Counter-admiral Gabriel Paul Auphan (November 4, 1894, Alès – April 6, 1982) was a French naval officer who became the State Secretary of the Navy (secrétaire d'État à la Marine) of the Vichy government from April to November 1942.
Overview
Counter-admiral Gabriel Paul Auphan (November 4, 1894, Alès – April 6, 1982) was a French naval officer who became the State Secretary of the Navy (secrétaire d'État à la Marine) of the Vichy government from April to November 1942.
Naval officer
Entered the École navale in October 1911, enseigne de vaisseau in October 1914, he served on board Jeanne-d'Arc in the northern squadron, then in April 1915, in the Mediterranean where he participated to operations in the Dardanelles.
In September 1915, assigned to the intelligence service established in an island in the Levantine Mediterranean, he organized a network covering the entire Levant. He continued to lead this mission as of August 1916, as second in command of aviso Laborieux, then at Kastelórizo on the coast of Anatolia.
