1408 - Emile Marchais’s quartermaster’s officer’s tunic. Made of khaki gabardine; all quartermaster’s buttons are present. Three decoration ribbons. No visible rank insignia. Lining in brown silky fabric. Label from the tailor Herbaut of Roubaix. Some visible moth damage. Included is a khaki wool overcoat with bell-shaped buttons, also from the estate of Emile Marchais. We know very little about the military career of future Prefect Emile Marchais, except that he was mobilized during World War I only beginning in April 1918, while he was studying law. Condition II+. Emile Marchais was born in Haute-Vienne on November 9, 1899. After studying law, he began his career as a senior civil servant in the office of the prefect of the Ardennes, then went on to serve in Blois, Châteaudun, and Langres. He was appointed by the Vichy government as subprefect of Alès and later of Montluçon. In September 1943, he was appointed prefect of the Aude department. Although not as zealous as his predecessor, he did not attempt to halt the punitive operations carried out by the Milice. In May 1944, he complied with the order from Joseph Darnand, Secretary General for Law and Order, to arrest Spanish Republicans and French and foreign Jews. These individuals owed their survival to the train cars chartered by Émile Marchais only because of the D-Day landings on June 6, 1944. His successor after the Liberation, Pierre Auge, saved Émile Marchais from the wrath of the purge. Suspended and placed on leave, he was promoted to Secretary General of the Saar Government in Baden-Württemberg, which was occupied by French troops. On July 1, 1946, he was retired. He died in 1958. Khaki quartermaster officer’s tunic and coat from Émile Marchais’s estate, with decorations, tailor’s label, and moth damage.