Tom Morel
Encyclopedia
Théodose Morel, known as Tom Morel (b. Lyon, 1 August 1915, d. Entremont, 10 March 1944) was a career military officer and French Resistance
fighter. A student, then instructor, at the Saint-Cyr military academy
, he fought for the French Army
against the Italians in the Alps. After the Fall of France, he led the Maquis des Glières
, organizing attacks and parachute drops, and was the recipient of multiple military awards including the Croix de Guerre. He was killed in action
at the end of a successful commando raid
. He is memorialized at Saint-Cyr and by the French scouting
movement.
bourgeoisie
. His father was the son of a Lyon silk
industriaist and his mother was from a family of Savoie
jurists and soldiers. He was well schooled by the Lyon Jesuits where he was a Scout de France and patrol leader (1st Lyon, externat St Joseph), and moved towards a military career. At the Versailles private school of Sainte-Geneviève
took the trial for the Saint-Cyr military academy, in which he enrolled in 1935 (promotion 1935-1937 Maréchal Lyautey
). On finishing in 1935 he was appointed sub-lieutenant, and chose to be assigned to the 27th batallion de chasseurs alpins of Annecy
. He then took high-altitude training at Chamonix
and became leader of the section d'éclaireurs skieurs (SES), which he turned into a first-class fighting force. In November 1938, he married a woman from Annecy, Marie-Germaine Lamy.
In May 1939, the 27th BCA was stationed on the Italian border, with Morel's SES just above Val d'Isère
. In September 1939, while his batallion left for the Eastern front, the section commanded by Morel (who had been promoted to lieutenant) remained guarding the Italian border. After the Italians entered the war on 12 June 1940, he distinguished himself in the battle of the Alps, decisively exploiting the success of one of his patrols to take five prisoners and seize important supplies. He was decorated with the croix de Guerre and obtained his first citation. Injured on June 18, he remained at the head of his section. On 20 and 22 June he fought near the Petit-Saint-Bernard col where his action forced the Italian troops to withdraw. He received a second citation, then was made Knight of the chevalier de la Légion d’honneur
. He was still only 24 years old.
Morel then served in the Army of the Armistice at Annecy under commandant Vallette d'Osia
and participated in the sequestering of weapons and supplies. In 1941 he was appointed instructor at Saint-Cyr, which had moved to Aix-en-Provence
in the zone libre. Here he quietly encouraged his pupils to join the French Resistance.
by the Germans in November 1942, Tom Morel went underground, and joined the resistance in Haute-Savoie where he found his old commmander, Vallette d'Osia, organizer and head of the Armée Secrète
(AS) for that department. He signed up, along with Vallette d'Osia's old adjutant Captain Maurice Anjot, to organise the AS, whose numbers were multiplying after the February 1943 initiation of the STO
, the scheme of obligatory labour in Germany.
In September 1943, Vallette d'Osia was arrested by the Germans who had recently replaced the Italians in occupying Savoie. Vallette d'Osia's successor was Captain Henri Romans-Petit
, organiser and head of the AS in Ain
. Romans-Petit appointed Morel head of the Maquis in the department, and gave him the task of organizing the receipt of allied parachute drops
on the Glières Plateau
.
On 31 January 1944, Morel occupied the plateau with 120 maquisards. By the end of February, he had approximately 300 men under his orders, whom he organized into three companies. Morel was distinguished by his talent as a leader and trainer of these men who had come from varied geographical, social and political backgrounds. He took up the doctrine of "live free or die", and disciplined his batallion to turn it into unified and effective force in the fight for liberation. In February and March, numerous clashes occurred with the Groupe mobile de réserve
(GMR) and with the Milice
of the Vichy régime who were surrounding the plateau.
On 2 March, Morel decided on commando operation against the Beau Séjour hotel at Saint-Jean-de-Sixt
where the GMR were stationed. Thirty of them were taken prisoner. They had to provide currency in exchange for Michel Fournier, medical student and auxiliary doctor for the maquis, who had been arrested at le Grand-Bornand
several days earlier. The prisoners were freed but, in spite of the agreement on the honour of the Annecy police intendent, Fournier was not released.
Thereafter, the Maquis benefited from the arrival of 120 fighters from Chablais
and Giffre. Morel decided to lead another operation, more significant and hazardous, against the staff of the GMR, "Aquitaine", in Entremont at the foot of the Glières Plateau. Couret, officer of the peace and interim commandant of the GMR, had not performed his duties regarding the resistance, and his superior, commandant Lefebvre, who had arrived on 7 March, refused to speak to the Maquis. Over 100 men took part in the operation on the night of March 9–10. One of the groups, commanded directly by Morel, succeeded in taking the hôtel de France where the GMR staff was based. The maquisards disarmed their prisoners, but Lefebvre pulled out a concealed gun, and fired on Morel at close range, shooting him directly in the heart. Morel collapsed dead. Lefebvre was killed immediately.
Morel's body was brought up to the plateau where he was buried on 13 March after a moving religious ceremony. On 2 May, his body was brought down to the valley, and he remains buried today in the Morette military cemetery, now the Glières en Haute-Savoie national necropolis.
awarded Morel the posthumous title of croix de la Libération. The citation was as follows:
The 174th promotion from the Saint-Cyr academy was named Lieutenant Tom Morel in his honor.
Morel's personality was summarized by Pierre Golliet in the book Glières - Haute-Savoie - Première bataille de la Résistance - 31 janvier - 26 mars 1944 (by Golliet, Pierre, Helfgott, Julien et Louis Jourdand 1946):
In October 1995, the new dormitory of the Saint-Cyr military academy
was named the Tom Morel building.
The barracks of the 27e BCA carries the name of Tom Morel.
Tom Morel is the father of Admiral Philippe Morel (d. 22 June 2010) who was president of the Association of families of the compagnons de la libération and vice-président of the Association des Glières. Tom Morel's widow, Marie-Germaine Morel née Lamy, died 14 November 2010.
The second troop of the Mouvement des Scouts Unitaires de France, Saint-Cloud group (France, Hauts-de-Seine) bears Morel's name.
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
fighter. A student, then instructor, at the Saint-Cyr military academy
École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr
The École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr is the foremost French military academy. Its official name is . It is often referred to as Saint-Cyr . Its motto is "Ils s'instruisent pour vaincre": literally "They study to vanquish" or "Training for victory"...
, he fought for the French Army
French Army
The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...
against the Italians in the Alps. After the Fall of France, he led the Maquis des Glières
Maquis des Glières
The Maquis des Glières was a Free French Resistance group, which fought against the 1940-1944 German occupation of France in World War II. The name is also given to the military conflict that opposed Resistance fighters to German, Vichy and Milice forces....
, organizing attacks and parachute drops, and was the recipient of multiple military awards including the Croix de Guerre. He was killed in action
Killed in action
Killed in action is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their own forces at the hands of hostile forces. The United States Department of Defense, for example, says that those declared KIA need not have fired their weapons but have been killed due to...
at the end of a successful commando raid
Commando
In English, the term commando means a specific kind of individual soldier or military unit. In contemporary usage, commando usually means elite light infantry and/or special operations forces units, specializing in amphibious landings, parachuting, rappelling and similar techniques, to conduct and...
. He is memorialized at Saint-Cyr and by the French scouting
Scouting
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement with the stated aim of supporting young people in their physical, mental and spiritual development, that they may play constructive roles in society....
movement.
Youth and military career
Morel was born into a family of the LyonLyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
bourgeoisie
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
. His father was the son of a Lyon silk
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
industriaist and his mother was from a family of Savoie
Savoie
Savoie is a French department located in the Rhône-Alpes region in the French Alps.Together with the Haute-Savoie, Savoie is one of the two departments of the historic region of Savoy that was annexed by France on June 14, 1860, following the signature of the Treaty of Turin on March 24, 1860...
jurists and soldiers. He was well schooled by the Lyon Jesuits where he was a Scout de France and patrol leader (1st Lyon, externat St Joseph), and moved towards a military career. At the Versailles private school of Sainte-Geneviève
Lycée privé Sainte-Geneviève
The Lycée Sainte-Geneviève is a private lycée, located in Versailles and providing preparatory classes for grandes écoles. It was founded in Paris, April 1854...
took the trial for the Saint-Cyr military academy, in which he enrolled in 1935 (promotion 1935-1937 Maréchal Lyautey
Hubert Lyautey
Louis Hubert Gonzalve Lyautey was a French Army general, the first Resident-General in Morocco from 1912 to 1925 and from 1921 Marshal of France.-Early life:...
). On finishing in 1935 he was appointed sub-lieutenant, and chose to be assigned to the 27th batallion de chasseurs alpins of Annecy
Annecy
Annecy is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.It lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy , 35 kilometres south of Geneva.-Administration:...
. He then took high-altitude training at Chamonix
Chamonix
Chamonix-Mont-Blanc or, more commonly, Chamonix is a commune in the Haute-Savoie département in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. It was the site of the 1924 Winter Olympics, the first Winter Olympics...
and became leader of the section d'éclaireurs skieurs (SES), which he turned into a first-class fighting force. In November 1938, he married a woman from Annecy, Marie-Germaine Lamy.
In May 1939, the 27th BCA was stationed on the Italian border, with Morel's SES just above Val d'Isère
Val d'Isère
Val d'Isère is a commune of the Tarentaise Valley, in the Savoie department in south-eastern France. It lies from the border with Italy. It is on the border of the Vanoise National Park created in 1963. The Face de Bellevarde was the scene of the men's downhill race as part of the 1992 Winter...
. In September 1939, while his batallion left for the Eastern front, the section commanded by Morel (who had been promoted to lieutenant) remained guarding the Italian border. After the Italians entered the war on 12 June 1940, he distinguished himself in the battle of the Alps, decisively exploiting the success of one of his patrols to take five prisoners and seize important supplies. He was decorated with the croix de Guerre and obtained his first citation. Injured on June 18, he remained at the head of his section. On 20 and 22 June he fought near the Petit-Saint-Bernard col where his action forced the Italian troops to withdraw. He received a second citation, then was made Knight of the chevalier de la Légion d’honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
. He was still only 24 years old.
Morel then served in the Army of the Armistice at Annecy under commandant Vallette d'Osia
Jean Vallette d'Osia
Jean Vallette d'Osia was a French officer best known for his action in the French Resistance during World War II in Haute-Savoie, notably supervising the liberation of Lyon....
and participated in the sequestering of weapons and supplies. In 1941 he was appointed instructor at Saint-Cyr, which had moved to Aix-en-Provence
Aix-en-Provence
Aix , or Aix-en-Provence to distinguish it from other cities built over hot springs, is a city-commune in southern France, some north of Marseille. It is in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, in the département of Bouches-du-Rhône, of which it is a subprefecture. The population of Aix is...
in the zone libre. Here he quietly encouraged his pupils to join the French Resistance.
Resistance and the Glières Plateau
After the invasion of the zone libreCase Anton
Operation Anton was the codename for the military occupation of Vichy France carried out by Germany and Italy in November 1942.- Background :...
by the Germans in November 1942, Tom Morel went underground, and joined the resistance in Haute-Savoie where he found his old commmander, Vallette d'Osia, organizer and head of the Armée Secrète
Armée secrète
The Armée secrète, created in 1943, was an organisation of French resistance fighters during World War II set up by Jean Moulin. It resulted from an amalgamation of three smaller resistance groups:*Combat*Libération-Sud*Franc-Tireur...
(AS) for that department. He signed up, along with Vallette d'Osia's old adjutant Captain Maurice Anjot, to organise the AS, whose numbers were multiplying after the February 1943 initiation of the STO
Service du travail obligatoire
The Service du travail obligatoire was the forced enlistment and deportation of hundreds of thousands of French workers to Nazi Germany in order to work as forced labour for the German war effort during World War II....
, the scheme of obligatory labour in Germany.
In September 1943, Vallette d'Osia was arrested by the Germans who had recently replaced the Italians in occupying Savoie. Vallette d'Osia's successor was Captain Henri Romans-Petit
Henri Romans-Petit
Henri Romans-Petit was a member of the French Resistance during the Second World War. He organised several maquis, notably the maquis de l'Ain et du Haut-Jura and the maquis de Haute-Savoie.-Biography:...
, organiser and head of the AS in Ain
Ain
Ain is a department named after the Ain River on the eastern edge of France. Being part of the region Rhône-Alpes and bordered by the rivers Saône and Rhône, the department of Ain enjoys a privileged geographic situation...
. Romans-Petit appointed Morel head of the Maquis in the department, and gave him the task of organizing the receipt of allied parachute drops
Drop zone
A drop zone is a place where parachutists or parachuted supplies land. It can be an area targeted for landing by paratroopers, or a base from which recreational parachutists and skydivers take off in aircraft and land under parachutes...
on the Glières Plateau
Glières Plateau
The Glières Plateau is a limestone plateau in the Bornes Massif. Distant from La Roche-sur-Foron and Thorens-Glières by 29 km and 15 km respectively, il is located around the communes of Le Petit-Bornand-les-Glières and Thorens-Glières....
.
On 31 January 1944, Morel occupied the plateau with 120 maquisards. By the end of February, he had approximately 300 men under his orders, whom he organized into three companies. Morel was distinguished by his talent as a leader and trainer of these men who had come from varied geographical, social and political backgrounds. He took up the doctrine of "live free or die", and disciplined his batallion to turn it into unified and effective force in the fight for liberation. In February and March, numerous clashes occurred with the Groupe mobile de réserve
Groupe mobile de réserve
The Groupes mobiles de réserve , often referred to as GMR, were paramilitary units created by the Vichy regime during the Second World War...
(GMR) and with the Milice
Milice
The Milice française , generally called simply Milice, was a paramilitary force created on January 30, 1943 by the Vichy Regime, with German aid, to help fight the French Resistance. The Milice's formal leader was Prime Minister Pierre Laval, though its chief of operations, and actual leader, was...
of the Vichy régime who were surrounding the plateau.
On 2 March, Morel decided on commando operation against the Beau Séjour hotel at Saint-Jean-de-Sixt
Saint-Jean-de-Sixt
Saint-Jean-de-Sixt is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.It lies in the Aravis Range of the French Alps...
where the GMR were stationed. Thirty of them were taken prisoner. They had to provide currency in exchange for Michel Fournier, medical student and auxiliary doctor for the maquis, who had been arrested at le Grand-Bornand
Le Grand-Bornand
Le Grand-Bornand is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.The commune is a ski resort and owes its name to the river which runs through it...
several days earlier. The prisoners were freed but, in spite of the agreement on the honour of the Annecy police intendent, Fournier was not released.
Thereafter, the Maquis benefited from the arrival of 120 fighters from Chablais
Chablais
Chablais was a province of the Duchy of Savoy. Its capital was Thonon-les-Bains.This region is currently divided into three territories, the Chablais savoyard, the Chablais valaisan, and the Chablais vaudois, and is now split across two countries: France and Switzerland...
and Giffre. Morel decided to lead another operation, more significant and hazardous, against the staff of the GMR, "Aquitaine", in Entremont at the foot of the Glières Plateau. Couret, officer of the peace and interim commandant of the GMR, had not performed his duties regarding the resistance, and his superior, commandant Lefebvre, who had arrived on 7 March, refused to speak to the Maquis. Over 100 men took part in the operation on the night of March 9–10. One of the groups, commanded directly by Morel, succeeded in taking the hôtel de France where the GMR staff was based. The maquisards disarmed their prisoners, but Lefebvre pulled out a concealed gun, and fired on Morel at close range, shooting him directly in the heart. Morel collapsed dead. Lefebvre was killed immediately.
Morel's body was brought up to the plateau where he was buried on 13 March after a moving religious ceremony. On 2 May, his body was brought down to the valley, and he remains buried today in the Morette military cemetery, now the Glières en Haute-Savoie national necropolis.
Posterity
On 5 November 1944, General Charles de GaulleCharles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
awarded Morel the posthumous title of croix de la Libération. The citation was as follows:
The 174th promotion from the Saint-Cyr academy was named Lieutenant Tom Morel in his honor.
Morel's personality was summarized by Pierre Golliet in the book Glières - Haute-Savoie - Première bataille de la Résistance - 31 janvier - 26 mars 1944 (by Golliet, Pierre, Helfgott, Julien et Louis Jourdand 1946):
In October 1995, the new dormitory of the Saint-Cyr military academy
Lycée militaire de Saint-Cyr
Situated at Saint-Cyr-l'École , the lycée militaire de Saint-Cyr is one of six lycées de la Défense of the French Ministry of Defence. It is sited in a particularly historic building - it succeeds the Maison royale de Saint-Louis, the Prytanée militaire and the École spéciale militaire...
was named the Tom Morel building.
The barracks of the 27e BCA carries the name of Tom Morel.
Tom Morel is the father of Admiral Philippe Morel (d. 22 June 2010) who was president of the Association of families of the compagnons de la libération and vice-président of the Association des Glières. Tom Morel's widow, Marie-Germaine Morel née Lamy, died 14 November 2010.
The second troop of the Mouvement des Scouts Unitaires de France, Saint-Cloud group (France, Hauts-de-Seine) bears Morel's name.