Claudius Billon

Claudius Billon (13 February 1896 – 1 September 1944) was a captain in the French air force and the regional controller of the Armée secrète in Région R1 (Rhône) during World War II.

In 1939, he was promoted to captain; on 6 September, at the start of World War II he was assigned to Regional Fighter Group number 62.

Under the authority of Marcel Peck, Billon organized and directed paramilitary combat groups, named L'Armée secrète (AS) by Henri Frenay.

Frenay had suggested General Charles Delestraint – recalled from retirement – as a unifying commander to the regional leaders of the paramilitary groups of the three main resistance movements in the southern zone of France; they agreed unanimously.

Records indicate he was deported; a death certificate exists claiming he died in Germany on September 1, 1944, the death registered at the town hall of the 3rd arrondissement of Lyon on January 23, 1950, but it is not in the memorial book of the fr:Fondation pour la mémoire de la déportation (Foundation for the Memory of the Deportation).

[5][1][6][2] Billon's name is one of four engraved on the glazed transom at the entrance of 20 rue Vauban, Lyon, 6th arrondissement, the regional base of the Combat movement (see image).

The Square du Capitaine Billon is a park lying at the apex of the Boulevard des Belges and the Avenue Anatole-France in Lyon's 6th arrondissement (see image).