On one of the walls of the old city of Saint Malo, is affixed a plaque that reads:
'In testimony
Colonel JM POULIQUEN
Born in Saint-Malo
1897-1988
FFL volunteer
Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour
Companion of the Liberation
First commander of the Escadrille Normandie-Niemen
HONORARY CITIZEN OF THE CITY'
Translated from French -
"Joseph-Marie-Guillaume Pouliquen was born November 20, 1897 in Saint-Malo (Ille-et-Vilaine).
His father was chief clerk at the Civil Court of Saint-Malo. Joseph makes his studies at the College of St Malo. He gets the first part of his BA and his seventeenth year barely reached, it undertakes for the duration of the war, March 5, 1915. Incorporated into Artillery in Dinan, and after three months of classes, it gets to be sent to the Dardanelles (Turkey), with the 176th Artillery Regiment. There he received the baptism of fire.
In August 1915, he requested in Salonika (Greece) a transfer to Force, where he was appointed corporal. Following training in Saint-Cyr followed the following year, he was assigned as a student aspiring to the 26th Infantry Regiment.
This is in uniform blue horizon, he injured his "Chemin des Dames", 16 April 1917. Declared unfit for life in the trenches, he asked to be paid in aviation, in December that year. It is assigned as a student pilot in Chartres. With 25 hours of flight, it is patented military pilot, January 22, 1918.
Assigned as pilot Escadrille Bré.128 within the GB3, he managed to complete thirty missions Breguet XIV, during the year 1918. Gunner, soldier, airman, Joseph Pouliquen fights with the same bravery .
In 1919, pilot Escadrille Bré.590, he was seconded to the French military mission in Czechoslovakia sent. It performs a twenty missions against the Bolsheviks. He was demobilized in November 1919, holds the Military Medal and the Croix de Guerre 14-18. At 22, young Joseph Pouliquen decides to make a career in the press. The newspaper advertising manager "The Uncompromising", he became in 1931, the creator of the famous classifieds, the largest daily newspaper "Paris-Soir".
End 1939, he was mobilized in Toulouse-Francazal and Orly as a reserve captain.
He was then posted at its request, the Middle East, where he has the chance to get a beautiful commandment airbase Palmyra, in the Syrian desert. It is in Lebanon, in June 1940, he heard on the airwaves announcement of the surrender and demand armistice. It is not those who give up the fight, and he decided to continue the struggle with the English. Demobilized in Oran, he finds - rage au coeur - Saint-Malo, under the yoke of the occupant. Free of any vis-à-vis the army, he decided to join General de Gaulle. Join England by sea, will prove unworkable. Nevertheless, Joseph Pouliquen succeeds, not without risk, move in the free zone. In Lyon, he finds his friends from "Paris-Soir", the newspaper's management is being folded into the Rhone city. He easily gets a "mission order" special envoy, responsible for carrying out a story - fictional! - in Africa. In April 1941, Joseph managed to win Pouliquen Oran and Algiers. His extraordinary odyssey begins ... After Colomb-Bechar, he plunged into the desert. Through the track of Hoggar he continues his journey to Gao, Niamey and Cotonou (Dahomey). Despite the hassle of administration remained loyal to the Vichy government, he undertook the voyage Lome - Abidjan. Possession of a visa to Dakar via Liberia, Monrovia he wins after traveling 400 kilometers on foot in the bush.
It's in Freetown (Sierra Leone), September 29, 1941, he signed his commitment (Miss No. 31350) in FAFL. Advised by telegram of his arrival, General Valin, Commander Aviation Free France, asks him if he is willing to travel to Beirut. Without hesitation, the captain responds Pouliquen present. On a coaster English, he joined Lagos, Nigeria and left in an aircraft of the Royal Air Force. Multiple stops in Chad, Sudan, Egypt will punctuate the trip to Lebanon. Within months, Joseph Pouliquen will have traveled more than 15,000 kilometers.
Appointed in November 1941, deputy commander of the fighter group "Alsace", Captain Pouliquen, thanks to its good knowledge of the English language and experience, is establishing a homogeneous training which the drivers will be illustrated in Libya facing the Africa Korps.
On January 25, 1942, he took the head of the group "Alsace", on the banks of the Suez Canal. A few days later, it shall, for two months, the command of Bomb Group "Lorraine" whose staff is sent immediately to rest in Syria. He was promoted to the rank of commander March 15, 1942.
Under his orders, after Bir Hakeim in June 1942, the "Alsace" group actively participates in the Libyan campaign, particularly in the defense of the city of Alexandria threatened by the Italo-German troops commanded by General Rommel. A few months later, it will start to another exciting adventure ...
That's Beirut headquarters of the General Staff of FAFL the Middle East, the Pouliquen commander learns his appointment at the head of a new fighter group, the GC 3. It has a mission to train unit elite, called to join a distant theater, that of the Eastern Front. The headquarters of the High Commissioner in the Levant, General de Gaulle who chose him for this operation, the commander Pouliquen explains what he expects of him. It is responsible to train, equip, train and develop in Russia, a squadron of Free France who will fight there against the common enemy. About this interview, Joseph Pouliquen later said: "I received from the leader of Free France precise orders, general guidelines and retail, including clairvoyance struck me and I could see later during my mission . USSR I will never forget the last words of the general, his large hand placed flat on the desk, his right eye: "And above all, my commander (as some leaders, General de Gaulle liked to call his subordinates by their grade to properly place them in the correct context and make them feel any responsibility), before taking any decision, always ask yourself this question: what is the interest of France? ".
Appreciated, loved by his men, Joseph Pouliquen chooses the best drivers and mechanics, the most valiant fighters. Called "Normandie" by its commander, GC 3 goes to his fate. Rayack of Tehran, oil fields up Ivanovo and icy plains, which became the first training ground of the squadron pilots.
Joseph Pouliquen will control the "Normandie" 1 September 1942 to 22 February 1943. He superbly performing the mission entrusted to him by General de Gaulle and his unit later became the "Normandie-Niemen" enter into legend . After being temporarily assigned to the French military mission in Moscow, the commander Pouliquen then joined England, not for a position of Staff, where his experience and talents would be very useful, but for another combat unit. He returned in June 1943, the "Lorraine" where he was appointed assistant to Colonel Rancourt, commander of the group. With the "Lorraine", he accomplished ten missions over Germany, as a turret gunner.
In February 1944, he was appointed assistant to the colonel commanding the Corniglion-Molinier FAFL in Britain and assigned as a Senior Military Liaison Officer (Liaison Senior Officer) with the British command of Wing 145 (British Liberation Army - 145 Wing) for operations Normandy, northern France and Belgium. Promoted to lieutenant colonel in March 1945, he returned to fight with the "Lorraine" at the end of April 1945, performing five new offensive missions including Bremen and Hamburg.
Demobilized the following year, Joseph Pouliquen is as antique in Saint-Paul-de-Vence. In 1974 he left the south to find his hometown of Saint-Malo, which appoints the honorary citizen in 1980, under which it takes great pride.
Pouliquen Joseph died September 24, 1988, the National Institution des Invalides in Paris. His funeral took place at the Saint-Louis des Invalides church.
He was buried at Saint-Méloir-des-Ondes, near Cancale (Ille-et-Vilaine). "
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