Foreign Infantry Regiment 6th Foreign Infantry Regiment 11th Foreign Infantry Regiment 12th Foreign Infantry Regiment 21st Marching Regiment of Foreign Volunteers 22nd Marching Regiment of Foreign Volunteers 23rd Marching Regiment of Foreign Volunteers 1st Mounted Saharan Company of the Legion 2nd Mounted Saharan Company of the Legion 3rd Mounted Saharan Company of the Legion 4th Mounted Saharan Company of the Legion 1st Mounted Saharan Squadron of the Foreign Legion Cavalry 2nd Foreign Cavalry Regiment 97th Reconnaissance Group of the Infantry Division Transport Armored Train of the Foreign Legion Disciplinary Disciplinary Company of the Foreign Regiments in the Far East Foreign Legion Brigades 31st Brigade (France)