I am starting a brief history of my family, starting with my grandparents.
Not that I think that my family is extraordinary.
I believe that every family story is interesting and I like to learn about the people I meet.

Let start with:

My Maternal Grandfather

My maternal grandfather, Henri D., was born in Brittany in 1893.
He was an only child. His father had been an army officer, but he got some political trouble, so he resigned.
As he was well off, he did not need to work, so he stayed with his wife, my great grandmother and his only son, my grandfather, in a big house, "La Salle", in the center of Brittany (near the village of Locmaria-Berrien, to be exact).

High School in Vannes

Henri was a boarder in a Jesuit high school in the city of Vannes, Brittany.
He was an excellent student, the first of his class.
At the beginning of the last school year, in September 1909, when Henri was starting the "classe terminale" (equivalent to grade 12), he was called in front of the principal.
He was told the it would be good for the school if he could, at the end of the school year, take the competition for the Naval Academy.
He would not need to enter the Naval Academy and become a Navy officer, but the school could boast that one of their student would have been able to go to the Naval Academy in Brest; if he had a good rank, it would be even better.
Henri wanted to become a civil engineer. However, he decided to do what he was asked.
At the end of the school year, in June 1910, Henri passed the "baccalauréat" with honors and was second in the competition for the Naval Academy.
So, he decided to go and see what the Naval Academy was. He liked it and became a Navy Officer. However, as we will see later, he was still an engineer at heart and he became one after World War II.

Continue in Part 2