Giraud, Henri Honore, << `zhee` ROH, ahn REE oh noh RAY >> (1879-1949), a French professional soldier, served as high commissioner of North Africa in 1942 and 1943, and as chief of the French armed forces from 1942 to 1944. The Germans took him prisoner in 1940, but he escaped to Algiers in 1942. The Allies selected him as French leader in North Africa. He served with Charles de Gaulle as co-chairman of the Committee of National Liberation. Giraud retired from the army in 1944. He was born in Paris.
