Foreign News: PROCONSUL IN MOROCCO

France’s new Resident General in Morocco, replacing Gilbert Grandval: four-star Lieut. General Pierre Boyer de Latour du Moulin, 59, the 14th man in 43 years to hold the difficult job. He is often referred to as General Boyer de Latour.

Vital Statistics: Born at Maisons-Laffitte, near Paris, on June 18, 1896. Tall, wiry and weatherbeaten, with thin, greying hair and the jaunty stride of a cadet, De Latour has a courtly and dignified old-army manner, develops a sharp bite when things need changing. Married to a soldier’s daughter, he has eight children: seven daughters and a son, who was born five months ago.

World War I: Enlisted as a cavalry private, he was wounded, later sent to Saint-Cyr, France’s West Point. Returned to the trenches with a Moroccan regiment, won his first Croix de Guerre (he now has three, embellished with 17 palms). Fought against the Riffian tribes of Abd el Krim in Morocco in the 1920s, stayed on as a native-affairs officer. Speaks Arabic and the Berber dialects fluently.

World War II: Commanded a Moroccan troop in France, was wounded when the Germans broke the Maginot line. De Latour escaped to North Africa, raised levies among the Berber tribes, led them in Allied landings on Corsica and Elba. In 1946 he was promoted to brigadier general.

Indo-China: Appointed to command the rainy southern district of Indo-China in 1947, De Latour forgot that he was no longer in the desert, and is said to have defined his strategy in a single, gruff directive: “We’ll cut off the bastards’ water supply.” In 1950, took charge of the combat zone in North Viet Nam but was stricken with dysentery, invalided home.

North Africa: After a brief stint as No. 2 to the formidable Marshal Juin, Resident General in Morocco, De Latour in 1951 commanded the French occupation forces in Austria, then was sent to Tunisia to put down the fellagha rebels. He smashed the rebellion ruthlessly but managed to keep political talks going at the same time. When Premier Mendès-France dramatically flew to Tunis with his offer of home rule (TIME, Aug. 9, 1954), De Latour was made Resident General, partly as a reward, partly to appease the fears of the French colons, who thought Mendès was going too far.

From that time, General de Latour ruled Tunisia with a firm, fair hand, disassociating himself with Mendes when talking to the French, yet managing to stay popular with the Tunisians and make their home rule work. At the news of his appointment to Morocco last week, Tunisian Premier Tahar Ben Amar said of him: “We wish him in Morocco the same success he achieved in Tunisia.”