Gamelin, Maurice |
| GENERAL (FRANCE) |
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BORN 20 Sep 1872, Paris - DIED 18 Apr 1958, Paris GRAVE LOCATION Paris: Passy Cimetière, 2 Rue du Commandant Schloesing (division 02) |
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Maurice Gamelin was born into a military family. He was educated at St. Cyr. He was aide to general Joffre before he was promoted to brigadier general in 1916. He took part in the Battle of the Marne (1916) and the Battle of the Somme (1918). In 1935 Weygand retired as commander of the General Staff and Gamelin succeeded him. In 1940 he was in command of the French troops and he assured Daladier that France had the best army in the world. But when the Germans entered Belgium he thought it was a diversionary manoeuvre and did little. This enabled the Germans to conquer the Ardennes. Soon afterwards the French army was defeated. On 19 May 1940 he was replaced by Weygand. He was arrested in Vichy France in September 1940 and in 1943 he was deported to Germany where he was interred at the concentration camp in Buchenwald. There he was freed by the Americans in 1945. His memoirs were published in 1946. |
| Images |
 The grave of general Gamelin at Passy Cimetière, Paris. Picture by Androom (18 May 2005) |
Sources • Adler, Josef, Handbuch der Grabstätten, 2. Band, Die Grabstätte der Europäer, Deutsches Kunstverlag, München, 1986 • Wallechinsky, David, Irving Wallace & Amy Wallace, Alle Feiten Op Een Rijtje, Luitingh, Laren, 1980 |
