Pierre de la Houssaye was born on January 23, 1923, at the Paris 6th district.
When the Second World War broke out, he was a very young man still struggling to champ at the bit, till July 1, 1944. An opportunity was then offered him to join the Resistance. He distinguished himself on August 25 at the Tourelle barricade in Vincennes, where in his capacity of "group leader", he attacked a German armoured car and captured took two Germans prisoners. On September 15, he was enlisted for the period of the war and sent to the 10th infantry division where he served till February 28, 1946, the day he was demobilised. He was appointed sergeant.
On March 7, 1947, he joined the 2nd armoured division and was admitted to undergo training to become an active non-commissioned officer. In June 1950, Chief Billet Master Houssaye was admitted to Ecole d'Application de l'Arme Blindée Cavalerie of Saumur. The following month, he was sent as reserve an officer cadet to the 501st battle tank regiment.
In October 1951, he left for Indochina. He landed at Saigon and went to serve in the RICM, and then in the 2nd Hussar division, as leader of the armoured platoon. On January 29, 1952, around Phu Lang Thuong at Tonkin, he disputed a fierce battle that degenerated into infighting, against an opponent, greater in number, and inflicted extremely severe losses before being able to win. On July 31, 1953, near Mat-Son, in Northern Vietnam, he with his men decided to attack rebels who had ambushed several friendly sections, causing them to flee, not without having caused casualties, including four dead. He stayed there till 1955, participating vigorously in all the operations of his sector, which were crown by success.
In June 1955, Lieutenant De La Houssaye landed in Algiers and served in Algeria in a detached position in various regions, for four years. In October 1955, his unit having been ambushed in the Tighzirt region, he managed to dislocate a substantial rebel operation. In April 1961, Captain De La Houssaye was sent to the 2nd spahi division and stayed in Algeria till November 1962.
The next lap of his career was in Paris, with part at the Prime Minister’s office. He went on retirement in 1973 with the rank of major and withdrew to Pontville, Seine-et-Marne. He was appointed reserve lieutenant colonel on October 1, 1982. Thereafter, he has been involved in warfare activities. He was elected FNCV federal president in 1992, a position he held till 1994. He died at the age of eighty four; his funeral took place on Tuesday, March 2, 2010, at 4:00 p.m., at Saint-Germain-Laval parish.
Pierre de la Houssaye, knight of the legion of honour, officer of the national order of merit, holder of 5 commendations, received several awards, notably the Second World War cross, the Overseas Operations cross, the military valour cross and the volunteer servicemen cross.