LAGNY COMMUNAL CEMETERY
Seine-et-Marne
France
GPS Coordinates: Latitude: 48.87881, Longitude: 2.72258
Location Information
Lagny-sur-Marne is a town and commune 25 miles (40 kilometres) north of Melun, and 18 miles (29 kilometres) by road east of Paris. The communal cemetery is on the eastern side of the town between the River Marne and the road to Coulommiers. Near the north-east corner is the grave of the 1 British soldier.
The inscription of the grave is almost unreadable, Captain Paul Tessier, War Grave, Mort Pour La France Et Les Allies, 1914-1944.
The granite base is unreadable.
Lagny-sur-Marne is a town and commune 25 miles (40 kilometres) north of Melun, and 18 miles (29 kilometres) by road east of Paris. The communal cemetery is on the eastern side of the town between the River Marne and the road to Coulommiers. Near the north-east corner is the grave of the 1 British soldier.
The inscription of the grave is almost unreadable, Captain Paul Tessier, War Grave, Mort Pour La France Et Les Allies, 1914-1944.
The granite base is unreadable.
Images in gallery below © Johan Pauwels
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262994 Captain
Paul Raymond Tessier, Mentioned in Despatches
Reconnaissance Corps, R. A. C. attached to Special Operations Executive
26th August 1944, aged 29.
Paul Raymond Tessier, Mentioned in Despatches
Reconnaissance Corps, R. A. C. attached to Special Operations Executive
26th August 1944, aged 29.
Paul Raymond Tessier was a Special Operations Executive Soldier in WW2. Born 15 October 1916 in the French Hospital and Dispensary at 172-176 Shaftesbury Avenue, London W1. The son of Denis Tessier, who was described as both Swiss and French, and a French mother, Alveline née Puyfourcat, Tessier had two sisters, Alice and Denise and two brothers, Edmond and Elie. His father was a pipe maker and the family home when Paul was born was at 20 Churchill Road in Homerton, London E9. Paul, Denise and Elie were born in England, while Alice and Edmond had been born in France, before the family moved to England. Tessier was recorded at the start of his SOE training as having French nationality at birth, but this is amended later in his file showing him to have declared himself to be British by the majority age of 21.
His death while in action has a number of differing versions, but this one seems to be close to the actual events that occurred on 26-Aug-1944:
"Tessier died while traveling in a car through Chelles and Montfermeil without any problems. But soon after passing the Sept Iles road junction, the vehicle passed a group of German soldiers. Initially, there seemed to be no reaction, but the enemy then opened fire from the rear with a hidden machine gun and just after passing a car body shop, the vehicle came to a halt. All four men inside the vehicle leapt from the car, but Tessier, already wounded slightly in the thigh, was instantly hit by a burst of machine-gun fire which Cane later described as almost cutting him in two at the waist. Cane went on to say that Tessier died just a few minutes later, propped with his back against a tree against a tree."
Tessier was awarded a Posthumous Mention in Despatches (gazetted in June 1945) by the British, it being noted on his SOE file that, had he survived, he would have been recommended for the DSO.
From the French, and as recommended by Commandant Albert, he received Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur, the Croix de Guerre and the Médaille de la Résistance
His death while in action has a number of differing versions, but this one seems to be close to the actual events that occurred on 26-Aug-1944:
"Tessier died while traveling in a car through Chelles and Montfermeil without any problems. But soon after passing the Sept Iles road junction, the vehicle passed a group of German soldiers. Initially, there seemed to be no reaction, but the enemy then opened fire from the rear with a hidden machine gun and just after passing a car body shop, the vehicle came to a halt. All four men inside the vehicle leapt from the car, but Tessier, already wounded slightly in the thigh, was instantly hit by a burst of machine-gun fire which Cane later described as almost cutting him in two at the waist. Cane went on to say that Tessier died just a few minutes later, propped with his back against a tree against a tree."
Tessier was awarded a Posthumous Mention in Despatches (gazetted in June 1945) by the British, it being noted on his SOE file that, had he survived, he would have been recommended for the DSO.
From the French, and as recommended by Commandant Albert, he received Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur, the Croix de Guerre and the Médaille de la Résistance
