Who Dares Wins! — Memoirs of the Last Free French SAS Soldier

Colonel Achille Muller, aged 101, is one of the very last Free French veterans of World War II. In 1942, at the age of 17, he left his native Moselle, annexed by the Third Reich, on a bicycle and traveled via Spain to London to avoid conscription into the German army and, above all, "to liberate his country and bring peace to Europe".
Enlisting as a paratrooper in the French contingent of the famed SAS, created by the British and among the first special forces in history, he served in Brittany in 1944 as part of the D-Day operations, then in central France during the liberation of the country, and finally parachuted into the Netherlands in 1945 during Operation "Amherst". After becoming an officer, he went on to serve in the wars in Indochina and Algeria.

A Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor and the recipient of numerous decorations, he continues to speak about his service to military personnel, officer cadets—including those at Saint-Cyr—middle and high school students, and the public. Whether at ceremonies, meetings, in reports and documentaries, or at lectures, his extraordinary life, wit, prodigious memory, and humor make his accounts unforgettable.

Now, in his own words, "the last of the Mohicans" of the fighting Free French and a pioneer of special forces, he has gained national prominence and media attention in recent years. His photograph appeared on the cover of Le Figaro Magazine in 2019; he stood alongside the President of France at the commemorations marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day in 2024; and videos about him have drawn tens of thousands of views online.

Here is his story and his firsthand account, told in a direct, compelling style.

Edited and annotated by Commandant Hervé Manificat.