Born August 3, 1910, Jean Poirel grew up in Magenta in the Marne. His father worked as a local government administrator, and his mother was a teacher. In 1934, Jean Poirel enlisted in the 168th Infantry Regiment. He served year on active duty, and in 1935 was discharged and made a corporal in the reserves. A licensed English translator, he landed a job as a secretary in a Paris Travel Agency. In August of 1939, he was called back to the army, and was posted as a liaison translator working with the British and French forces in Northern France and Flanders. After the German advance, he followed the Franco-Anglo retreat and was evacuated at Dunkirk. Shortly after arriving in England, on June 14, 1940, he married a Welsh woman with whom he had formed a relationship before the war when he worked at the travel agency. On June 20, 1940, he officially joins the Free French forces under De Gaulle.
Poirel remained in Liverpool working as an assistant in the newly formed Free French government. In February of 1941 he was promoted to aspirant. Five months later he is posted to the Mediterranean as a liaison officer with the British, and with the task of encouraging former Vichy French Forces, principally sailors, to join the Free French cause. In this role, he remained in Gibraltar for six months, before being sent to the Middle East.
In February of 1942, Jean Poirel was assigned to the 1st battalion of the 13th DBLE as a second lieutenant. During the breakout from Bir Hakeim, Poirel and the legionnaires under his immediate command are separated from their comrades. Severely wounded in the arm, Poirel and his companions suffer severe dehydration and exposure before eventually reaching Allied lines in late June. Poirel further participated in the Second Battle of El Alamein in October, before subsequently being reassigned back to England, where he worked for the Free French secret service.
In August of 1943, Poirel rejoined the 13th DBLE in Algiers, and landed with the unit in Italy, in April of 1944. He is distinguished for bravery at Radicofani on June 18, 1944, where he led of a group of six legionnaires in an impromptu assault on a series of dwellings where German soldiers were resting. His action leads to the capture of 70 German enlisted men and 3 officers. He landed with the 13th DBLE in France in August. On November 3, in Alsace, he is again credited with leading an assault resulting in the capture of a number of German prisoners. On November 5, he was distinguished for holding his position during a heavy counterattack. At the end of 1944, he was promoted to full lieutenant.
On January 23, 1945, during the attack at Illhausern, despite being injured, Poirel took the initiative on his own and with only his platoon assaulted heavily defended German positions, capturing an entire German company and occupying the town. He was again noted for bravery at Grussenheim on January 28, where his company was completely destroyed, with only Poirel and three legionnaires remaining. Poirel remained with the 13th DBLE through the end of the war.
In September of 1945, Poirel was discharged from the army. He moved to Montreal with his wife, working as a travel agent, and later moving to Switzerland. On August 25, 1975, Poirel passed away in Pineuilh in Gironde.
