Tom Morel

The 174th promotion from the Saint-Cyr academy was named Lieutenant Tom Morel in his honor.

Tom Morel is the father of Admiral Philippe Morel (d. 22 June 2010) who was president of the Association of families of the compagnons de la libération and vice-président of the Association des Glières. Tom Morel's widow, Marie-Germaine Morel née Lamy, died 14 November 2010.

In October 1995, the new dormitory of the Saint-Cyr military academy was named the Tom Morel building.

On 31 January 1944, Morel occupied the plateau with 120 maquisards. By the end of February, he had approximately 300 men under his orders, whom he organized into three companies. Morel was distinguished by his talent as a leader and trainer of these men who had come from varied geographical, social and political backgrounds. He took up the doctrine of "live free or die", and disciplined his battalion to turn it into unified and effective force in the fight for liberation. In February and March, numerous clashes occurred with the Groupe mobile de réserve (GMR) and with the Milice of the Vichy régime who were surrounding the plateau.

On 5 November 1944, General Charles de Gaulle awarded Morel the posthumous title of croix de la Libération. The citation was as follows:

Morel's personality was summarized by Pierre Golliet in the book Glières - Haute-Savoie - Première bataille de la Résistance - 31 janvier - 26 mars 1944 (by Golliet, Pierre, Helfgott, Julien et Louis Jourdand 1946):

In September 1943, Vallette d'Osia was arrested by the Germans who had recently replaced the Italians in occupying Savoie. Vallette d'Osia's successor was Captain Henri Romans-Petit, organiser and head of the AS in Ain. Romans-Petit appointed Morel head of the Maquis in the department, and gave him the task of organizing the receipt of allied parachute drops on the Glières Plateau.

After the invasion of the zone libre by the Germans in November 1942, Tom Morel went underground, and joined the resistance in Haute-Savoie where he found his old commander, Vallette d'Osia, organizer and head of the Armée Secrète (AS) for that department. He signed up, along with Vallette d'Osia's old adjutant Captain Maurice Anjot, to organise the AS, whose numbers were multiplying after the February 1943 initiation of the STO, the scheme of obligatory labour in Germany.

Morel then served in the Army of the Armistice at Annecy under commandant Vallette d'Osia and participated in the sequestering of weapons and supplies. In 1941 he was appointed instructor at Saint-Cyr, which had moved to Aix-en-Provence in the zone libre. Here he quietly encouraged his pupils to join the French Resistance.

In May 1939, the 27th BCA was stationed on the Italian border, with Morel's SES just above Val d'Isère. In September 1939, while his battalion left for the Eastern front, the section commanded by Morel (who had been promoted to lieutenant) remained guarding the Italian border. After the Italians entered the war on 12 June 1940, he distinguished himself in the battle of the Alps, decisively exploiting the success of one of his patrols to take five prisoners and seize important supplies. He was decorated with the croix de Guerre and obtained his first citation. Injured on June 18, he remained at the head of his section. On 20 and 22 June he fought near the Petit-Saint-Bernard col where his action forced the Italian troops to withdraw. He received a second citation, then was made Knight of the chevalier de la Légion d’honneur. He was still only 24 years old.

Morel was born into a family of the Lyon bourgeoisie. His father was the son of a Lyon silk industrialist and his mother was from a family of Savoie jurists and soldiers. He was well schooled by the Lyon Jesuits where he was a Scout de France and patrol leader (1st Lyon, externat St Joseph), and moved towards a military career. At the Versailles private school of Sainte-Geneviève took the trial for the Saint-Cyr military academy, in which he enrolled in 1935 (promotion 1935-1937 Maréchal Lyautey). On finishing in 1935 he was appointed sub-lieutenant, and chose to be assigned to the 27th battalion de chasseurs alpins of Annecy. He then took high-altitude training at Chamonix and became leader of the section d'éclaireurs skieurs (SES), which he turned into a first-class fighting force. In November 1938, he married a woman from Annecy, Marie-Germaine Lamy.

Théodose Morel, known as Tom Morel (1 August 1915 – 10 March 1944) was a career military officer and French Resistance fighter. A student, then instructor, at the Saint-Cyr military academy, he fought for the French Army against the Italians in the Alps. After the Fall of France, he led the Maquis des Glières, organizing attacks and parachute drops, and was the recipient of multiple military awards including the Croix de Guerre. He was killed in action at the end of a successful commando raid. He is memorialized at Saint-Cyr and by the French scouting movement.