Charles Brunier, who was also known as Bébert-le-Tatoué, aboard a freighter called the "Ile de Noirmoutier” returning from the penal colony of Cayenne, French Guiana heading towards Bordeaux, France, 1949.
Brunier was born in Paris in 1901. He served in Syria in 1918 during the First World War and was wounded in action, also receiving the Croix de Guerre for saving a lieutenant's life. In 1923, he was convicted of murder and armed robbery and sent to the penal colony off the coast of French Guiana. After the outbreak of World War Two, he escaped to Mexico and joined the Free French Forces as a fighter pilot. He served in the Battle of the Caribbean for two years before transferring to the infantry. He also fought in Africa (where Charles de Gaulle personally decorated him) and Italy. After the war, he was imprisoned again but released in 1948 in recognition of his services. He died in 2007 at the age of 105.
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