Denis Auguste Duchêne
Denis Auguste Duchêne (born September 23, 1862 in Juzennecourt , Haute-Marne , † June 9, 1950 in Bihorel , Seine-Maritime ) was a French officer, most recently Général de division .
Life
Duchêne entered the Saint-Cyr Military School in 1881 , which he graduated two years later as a sous-lieutenant of the infantry. His career followed the pattern of the typical French officer of the time with alternating assignments in the colonies and in the mother country. From 1885 to 1887 he served in the Tonkin Campaign in the 4th Regiment of the Tirailleurs Tonkinois . Promoted to captain in 1892 , he attended the École supérieure de guerre , which he graduated with a patent. As a major , he commanded a battalion from 1901 and was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1908 . After his promotion to colonel in 1912, he was given command of the 69th Infantry Regiment.
In March 1914, Duchêne was appointed Chief of Staff of the XX. Army Corps (under the later Marshal of France Ferdinand Foch ), with which he distinguished himself after the outbreak of the First World War, among others at the Battle of Grand Couronné near Nancy .
Promoted to Général de brigade in October 1914 , he was briefly Chief of Staff of the 2nd Army and took over command of the 42nd Infantry Division on November 16, 1914. On March 9, 1915 he took over the leadership of the XXXII. Army Corps, received temporary promotion to Général de division on March 12th and intervened in the final phase of the winter battle in Champagne . On August 10, 1915, he became commander of the II Army Corps in the Woevre plain and from February 1916 took part in the Battle of Verdun . The II Corps moved in the summer of 1916 to the area southwest of Péronne and took part in the Battle of the Somme at Estrées-Deniécourt in October .
On December 27, 1916, he replaced Joseph Micheler as commander of the 10th Army . The 10th Army initially formed the reserve in the spring of 1917 during the Battle of the Aisne and intervened in the fighting on April 21st to support the 5th and 6th Armies.
In the autumn of 1917, Duchêne's army was transferred to Italy by rail, where it was to be used on the Piave Front to support the Italian armies defeated in the Twelfth Battle of Isonzo . At the end of 1917, Duchêne was ordered back to France, where he took over the 6th Army at Chemin des Dames on December 11, 1917 . This intervened from March 1918 in the fighting during the German spring offensive . On May 27th, the German attack on the Third Battle of the Aisne began in the 6th Army sector , which turned into a disastrous French defeat. Duchêne had ignored the orders of his superior General Pétain and concentrated his troops in the front line, where they were overrun by the German attack. He was removed from command on June 10 at the direction of Prime Minister Clemenceau . After the war he testified before a committee of inquiry about the events of 1918.
In 1920 Duchêne received command again with the 19th Infantry Division in Rennes . Before he was transferred to the reserve in 1924, he still led the XIII. and III. Army Corps.
literature
- Spencer C. Tucker (Ed.): World War I: The Definitive Encyclopedia and Document Collection. ABC-CLIO, 2014, ISBN 978-1-85109-964-1 , p. 500.
Web links
- Denis Auguste Duchêne on grande-guerre.org
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Duchêne, Denis Auguste |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French officer, most recently Général de division |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 23, 1862 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Juzennecourt , Haute-Marne |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 9, 1950 |
| Place of death | Bihorel , Seine-Maritime |