Roger Blaizot | |
|---|---|
 Arrival of General Blaizot in Saigon in 1948: from left to right, General de Perier, General Salan, General Blaizot and Admiral Battet. | |
| Born | 17 May 1891 Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, France |
| Died | 21 March 1981 (aged 89) Lyon, France |
| Allegiance |  France |
| Service/ | French Army |
| Rank | Général de corps d'armée |
| Unit | French Liaison Officer to Supreme Allied Commander South-East Asia[1] |
| Commands held | 1st Motorized Colonial Division 9th Colonial Division Forces Francaises Extrême Orient[1] |
| Battles/wars | World War II First Indochina War |
Roger Charles André Henri Blaizot (17 May 1891 – 21 March 1981)[2] was a French military leader, who commanded French forces during World War II and the First Indochina War.[1] Blaizot served in Indochina through the last two years of the World War II,[3] having been sent to command the Far East French Expeditionary Forces (Forces Francaises Extrême Orient) by Charles de Gaulle.[4] Following the war, Blaizot led a fifty-member staff group to Indochina as part of a cooperation between British Special Operations Executive agents of Force 136 and the French government to ensure French retention of South East Asia,[5] this having been approved by Lord Philip Mountbatten in 1943.[6] Blaizot then went on to command the French forces in Indochina from 1948 until 1949,[7] succeeding Jean-Étienne Valluy and being succeeded himself by Marcel Carpentier.[8]
