Being born into royalty in Georgia, Dimitri and his family would flee the Red Army in the 1920s to Turkey and then later to France where he would graduate from a military academy and be stationed in North Africa. Once hostilities commenced, Amilakhvari would be deployed to Norway and receive the War Cross with Sword then would later become part of the exiled Free French Army once France fell. He would then fight his Vichy countrymen in Africa and then fight the Italians in East Africa. He would then be redeployed to North Africa against the Germans where he was quoted as saying, "We, foreigners, have only one way to prove to France our gratitude: to be killed ...". Dimitri would later fall on the second day of the Second Battle of El Alamein. Amilakhvari would receive France's highest honor posthumously for his service in 1955.
Thank you for your service to defend the world against fascism and may you be at peace,
Brian
No comments:
Post a Comment