Edouard Dieffenbach
Edouard Xavier Dieffenbach was a French planter and military officer active in the Free French Camel Corps during the Second World War in the theater of East Africa. He was also veteran of the World War I.Biography
His father, Edouard Dieffenbach, was an accountant in Metz, then German Empire, and his mother was Marie Caroline Koehl, daughter to Louis Xavier Joseph Koehl and Caroline Koehl.. He crossed the front line during the First World War, joining the French Armed Forces. After the war, he settled in Madagascar where he was active as a planter.
At the outbreak of World War II, he was captured by French forces loyal to the Vichy regime in Madagascar, and all his properties confiscated. Upon release by the British, he made a long journey to the Horn of Africa, where he enrolled with the first Free French Forces in Somaliland in April 1941, a few weeks after the liberation of the territory by British during the East Africa Campaign. There, he principally associated with the 1re DFL/BM21 land forces.
In Djibouti, Captain Edouard Dieffenbach co-founded a squad of meharist camel cavalry, the Free French Camel Corps, first known as the Free French Camel Plutoon, with initial strength estimated to about 15-20 camels along with riders of which Dieffenbach was appointed deputy commander. The unit was active from September 1941 to February 1942, fighting notably alongside the British Somaliland Camel Corps and saw action in East Africa and North Africa.
After the end of the World War II, he returned to Madagscar, and his belongings were returned.Distinctions
