Antoine-Marie-Benoît Besson
Benoît Besson | |
---|---|
![]() General Besson in 1932 | |
Native name | Benoît Antoine Marie Besson |
Born | Pomeys | September 14, 1876
Died | July 23, 1969 Paris | (aged 92)
Allegiance | France |
Branch | French Army |
Years of service | 1896 - 1940 |
Rank | Army general |
Commands held | 3rd Army Group (France) 6th Army 16th Army Corps 15th Infantry Division 58th Brigade |
Conflicts | World War I World War II |
Awards | Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor |
Antoine-Marie-Benoit Besson (1876–1969) was a French military officer. In World War II he was a general commanding the Third Army Group stationed along the river Rhine manning the Maginot Line.[1][2]
Military career[]
World War I: 1914–1918[]
During World War I, Besson commanded the .
Interwar period: 1918–1939[]
In the interbellum, he commanded the 58th Brigade, the 15th Infantry Division and the 16th Army Corps.
World War II: 1939–1940[]
In September 1939, he commanded the 6th Army deployed in the Alps.
In October 1939, he took command of the French 3rd Army Group, which covered the section of the Maginot Line along the Rhine and the Swiss frontier. He and his command surrendered after 25 June as German Panzer units had reached the Swiss border and cut off the Maginot Line from the rest of France.
Sources[]
M Romanych & M Rupp, Maginot Line 1940, Battles on the French frontier, Osprey Publishing, page 13
References[]
- ^ "Biography of General Antoine-Marie-Benoit Besson (1876–1969), France".
- ^ Georg Zivkovic Army- and Navy-leaders of the world: 1971 - Page 158 1940 6. Armee: Besson, Antoine-Marie-Benoît AG. lX.-X. 1939
- French military personnel of World War I
- French military personnel of World War II
- French generals
- 1876 births
- 1969 deaths
- École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr alumni
- Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur
- Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)
- French military personnel stubs