Pierre Segretain (1909 - October 8, 1950) was a French soldier, born in Saint-Mihiel, in the Meuse. He served in the Foreign Legion during World War II and the Indochina War.
Born into a family with a military tradition, he spent two years in the Corniche at the Sainte Geneviève high school in Versailles before joining the Saint-Cyr special military school in 1930. Saint-Cyrien from the Marshal Joffre class, he was assigned to the 35th infantry regiment in Belfort as a platoon leader then an officer transmission. In May 1936, he joined the 1st foreign regiment in Sidi Bel Abbes; the Legion opens up to him. He then knows the campaigns of Algeria and Morocco.
World War II
When the Second World War broke out, Lieutenant Segretain belonged to the Foreign Legion of the Levant and volunteered to come and fight in France. It is with the colonial infantry regiment, in Saint-Gervais in Isère, that he knows his baptism of fire. His bravery and efficiency are then an example and a moral support for all the troops and will earn him his first citation. A difficult period then began for the young Captain Segretain, since in December 1940, he left for Beirut to join the 6th foreign infantry regiment with which he took part in the Syrian campaign, where he fought the British and Free French troops. /P>
In June 1942, he met Mademoiselle Marie-Elizabeth Rossignol in Rouen. They got married in September and will have three children:Philippe, Étienne and Anne-Marie.
Shortly after landing in North Africa in 1942, his regiment sided with the Allies and began the Tunisian campaign against Rommel's "Afrika Korps". At Loukanda, he leads his company into battle against a larger and better equipped enemy. In July 1943, he participated in the creation of the Foreign Legion Marching Regiment with which he landed in Provence, liberated Franche-Comté and progressed to the Danube. He will be made Knight of the Order of the Legion of Honor.
Indochina and the 1st BEP
In 1945, he joined Coëtquidan, where he was unit commander and in charge of signal training. The Segretain family lives two years of tranquility. After passing his parachute certificate in Pau, Captain Segretain was assigned to the 1st parachute hunter regiment.
A Legion officer trained in infantry developments, he was the leader who created the 1st Foreign Parachute Battalion on July 1, 1948 in Khamisis. On November 12 of the same year, it is the departure for Indochina. Assisted at the head of the BEP by Captain Jeanpierre, he successfully led several operations in Tonkin.
During the month of September 1950, Segretain alerted the command to the very strong artillery columns whose men had traced on the border. The BEP receives the mission to conquer the city of Dong Khe on the RC4 while ensuring the connection with That Khe which is located 20 kilometers to the south. Faced with an enemy far superior in number, the battalion must soon move towards the basin of Coc Xa; attacked from all sides in limestone and vegetation, the 1er BEP fought one of the bloodiest battles of the Indochina war during which it was decimated. Battalion Commander Segretain commands his unit to the end of his forces. He fell mortally wounded on the night of October 7 to 8, 1950, while with the survivors he tried to infiltrate through enemy lines to regain That Khe.
On the outskirts of the RC4, the enemy paid the honors to the battalion commander Segretain, to the French officer, an exemplary leader and devoted to the fatherland.
The 193rd promotion of the Special Military School of Saint-Cyr bears his name:Segrétain Battalion Chief Promotion