My Soul for God, my Body for my Country, my Honour for Myself
War memoirs by the one who inspired the famous Crabe Tambour, a corsair of modern times, a man of conscience and honour.

Lieutenant Pierre Guillaume, an exceptional sailor and soldier, was born on August 11th 1925 in Saint-Servan, France, and died on December 2002, after an intense and eventful life.

A soldiers’ son and grandson, he attended French naval college and was sent many times to Indo-china. In 1954, for the third time there, he took part as a Lieutenant in the military operations against Vietminh as well as in the evacuation of Tonkinese Catholics.

Afterwards, he decided to go back to France sailing across the Indian Ocean alone on a junk, a journey during which he experienced many adventures. In 1957, as hardly seen, he switched from Navy to Colonial Infantry and, in Algeria, became in command of a Colonial Paratroopers commando — the “Commando Guillaume” —, in charge of which his own brother had got killed a few months before.

In 1958, he went back to the Navy and, in 1960, he got integrated into the interservice staff of the Commander-in-chief of the French Armies in Algeria. During the putsch against Général De Gaulle, he was Général Challe’s Navy assistant. He was arrested and passed a suspended four-year sentenced on. Afterwards, he went back to Algeria and became Général Jouhaud’s assistant.

In March 1962, he was arrested, judged and sentenced to a eight years’ imprisonment. He got released on April 1st 1966. Back in civilian life, he worked for various maritime chartering and ships fitting-out firms.

In 1978, he fitted out the ship on which Bob Denard and his crew landed in the Comoros. Then he dedicated himself to ships refloating.

Between 1981 and 1987, he was in charge of Saudi Arabian maritime defence systems. He devoted his last years to the writing of his memoirs, with the help of Elisabeth Escalle, in charge of their publication after his death.