Remarkable figures: Georges DEMANGE, A decorated French Navy man at the bank
Portrait of Georges Demange - BNP Paribas Historical Archives, AH00002646
In connection with the commemoration of the 80 years of the Liberation, we offer you a series of portraits of men and women who worked in the ancestral banks of the BNP Paribas Group and distinguished themselves by acts of bravery during the Second World War.
We propose that you begin this series with the figure of Georges Demange (1910-1992), who was awarded the Croix de Guerre in 1945 by de Gaulle for his active involvement in the Resistance.
His fate on earth
In 1944, on the route from Carbon Blanc to Bordeaux, First Master Fusilier Demange was joining his department at the École Principale du Service de Santé.
But how comes a first Master is ashore?
Let’s go back to 1929. The 19-year-old Georges Demange leaves the school where he took the courses until the second and joins the Marine Nationale. He was posted to various ships and sailed under various skies, including Indochina in 1937-38. On November 27, 1942, he was aboard the torpedo boat Mameluk when it was scuttled in Toulon with the rest of the French fleet.
Since he was no longer posted to sea, First Master Fusilier Demange was transferred ashore to the Gironde Health Department.
He did not remain inactive. As early as March 1944, the pivotal period of the Second World War, he became a member of the local resistance, the Vedette network, and performed several acts that earned him recognition of the Nation by a Decree of the Provisional Government of the Republic :
Is awarded the Military Medal : DEMANGE, Georges, First Master Fusilier of the Ecole Principale de Service de Santé de la Marine.
“Valuable collaborator who, thanks to his knowledge of the German language, provided interesting information… Excellent intelligence officer, a volunteer for all missions, demonstrating great courage and complete disregard for danger, has rendered distinguished service to the R.S. before the Liberation.
On 28 August 1944, during the liberation of BORDEAUX, taken to task at CARBON BLANC by a group of Germans while rescuing a French wounded man, he was himself seriously injured … in the right arm by an explosive bullet … and had to be amputated with an arm.”
This concession includes the award of the War Cross with PalmeSigned : DE GAULLE
Paris, 5 May 1945
On 26 November 1945 he was summoned to the Order of the Division with the award of the 1939 War Cross with Silver Star. This quotation is signed by General June on behalf of General De Gaulle.
With peace restored, Georges Demange found various small jobs and took various training courses. He obtained the CAP accounting (with distinction Good) and was hired at Banque nationale pour le commerce et l’industrie on March 14, 1949 as an employee. He holds the CAP as a bank clerk and will spend his entire career at the agency in Rodez. His qualities were recognised by his superiors and he gradually rose to the status of a management officer. In 1970, he retired at the age of 60.
During his stay at the BNCI, he was still honoured for his wartime deeds: on 9 April 1953, he was appointed Knight of the Legion of Honour, a decoration given at Albi on 14 July 1953 at 10 a.m. on the Plateau du Vigan during the taking of arms.
Georges Demange left us in 1992, at the age of 82.
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