Jacques Leclerc

Jacques Phillippe Leclerc (1902-1947), born Phillippe vicomte de Hauteclocque but using Leclerc to protect his family from German occupiers, was a Free French general. After the fall of France, he commanded Free French Force in Equatorial Africa, then became commander of the French Second Armored Division in Tunisia, as part of the Eighth British Army. He led Free French troops into the liberation of Paris.

After the war, Charles De Gaulle named him commander of French forces in the Far East, although he quickly came into personality conflict with Adm. Georges d'Argenlieu‎, High Commissioner for French Indochina. Paul Mus was one of his key advisers. Leclerc had had some success negotiating with the Vietnamese, but the High Commissioner wanted a much more forcible approach.

At his request, he was transferred to North Africa, where he died in an airplane crash. After his death, he was named a Marshal of France.