[2] Of modest origins, after completing high school, Garbay was admitted to Saint-Cyr military academy in 1921[3] and graduated as a sub-lieutenant in 1924.
[1] He refused to accept it and as commander of the 3rd bataillon de marche of French Equatorial Africa[1] played an active role in August 1940 in rallying Chad to France libre.
[3] He was promoted général de brigade in 1944[3] and after the accidental death of general Diego Brosset on 20 November 1944, he succeeded him in the command of the 1st Free French Division.
In April 1945, on the orders of General Charles de Gaulle, General Garbay took the 1st Free French Division to the Alpes-Maritimes, where, after 3 days of fierce fighting, they cleared the fortified Authion Massif [fr], the key to the enemy's defensive system in the Southern Alps.
He commanded the French troops in Tunisia[1] and reacted to the terrorists attacks by the massacre of Cap Bon in 1952 (200 dead).