 In 1941 Legentilhomme was promoted to Major General in the Free French Army and returned to East Africa as the Commander-in-Chief of the Free French Forces in the Sudan and Eritrea.As part of Brigadier Harold Rawdon Briggs' "Briggsforce", Free French forces participated in the East African Campaign.Legentilhomme worked under the supreme command of Field Marshal Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell.