Gamelin, Maurice Gustav, born 20-09-1872 in Paris, was a French General. Gamelin is best remembered for his unsuccessful command of the French military in 1940 during the Battle of France and his steadfast defense of republican values. Gamelin served with distinction under Joseph Joffre in World War I. Joffre died age 79, on 03-01-1931.
Gamelin is often credited with being responsible for devising the outline of the French counter-attack in 1914 which led to victory during the First Battle of the Marne. When war was declared in 1939 Gamelin was already 67 years old. A few French units crossed the German border in the Saar Offensive but only travelled 8 km (5.0 mi). Not even penetrating Germany’s unfinished Siegfried Line even though there were no German tanks on the Western front. Gamelin’s vision for France’s defense was based upon a static defense along the Franco-German border, which was reinforced by the Maginot Line.
According to General der Panzertruppe, Hasso von Manteuffel, the German Panzer commander, France had more and better tanks than Germany but chose to disperse them. Major-General Erwin Rommel
Gamelin is often credited with being responsible for devising the outline of the French counter-attack in 1914 which led to victory during the First Battle of the Marne. When war was declared in 1939 Gamelin was already 67 years old. A few French units crossed the German border in the Saar Offensive but only travelled 8 km (5.0 mi). Not even penetrating Germany’s unfinished Siegfried Line even though there were no German tanks on the Western front. Gamelin’s vision for France’s defense was based upon a static defense along the Franco-German border, which was reinforced by the Maginot Line. According to General der Panzertruppe, Hasso von Manteuffel, the German Panzer commander, France had more and better tanks than Germany but chose to disperse them. Major-General Erwin Rommel
also kept advancing quickly, against the orders from his superiors and France had to surrender. Gamelin was both preceded and succeeded as generalissimo by Maxime Weygand. Weygand died at the very old age of 98, on 28-01-1965, in Paris. During the Vichy regime, Gamelin was arrested and unsuccessfully tried for treason along with other important political and military figures of the Third Republic, Edouard Daladier, during the Riom Trial. At this trial, Gamelin refused to answer the charges against him, instead maintaining a dignified silence. Imprisoned by the Vichy regime in Fort du Portalet in the Pyrenees, he was later deported by Germans in the Itter Castle in North Tyrol with few others French high personalities.Death and burial ground of Gamelin, Maurice Gustav.
Maurice Gamelin, died on the old age of 85, on 18-04-1958 and is buried on the Cimétière de Passy in Paris. Close by the grave of General Charles Leon Huntziger, he surrendered in Compiègne for the French forces.
