Juin, Alphonse

(1888-1967)

   marshal of France

   Commander of the French military forces during World War ii, Alphonse Juin was born in Bône (now Annaba), Algeria. He graduated with honors from saint-cyr in 1911 and served in Morocco (1912-17). He was wounded in World War I.

   Named to the military cabinet of louis lyautey, he took part in the campaign in Rif in 1924 and helped in the "pacification" of Morocco. Professor of general strategy at the École supérieure de guerre, then head of the general staff of General charles noguès, commander in chief of the theater of operations in North Africa (1936-39), General Juin (1940) took command of the 15th motorized division that soon distinguished itself at Lille. Taken prisoner by the Germans, he was released in June 1941 and succeeded General maxime weygand as leader of the French forces in North Africa (November 1941). After the Allied landing there (November 8, 1942), he commanded the French army detachment that stopped the Axis forces in Tunisia and contributed to the defeat of the Afrika Korps. Promoted to commander in chief of the French Expeditionary Forces in Italy (1943), he successfully intervened in the attempt to make an eastern assault at Cassino (victory of Belvédère, February 1944) and impressed on the Allies his plan for the spring offensive, marked by the victory at Garigliano, which opened the road to Rome (June 5, 1944) and then that of Siena (July 1944). Head of the General staff for National Defense, then governor-general of Morocco (1947-51), General Juin later served as inspector general of the armed forces (1951-55) and inter-allied commander of the central European Area (1951-56). Raised to the rank of marshal of France in 1952, he opposed the policies of General charles de gaulle in Algeria. Marshal Juin was elected to the Académie Française in 1952, and his Mémoires were published in 1959-60.