Resistance commander Solange Alexandre dies at 104
The former head of the Pas-de-Boeuf network in western France died in Le Mans, ending a life defined by wartime sabotage and later service as a teacher.
By Nadia Rahman ·
Solange Alexandre, a former commander of a French Resistance unit during World War Two, died on Tuesday at the age of 104. Her death was announced at a nursing home in Le Mans. Alexandre was one of the few women to create and lead her own group of fighters against the German occupation.
She founded the Pas-de-Boeuf network in 1944 near Ruillé-sur-Loir. By that point, she had already served as a courier since 1941. The unit operated under her direct command with approximately 30 men. Her group conducted sabotage operations and provided shelter for Allied airmen. Following the Normandy landings in 1944, her fighters joined the liberation efforts against occupying forces.
President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to Alexandre on social media. He noted that she viewed her actions as a simple duty. "She said she only ever did her duty. But her duty was our freedom. France will never forget. Thank you," Macron wrote.
Alexandre was born in 1922 in the Sarthe department. She grew up in a family deeply affected by the previous war. Her mother lost her first husband in World War One, and her father was wounded in 1917. Alexandre wrote in her memoirs that concepts of homeland and honor were central to her upbringing.
In June 1940, she heard General Charles de Gaulle’s call to continue the fight against Germany from London. She had not previously known the general but decided to join the Resistance. She was recruited by Saïd Belhaffaf, a Tunisian-born French army veteran and a friend of her father. Using the code name Corlay, she traveled by bicycle across the Le Mans region to gather intelligence and deliver messages.
In 1943, she met Guy Déliot, who had left the French gendarmerie after refusing to arrest Jewish individuals. In April 1944, the couple moved into the maquis, living clandestinely in forested areas with support from local farmers. Their group included deserters from German labor programs and survivors of a destroyed Resistance unit. Two airmen, one American and one Canadian, also joined them.
Alexandre survived two Gestapo attempts to capture her. She participated in the liberation of Tours in September 1944. She ended the war with the rank of sub-lieutenant in the French Interior Forces. After the conflict, she worked as a teacher and accompanied her husband to various gendarmerie postings in French overseas territories.
Her first husband was killed in Martinique in 1960. Alexandre remarried in 1981. She declined the Légion d'Honneur twice, stating that others were more worthy. She finally accepted the award in 2024. Upon receiving it, she expressed pride in the honor, acknowledging her advanced age.
