Lieutenant Colonel Jean Pierre Bissey | French Foreign Legion Information

On August 5, 1933, Lieutenant Colonel Jean Pierre Bissey, a little-known officer of the French Foreign Legion, was killed in a battle with local rebels during the French pacification of Morocco. Almost forgotten today, he remains the highest-ranking Foreign Legion officer killed not only between the two world wars but also during the long Moroccan campaign. The following article has been written in his memory.

Jean Pierre Bissey was born on July 20, 1882, in La Sauvetat-du-Dropt, a small commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in southwestern France. While growing up in the same commune, young Jean decided to pursue a military career. He enlisted as a private in the 65th Infantry Regiment in Nantes, western France, in August 1900. Seven years later, he entered the renowned Military Infantry Academy (École Militaire d’Infanterie, EMI) in Saint-Maixent, which gave qualified non-commissioned officers the chance to become officers. A year later, in 1908, he graduated as a second lieutenant. He married the same year.

Promoted again in April 1910, now-Lieutenant Bissey was posted in late December as a platoon leader with the 1st Foreign Regiment (1er RE) of the Foreign Legion in Algeria, French North Africa. He served in the Saharan regions of Algeria’s South Oran.

In mid-1914, the First World War broke out in Europe. The young officer immediately volunteered to defend mainland France and was accepted into the 144th Infantry Regiment. Shortly afterward, in September, Bissey was promoted to captain. Severely wounded in combat on the Western Front, he was captured by the enemy and imprisoned from late 1914 to 1917, when he was freed. After receiving the prestigious Legion of Honor in July 1917, the partially disabled officer returned to the 1er RE to serve in the ongoing campaign in Morocco (carried out since 1907), within the 1st Operational Regiment, 1er RE. In 1919, Jean Bissey left the Legion and joined the Moroccan Tirailleurs (French light infantry units made up of Moroccan natives).

In September 1925, Captain Bissey was assigned to the Legion’s 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment (3e REI), a unit also stationed in Morocco. However, he spent only a few months with it. In July 1926, he left North Africa to join the 11th Chasseurs Machine Gun Battalion (Bataillon de chasseurs mitrailleurs, BCM, “Hunters”) in French-occupied Germany. In late March 1927, Bissey was promoted to major. He returned to Morocco in mid-1927 to command the 1st Battalion, 63rd Moroccan Tirailleurs Regiment.

In May 1931, Major Bissey rejoined the Foreign Legion and was transferred to the 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment (2e REI) in Meknes, still in Morocco. He took over the 1st Battalion. In March 1932, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and became the regiment’s second-in-command, under Colonel Richert. This time, his service was marked by more efforts to pacify the country and by the capture of the last rebel strongholds in the High Atlas Mountains.

In early 1933, French troops, including legionnaires, fought in the Djebel Sagho. They then moved north and, from July to August, conducted operations between Agoudal and Tinghir to chase the last rebels in this part of Morocco.

On August 5, 1933, while leading his troops during these very last battles in Morocco, Lieutenant Colonel Bissey was killed in action. Comprising two Moroccan Tirailleurs battalions and a 2e REI battalion (2nd), they were part of three operational task forces involved in the operation in the Djebel Hamdoun mountain range (also called Tizi N’Hamdoun), which the rebels had occupied. During a French general assault, 16 legionnaires were killed, as was their lieutenant colonel, shot through the heart by a rebel sharpshooter. Another 30 officers and legionnaires of the 2e REI were wounded. However, the rebels were defeated and their position taken.

Lieutenant Colonel Jean Pierre Bissey was buried in Meknes on August 12. Father of five, he earned six citations (mentions in dispatches) during his admirable service and was awarded, among other accolades, the Officer of the Legion of Honor, the War Cross 1914-1918, the Foreign Theater Operations War Cross, the Colonial Medal with clasps “Morocco” and “Sahara,” the Order of Ouissam Alaouite (Moroccan), and the Medal for Peace in Morocco (Spanish).

Later, his name was given to the 2e REI headquarters in Meknes: Quartier Bissey. The Legion units occupied it until the mid-1950s.

Unfortunately, Lieutenant Colonel Bissey is all but forgotten in France despite the fact that he was the highest-ranking officer of the Foreign Legion to be killed not only between the two world wars but also during the entire campaign in Morocco (1907-1934). He also remains the highest-ranking officer of the post-World War I 2e REI who was killed in action.

As a matter of interest, his son Jean-Pierre (born 1917) defended France during the German invasion from 1939-1940. Thereafter, he became a paratrooper commando with the British and jumped over France during the country’s liberation in 1944. He never served with the Foreign Legion, however. Jean-Pierre retired from the French Army as a colonel in 1972 and died in 2015.

Lieutenant Colonel Jean Pierre Bissey - 2e REI - 2 REI - Foreign Legion - 1930s — *Lieutenant Colonel Jean Pierre Bissey* (1882 – 1933).

Quartier Bissey - Meknes - Morocco - 2e REI - 2 REI - Foreign Legion - 1930s — Quartier Bissey in *Meknes*, Morocco, 1930s. The barracks served as the HQ of the 2e REI until late 1940. After World War II, it was occupied by the *4e REI*.

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