Paul McCue Books

Photos - Isabelle Hureaux.

Born 1 January 1911 in Ajaccio, on the French island of Corsica, Marcel Leccia was the son of Colonel Paul Leccia of the French Army and Marie Leccia (née Cervotti). He had one brother and two sisters and due to his father’s postings with the French Army, including duty in the army of occupation of the Rhineland,  Leccia had a peripatetic upbringing and education: in Paris (the Collège St. Stanislas) and Strasbourg until 1924 and then, until the age of 18, in Mainz, Dusseldorf (at the Lycée Français) and Koblenz in Germany. He finished his studies with a Baccalaureat in science and languages.Thanks to his years living in Germany, he had a good grasp of German.

Leccia undertook his national service with the 1er Régiment de Hussards in Mainz  from 1929 to 1931 and then continued reserve duties while he started a career with Renault as a car salesman. He was mobilised as a Second Lieutenant in late August 1939 and fought with the French Army against the invading Germans, winning the Croix de Guerre, until he was captured in June 1940. ....[Remainder of case study is complete - contact author for further details].