Marcel BIGEARD

Biography

Marcel Bigeard was born in Toul, Meurthe-et-Moselle on 14 February 1916, the son of Charles Bigeard (1880-1948), a railway worker, and Sophie Bigeard (1880-1964), a domineering housewife. He also had a four year older sister, Charlotte Bigeard. Lorraine instilled a strong patriotism in him and his mother a will to win; those two would remain his strongest driving forces. At fourteen, Bigeard quit school to help his parents financially by taking a position in the local Société Générale bank, where he did well.

He was called up in September 1936 to do his military service in the French Army; initially Bigeard had no enthusiasm for what would become his calling. He served on the Maginot Line with the 23rd Infantry Regiment at Haguenau in Alsace. Returning to civil life after the required two years with the rank of caporal-chef, Bigeard went back to Toul and his work as a bank clerk at the local bank.

Source :  © Copyright Wikipédia authors - This article is under licence CC BY-SA 3.0 .