Victimes Civiles de la Guerre de Corée Liste des Civils Français "Tiger Survivors" - Biographies
Extraits du site web : http://tigersurvivors.org/civbios.html
When the North Koreans suddenly attacked South Korea across the 38th Parallel on June 25, 1950, they quickly conquered all the major cities except Pusan and then rounded up everyone they considered to be an enemy or a potential enemy. Their list of enemies included all foreigners and all South Koreans who were known to be or suspected of being disloyal to Communism. They were engaging in what might now be called "ideological cleansing." The goal of the Communists was to insure "correct political thinking " (a term that Communists use as far back as July 1950.) The North Koreans swept through South Korea with a broad brush; their orders were uncomplicated and complete: If in doubt, arrest and/or shoot. In their zeal, they arrested foreign citizens of fourteen nationalities whose missions in South Korea included British and French diplomats, Catholic and Protestant missionaries, anti-Communist White Russians, and several business people. The age of those to be arrested was no barrier-eighty-one years to six months, the latter being a member of a Tatar family
Tiger Survivors is a veterans group of American soldiers, one British Marine and 79 multi-national civilians who were held prisoners by the Communists in North Korea for 38 or more months from 29 June 1950 through 1 April 1954. The name Tiger Survivors is taken from the cruel and murdering North Korean Major who was in charge of the group from late October 1950 through Spring 1951. A madman who enjoyed killing, "The Tiger" murdered his first victim, First Lieutenant Cordus H. Thornton, on 1 November 1950, the first day of the Tiger Death March. Major John Dunn, Headquarters Company, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, was the ranking officer. He retired a Colonel.Sixty-five percent of the group died in captivity from a variety of causes. Many were shot or beaten to death, but the majority died because of exposure and untreated respiratory infections. Out of nearly 850 who were captured, only 165 are alive today. Hopefully, many of these will contribute their stories to the Tiger Survivors web site. It is acknowledged that the Tiger Survivors group is small when compared to the total number of prisoners of war held by the Communists. There was much suffering and death in all the camps and all those who were prisoners are our brothers. A quarterly newsletter is published and annual reunions are held in conjunction with the Korean War Ex-POW Association, Inc.
E-mail Comments to:Shorty Estabrook tigersurvivors@comcast.net
- Veterans group headed by:
- Wilbert R. "Shorty" Estabrook
- (Founding father - Tiger Survivors)
- 23816 Matador Wway
- Murrieta, CA 92562
- (909) 600-7222
BÉATRIX, MOTHER
A Catholic missionary, she was 76 years of age when she was captured. Born in France, she had wished since early girlhood to devote her life to God's poor. Before her arrest by the Communists, she had been assigned to the Sisters of St. Paul de Chartres Orphanage in Seoul, South Korea. In very frail health, she was shot on the Death March on November 3, 1950 for failure to keep up with the fast pace set by The Tiger.
BULTEAU, FATHER JOSEPHA Catholic missionary belonging to the Paris Foreign Missions. Born in 1901, he was drafted into the French Army in World War II, captured by the Germans, and released because of illness. A powerful-looking man with a magnificent beard, he was 50 years old at the time of his arrest by the North Korean Communists. He died in prison at Hanjang-ni, North Korea on January 6, 1951.
CADARS, FATHER JOSEPHA Catholic missionary and member of the Paris Foreign Missionary Society. Born in 1897, he had served in the French Army during World War I and eventually served in Indochina. He died in prison at Hanjang-ni, North Korea on December 18, 1950.
CHANTELOUP, MAURICEBorn in 1915, he was a French journalist, working for the Agence France Presse newspaper, who had been sent to cover the Korean War. He had been captured during the very first days of the fighting in South Korea and had arrived as a North Korean prisoner in July 1950. He survived but has since died.
COYOS, FATHER CÉLESTINThe youngest Catholic missionary of the Paris Foreign Missionaries and the only French priest to survive the imprisonment. "One of us," he was to say in the worst days of all, "must live to tell the story." He survived the imprisonment but has since died.
DEMEUSY, SISTER EUGÈNIEFrench by birth, she had served for 18 years prior to her capture as the Mistress of Novices for the Sisters of St. Paul de Chartres Orphanage in Seoul, South Korea. A tireless and dedicated worker, she, more than anyone else, kept Father Coyos alive during the winter of 1950-51.
Sister Eugènie was awarded the United States Medal of Freedom for "dedication to the welfare of prisoners of war." On January 22, 1955, in ceremonies in Seoul, South Korea, the medal was presented on behalf of President Eisenhower by Lieutenant General Claude B. Ferenbaugh, Deputy Commander, United States Eighth Army.
DESCAYAUX, SISTER MARIE-BERNADETTEA tireless worker for others in the camp, she was the constant companion of Sister Marie-Madeleine who was blind. She survived but has since died.
GOMBERT, FATHER ANTOINEA French priest of the Paris Foreign Missions Society, he was 76 years of age at the time of his capture. He and his brother, Julien, were inseparable and carried on their personal conversations in Korean. He died at the conclusion of the Death March on November 12, 1950, in Chunggang-jin, North Korea.
GOMBERT, FATHER JULIENA French priest of the Paris Foreign Missions Society, he was 74 at the time of his capture. As had been his expressed wish, he died within 24 hours following the death of his brother, Antoine.
HENRIETTE, MOTHER (Henriette de Lobit)A member of the Carmelite Order of Nuns, she was the Subprioress under Mother Therese in Seoul, South Korea before the Communist invasion. She was known in prison as Mother Superior following the death of Mother Therese. She survived the imprisonment but has since died.
HOANG, MADAME SIMONEAs a young girl, she had been betrothed by her parents to a Korean scholar many years older than herself, and she had come to Korea from France to marry him. Their son, Man Seng, was approximately ten years old at the time of the Communist invasion. In 1984, Simone was confined to a psychiatric facility in Paris, France. It is unknown if she is alive and unclear if her husband, who was known to have held strong anti-Communist views, survived the Communist invasion of South Korea.
HOANG, MAN SENGThe ten-year-old child of Madame Simone Hoang. It is not known if he is alive.
MADELEINE, SISTER MARIEBorn Henriette Marquier. A member of the Carmelite Order of nuns living in Seoul, South Korea before the war. Though totally blind, she proved herself a gifted French teacher for the children of the Tatar and White Russian families. She survived the imprisonment but has since died.
MARTEL, AMELIAAge 76 when her imprisonment began, she had been widowed only a year before. Her husband had been a professor in Seoul University at the time of his death. Amelia's German father was Professor Eckart, noted musician and composer. He wrote the national anthem that is used in Japan today. Besides Charles and Marguerite, both of whom shared her imprisonment, Amelia had other children. She survived the imprisonment but died in Portland, Oregon in 1979.
MARTEL, CHARLES ÉMILEBorn in 1909, he was Chancellor of the French Legation. Charles marched together with his sister and mother on the Death March in the fall of 1950. A strong family, the Martels were proud of a name that had first become famous in 732 A.D. when Charles "The Hammer" Martel, in one of the great decisive battles of history, defeated the Saracens at Tours. Martel's victory halted the expansion into northern Europe of Moslem forces operating from Spain. Charles survived the imprisonment but has since died.
MARTEL, MARGUERITEBorn on July 1, 1912, in Seoul, South Korea, she was a quiet person and, in prison, spent most of her time with her mother, Amelia, and her brother, Charles. An interpreter by profession, she died on December 12, 1995, in Multnomah, Oregon and is buried at Mt. Calvary Cemetery near Portland beside her sister Marie and brother-in-law Richard Deppold.
MEADMORE, JEANBorn in 1912, he was Vice-consul of the French Legation in Seoul before his arrest by the North Korean Communists in 1950. He survived the imprisonment and continued a very successful career in the French Diplomatic Service until his retirement some years ago. One of his diplomatic assignments was Ambassador to Conakry, Guinea, where he was expelled by Sekou Toure. He now lives in France.
PERRUCHE, GEORGESBorn in 1916, he was Consul General of the French Legation in Seoul, South Korea before the Korean War. Diplomatic immunity did not protect him or any of the other diplomats from abuses by the North Korean Communists. On the Death March, his entreaties to the Tiger on behalf of the prisoners were usually ignored. Following his release from prison, he continued in the French Diplomatic Service, serving in such posts as:
- Consul General in Osaka, Japan
- Minister Plenipotentiary 96 Saigon (where he was expelled by Thieu)
- Ambassador to Ulan Bator, Outer Mongolia
- Ambassador to Kabul, Afghanistan (where he was expelled by the Communists when the Russians invaded.
When he retired in 1964, he was awarded the Commander of the Legion of Honor. He died in Paris on July 7, 1984.
VILLEMOT, FATHERA Catholic missionary and, at 82, the oldest of the civilian prisoners. As chaplain to the Sisters of St. Paul de Chartres in Seoul, South Korea before his capture, he had received the care he needed, but his frail body was not equipped to handle his treatment at the hands of the Communists.. After completing the Death March, he died in captivity at Chunggang-jin, North Korea on November 11, 1950.
TIGER SURVIVORS -CIVILIAN DEATHS
Name Age Date of Captured Date of Death Nationality Affiliation Yr. of Birth Bastin,Sr.Therese
49 501130 Belgian
R.Cath.Nun
1901 Bulteue,Fr.Joseph
50 510106 French
R.Cath.Priest
1901 Byrnes,Bishop Patrick
67 501125 USA
R.Cath.Bishop
1883 Cadars, Fr.Joseph
71 501218 French
R.Cath.Priest
1879 Canavan, Fr.Frances
35 501206 Irish
R.Cath.Priest
1915 Clare,Sr.Mary
501106 Irish
Angelican Nun
De Vriese, Sr.Mechtilde
62 501118 Belgian
R.Cath.Nun
1888 Edouard,Sr.Beatrix
76 501130 French
R.Cath.Nun
1874 Eltringham,Walter
501212 USA
ECA Engineer
Evans,William Sr.
50 501212 USA
Mining Engineer
1900 Funderat,Mrs.
69 501130 W. Russian
1881 Gombert, Fr.Antoine
76 501112 French
R.Cath.Priest
1874 Gombert, Fr.Julien
74 501113 French
R.Cath.Priest
1876 Hale, George
50000 USA
Engineer
Hunt, Rev.Charles
500701 501126 British
Angelican Priest
Johnny (Korean Boy).
501103 S. Korean
U.S.Army employee?
Kijikoff, Ilian.
60 521217 W. Russian
1892 Kisch, Dr. Ernst
60 510629 Austrian
Methodist Hosp
1893 Leonoff
70 501209 W. Russian
1882 Marzlitsky, Andre
500628 Disappeared W. Russian
ECA Diver
1882 Matti, Alfred
48 501130 Swiss
Chosen Hotel Mgr.
1902 Orchestraia, Helena
Disappeared
Polish-Korean
Foreign Traders Exchange
Smirnoff
500601 W. Russian
Villemont, Fr.Paul
82 501111 French
R.Cath.Priest
1868 E-mail Comments to:Shorty Estabrook tigersurvivors@comcast.net
- Veterans group headed by:
- Wilbert R. "Shorty" Estabrook
- (Founding father - Tiger Survivors)
- 23816 Matador Wway
- Murrieta, CA 92562
- (909) 600-7222
Léon ROCHOTTE FRANCE-CORÉE 11/2004
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