Victor Iturria Victor Iturria ( 15 June 1917 – 25 August 1944 ) was a French paratrooper during World War II . He served as an anti - tank gunner during the Battle of France and was evacuated to England during the Battle of Dunkirk , where he joined the Free French Forces under General de Gaulle . Iturria was assigned to the Free French paratroopers that joined the British Special Air Service in North Africa , with them he took part in several raids behind enemy lines . In 1944 he parachuted into occupied France during the liberation and fought with the French Resistance in Brittany and then in Southern France , where he was killed in an ambush . Biography . Victor Iturria was born on 15 June 1917 in Saint - Jean - de - Luz in the French Basque Country . He was mobilized and took part in the Battle of France as corporal and gunner of a 25 mm anti - tank gun . As such , he received a citation for having , by himself , disabling seven German tanks during an attack . Severely wounded during the retreat to Dunkirk in May 1940 , he was evacuated to a hospital in England . He was reinstated in early July 1940 and joined the Free French Forces , becoming a paratrooper in the 1st Air Infantry Company established in England in late September 1940 by Captain Georges Bergé . With his unit , now the 1st Parachute Company , he embarked for the Middle East in July 1941 . In September 1941 , the 1st Parachute Company was renamed the Parachute Platoon of the Levant and then , as part of the Air Force , it was renamed the 1st Parachute Chasseur Company of the Free French Air Force . After being stationed at Beirut and Damascus , the unit moved in January 1942 to Kabret on the banks of the Suez Canal . It was integrated into Special Air Service Brigade ( SAS Brigade ) commanded by Major Stirling . The French SAS becomes the French Squadron and , equipped with jeeps , they became famous for raids against the German rear and airfields . On 12 June 1942 in Libya , Victor Iturria took part in an attack , led by André Zirnheld , on an airfield in Benghazi . The following month , under command of Captain Jordan , he took part in three attacks on airfields in Cyrenaica and then , in August , an attack against Benghazi . In January 1943 , he left Cairo with his unit for a 3 000 km raid to Tunisia , where it contributed to destroy the line of communication in the rear of the Mareth Line , where the Germans have stabilized their positions . Having already received two citations in the Order of the Army , he was decorated with the Médaille militaire in Algiers . . He returned to England with the survivors of the French Squadron , which became the 1st Air Infantry Battalion ( 1er BIA ) in July 1943 and then the 4th Air Infantry Battalion ( 4e BIA ) in November . Promoted to adjudant , Victor Iturria was made an instructor . On 1 July 1944 , the 4e BIA changed name again 2nd Parachute Chasseur Regiment of the Air Force ( 2e RCP ) . Iturria was parachuted into Brittany on 3 August 1944 . A week later , he took part in the attack on Lorient and on 15 August , at Quiberon , with his section , he captured a hundred prisoners . Sent to Nantes with the 2e RCP , he patrolled along the Loire . On 25 August , Victor Iturria was killed by a machine gun burst in an ambush near Blain in Loire - Atlantique department . He was buried in the village of Sare in the Pyrénées - Atlantiques department .