Having fought in the First World War and Rif War (Second Moroccan War), the aristocratic de Tassigny (nickname: 'Roi Jean') was a hero of the Free French in World War II. Later, he commanded French troops in Indochina during the First Indochina War. He won three major victories at Vinh Yen, Mao Khe and Yen Cu Ha and successfully defended the north of the country against the Viet Minh but his only son, Bernard de Lattre de Tassigny, was killed in action during the war at the Battle for Nam Dinh. In 1951, illness forced de Lattre de Tassigny to return to Paris where he later died of cancer; he was posthumously made Marechal de France.