Date of birth:

February 25th, 1905 (Metlaoui, Tunisia)

Date of death:

January 25th, 2007 (Paris, XVe, France)

Nationality:

French (1870-present, Republic)

In 1923, he enlisted in the army as a 2nd class soldier in the 12th Tunisian infantry regiment (12th RTT). Passed to the 4th RTT, he was promoted to sergeant in 1924.

He was shot in the arm in September 1925 in Morocco during the Rif campaign and was named to the order of the army corps.

Released in October 1928, Joseph Casile re-enlisted in May 1930 and left for Indochina from January 1931 to August 1934.

Admitted to the corps of career non-commissioned officers in 1936, he served with the 8th RTS and, after a stay in Guyana, was assigned to the Levant in the summer of 1939. When war broke out, he was in Syria and served with the 24th Regiment colonial infantry (24th RIC). He was promoted to master sergeant in April 1940.

In June 1940, he took the section chief's course in Tripoli and, on June 27, as soon as General Mittelhauser laid down his arms in Syria, with his comrades Bénard and Salvat, he refused the armistice and went to Palestine with the captain. Folliot and 130 men of the 3rd Company of the Regiment, using false mission orders.

Gathered at the Moascar camp, the French volunteers were joined by the 350 men of the 3rd Battalion of the 24th RIC led by Captain Lorotte and decided to take the name of 1st Marine Infantry Battalion (1st BIM). The 1 st BIM constitutes, for the British, the first element of the Free French (Free French) and will be the first FFL unit to resume combat.

With the BIM, Staff Sergeant Casile participated in the campaigns in Egypt and Libya (1940-1941) and in particular in the capture of Tobruk with the British in January 1941.

He then fought in Syria in June 1941 and was appointed adjutant on September 1.

He fought again in Libya, taking part in particular in the battle of Bir Hakeim with the 1st Brigade of General Koenig from May 27 to June 11, 1942.

On October 31, 1942, he was wounded at the battle of El Alamein, by a mortar shard in the left thigh.

In May 1943, Chief Warrant Officer Casile made the Tunisian campaign within Headquarters 51 of the 1st Free French Division.

On August 21, 1943, he was assigned, still within the 1st DFL, to Marching Battalion No. 21 (BM 21). With his unit, Joseph Casile landed in Italy in April 1944 and fought in Garigliano, San Giorgio, Pontecorvo, Leucio, Palestrina, and Gallicano.

In August 1944, he landed in Provence and took part in the ascent of the Rhône valley. He distinguished himself in the Vosges, in particular on September 28, 1944 at Frédéric-Fontaine before fighting in the region of Belfort (hill 327), and in Alsace at Kraft, Osthouse, Sélestat, on the Rhine and at Maausen.

Joseph Casile was promoted to second lieutenant in January 1945 and ended the war in the Alps, with the 1st DFL, at Fort Rans and Pezurbe.

After a stay in Bangui during which he was wounded while on duty, he was promoted lieutenant before leaving the army in 1948.

He then worked as a chief accountant, then as a farmer in Corsica.

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• - Joseph CASILE | L'Ordre de la Libération et son Musée