Description

Kléber Dupuy was a French army officer. The son of an oyster farmer, he was conscripted into the French Army in 1913. He served in the First World War as an enlisted soldier in the 9th Infantry Regiment but was accepted for a commission and in 1915 joined the 7th Infantry Regiment as a second lieutenant. Dupuy commanded a force of 60 men at Fort Souville during the 1916 Battle of Verdun and, on 12 July, repelled a German attack. He was honoured with the Croix de Guerre. Later in the war he was wounded in action and had part of his right leg amputated. After the war Dupuy worked for the government's veterans' office and, during the Second World War, joined the French Resistance. Dupuy was appointed a grand officier of the Legion of Honour.