General Maurice Gamelin
Maurice Gamelin commanded the French army in 1940 and lost the campaign in ten days. Born in Paris in 1872 into a military family, he graduated top of his class at Saint-Cyr, and served on Joffre's staff in 1914, where he is credited with drafting the order for the counter-attack at the Marne. He commanded a division by 1916, served in the Levant, and became chief of the general staff in 1931 and generalissimo in 1938. He was cultured, read philosophy, and was regarded as the most intelligent officer in the army. His doctrine was the methodical battle: carefully prepared, tightly controlled, with artillery and infantry advancing in phases on a continuous front. It was the correct lesson from 1914 to 1918 and precisely the wrong one for 1940. His headquarters at Vincennes had no radio, on the reasoning that it was insecure. Orders travelled by motorcycle courier and telephone, and took hours to reach armies whose situation had changed. His plan committed the best French and British forces to an advance into Belgium, on the assumption that the main German attack would come there as in 1914. The Ardennes were treated as impassable to armour and held thinly. Seven Panzer divisions crossed them and broke through at Sedan on 13 May 1940. Asked by Churchill on 16 May where the strategic reserve was, Gamelin replied that there was none. He was replaced by Weygand on 19 May, tried by Vichy at Riom, refused to testify, and was deported to Buchenwald. He died in 1958.
- Lived: 1872 CE – 1958 CE
- Nationality: French
- Roles: general
