Philippe Kieffer was a French naval officer, Compagnon de la Liberation, born in Port-au-Prince (Haiti) on October 24, 1899 into a French family of Alsatian origin. He died on November 20, 1962 in Cormeilles-en-Parisis (France) buried in Grandcamp-Maisy in Calvados.
The Second World War
A graduate of the École des Hautes Etudes Commerciales, he was a bank manager in the United States when the war broke out. Despite his age (40), he presented himself as a volunteer and entered the navy on September 10, 1939.
After the defeat of France, then a young ensign, he responded to General de Gaulle's call by leaving for the United Kingdom on June 19, 1940. He joined the Free French Naval Forces on the day of their creation, July 1, 1940.
Impressed by the methods of the British commandos, in 1942 he formed the "Troop 1" of the French Commandos with about twenty volunteers, in the vicinity of Portsmouth. In 1943, the 1st Battalion (1st B.F.M.C) is strong of Three Troops the N°1, the N°8 of Captain Trepel - who disappears during a night raid - and the Support Troop (K-Guns). It was at the formidable Achnacarry Commando Training Center in Scotland that these men were trained and awarded the famous green beret. In May 1944, a few weeks before D-Day, they received their own insignia (bronze shield bearing the brig of the adventure and crossed out with the commando dagger with the cross of Lorraine in the sinister corner and underlined by a banner bearing the registration -1st Good F.M.Commando -) They will wear it on the green beret “à l’anglaise” that is to say on the left side. The drawing is due to one of them, Corporal Maurice Chauvet. Appreciating the qualities of the French at their fair value, the British incorporated the Battalion into the No. 4 Commando of the Special Forces Brigade. He will have the supreme honor of being the first to land in France on D-Day!
Kieffer Commandos
Promoted to lieutenant, then corvette captain (hence the name commander) on the eve of D-Day, Kieffer landed in Normandy on June 6 at the head of his men from the 1st Commando Marine Rifle Battalion, with two combat troops and a 1/2 Support Troop (K-Guns). In all 177 men. They landed on Sword beach in Colleville-Montgomery, despite significant losses (in all for June 6:two officers and eight men killed + wounded) they seized a 50mm tanked gun which had undermined the barge LCI 523 (1st Troop), then from the former Riva-Bella Casino before heading inland via Colleville and Saint-Aubin-d'Arquenay to join Pegasus Bridge (Bénouville) with the British Airborne of the 6th DAP. They arrive there around 4:30 p.m. Kieffer will be injured twice that day. On the evening of June 6, the 1st B.F.M.C will have lost almost 25% of its strength. It then occupies the edges of the Plain around 8:00 p.m.
The Kieffer commando was made up of marines who had enlisted in the Free French Naval Forces (alongside the British Green Berets) while in the UK. Some joined the FNFL after the evacuation of Dunkirk others escaped from occupied France finally a group arrived from Africa. About a third of these Fusiliers Marins of this commando were from Brittany. They had to undergo hard training and ruthless selection at the Commando Center in Achnacarry, Scotland, where they earned the right to wear the mythical green beret. The French of the 1st company had participated in the raid on Dieppe alongside the British and Canadian Commandos "Operation Jubilee".
During the harsh Normandy campaign, the commandos remained in the front line (Le Plain - Amfreville sector) and fought until August 27, 1944, when the Battalion was replenished in Great Britain for future missions. In November 1944, the 1st B.F.M.C was landed on the island of Walcheren in Holland and captured Vlissingen in combat as part of a combined operation allied with the British commandos.
Today, two of the five marine commandos bear the name of an officer of the 1st B.F.M.C who died in the Field of Honour:
* Commando Hubert (COS Combat Swimmers)
* Commando Trepel
In addition, the current commandos have retained the British green beret, the badge from their Elders and the fourragères earned during many brilliant actions.
After the war
When the war was over, Philippe Kieffer left the army and was elected General Councilor of Calvados in September 1945, under the label France Combattante-MRP, he resigned on June 2, 1946 after his failure in the legislative elections. He is also a municipal councilor for Grandcamp-les-Bains.
Member of the Consultative Assembly in 1945, he participated after the war in the General Staff of the Interallied Forces. He was appointed frigate captain in 1954.
He was an adviser on the film The Longest Day in 1962. His memoir, Green Beret, published in 1948, is a classic of the genre.
Awards
* Commander of the Legion of Honor
* Companion of the Liberation - decree of August 28, 1944
* War Cross 1939-1945 (4 citations)
* Military Cross (GB)