André CHABANNE
(1914 - 1963)
- André CHABANNE was mobilised in 1939 and taken prisoner in June 1940 when he belonged to the 23rd Regiment of Colonial Infantry. He managed to escape at the third attempt in November 1942.
- He was a former primary school teacher and returned to France to teach in the Paris area. He was under surveillance by the Gestapo and about to be arrested when he left in March to take refuge in Jaulières, the village of his birth, in the commune of Cherves-Chatelars near Chasseneuil.
- He was appointed as primary school teacher at the primary school in Chasseneuil where he made contact with the Armée Secrète. He took the pseudonym of BLANQUI and in September 1943 started to organise a maquis at Cherves-Chatelars initially composed of refractaires opposed to STO forced labour in Germany. This was the core of the future maquis AS 18 BIR HACHEIM which he would command jointly with Guy PASCAUD (alias YOU) and Hélène NEBOUT (alias LUC).
- In September 1943, André CHABANNE was appointed chief of the Armée Secrète (A.S.) in the Charente.
- Angoulême was liberated on 1st September 1944. The military command was then under Lieutenant Colonels André CHABANNE (A.S.) and Bernard LELAY (FTPF).
- On 11th September 1944, André CHABANNE was appointed commander of the Saintes military subdivision where fighting was continuing against pockets of Germans at Royan and La Rochelle.
- After the war, he was elected as Deputy for the Charente to the National Constituent Assembly and taught at the Navy apprentice school in Ruelle.
- He devoted a great deal his time to the erection of the Memorial to the Resistance which was inaugurated in 1951.
- He died on 12th February 1963.
He was interred in the crypt at the Chasseneuil Memorial on 8th May 1954.
His wife, Thérèse BONNIER née RENAUDIN, an active member of the Resistance, was buried beside him on 11th January 1991.
| Chevalier of the Légion
d'Honneur |
| Croix de guerre avec
palme (and bar) |
| Médaille de
la Résistance avec rosette |
| Médaille des
évadés |
| Croix du combattant
volontaire de la Résistance |
