Gen Marcel Bigeard

“In 2000 he caused controversy in France by telling a newspaper that torture was a "necessary evil" in Algeria.”

“He was called up into the army at the outbreak of World War II and was captured in the Battle of France in 1940.”

“He survived the 1954 Battle of Dien Bien Phu, where French troops were surrounded and defeated by the forces of the Vietnamese Communists, the Viet Minh.”

“He was then sent to Algeria where he led the "irregular" counter‑insurgency campaign against the National Liberation Front (FLN) during the 1957 Battle of Algiers.”

“In 1975 he was appointed State Secretary for Defence by President Valery Giscard d'Estaing.”