Ernest Joseph Blondlat (1862–1938) was a French Divisional General who participated in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. During the war, he was a commander of the 2nd Colonial Army Corps as well as the Moroccan Division.

Early career

Ernest was born on December 2, 1862, as the son of Claude Nicolas and Marie Dumagnon at

Charleville-Mézières or ''Carolomacérienne'' , image flag=Flag of Charleville Mezieres.svg Charleville-Mézières () is a commune of northern France, capital of the Ardennes department, Grand Est. Charleville-Mézières is located on the banks of the river Meuse. ...

. Ernest Blondlat enlisted in the

École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr The École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr (ESM, literally the "Special Military School of Saint-Cyr") is a French military academy, and is often referred to as Saint-Cyr (). It is located in Coëtquidan in Guer, Morbihan, Brittany. Its motto is ...

as a student of the Class of Egypt from October 29, 1881, to October 1, 1883. He took part in the

Sino-French War The Sino-French War (, french: Guerre franco-chinoise, vi, Chiến tranh Pháp-Thanh), also known as the Tonkin War and Tonquin War, was a limited conflict fought from August 1884 to April 1885. There was no declaration of war. The Chinese arm ...

, the

First Franco-Dahomean War The First Franco-Dahomean War was fought in 1890 between France, led by General Alfred-Amédée Dodds, and Dahomey under King Béhanzin. Background At the close of the 19th century, European powers were busy conquering and colonising much o ...

and the

Second Franco-Dahomean War The Second Franco-Dahomean War, which raged from 1892 to 1894, was a major conflict between France, led by General Alfred-Amédée Dodds, and Dahomey under King Béhanzin. The French emerged triumphant and incorporated Dahomey into their gro ...

. Major Blondlat then went to

French Madagascar The Colony of Madagascar and Dependencies (french: Colonie de Madagascar et dépendances) was a French colony off the coast of Southeast Africa between 1897 and 1958 in what is now Madagascar. The colony was formerly a protectorate of France kn ...

in 1899, where he served under the orders of General

Hubert Lyautey Louis Hubert Gonzalve Lyautey (17 November 1854 – 27 July 1934) was a French Army general and colonial administrator. After serving in Indochina and Madagascar, he became the first French Resident-General in Morocco from 1912 to 1925. Early in ...

. Seriously wounded during the Siege of Androy in October 1901, he later came back from January to April 1902, seizing 4,500 rifles. Blondlat was appointed colonel in 1905 and he commanded Tonkinese units in 1907. In

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

, from August to September 1912, he commanded the column of the Zaers at the Battle of El-Fedj. He was promoted to brigadier general in 1913.

World War I

At the outbreak of

, Blondlat was at the head of the 1st Brigade of the Moroccan Division with many reforms under his command as well as personally knowing all the men within his brigade. He took part in the

First Battle of the Marne The First Battle of the Marne was a battle of the First World War fought from 5 to 12 September 1914. It was fought in a collection of skirmishes around the Marne River Valley. It resulted in an Entente victory against the German armies in the ...

, fighting with his unit west during the . He took command of the Moroccan Division from theSeptember 14, 1914 to June 26, 1915. He obtained two commands while at the 10th Army. In June 1915, he was in command of the 2nd Colonial Army Corps and participated at the head of his unit in the Champagne offensive of September 1915. Still in command of the 2nd Colonial Corps, he participated in the battles of

the Somme The Battle of the Somme (French language, French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. I ...

, Second Aisne and the

Battle of Saint-Mihiel The Battle of Saint-Mihiel was a major World War I battle fought from 12–15 September 1918, involving the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) and 110,000 French troops under the command of General John J. Pershing of the United States against ...

Post-war life

After the

Armistice of 11 November 1918 The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice signed at Le Francport near Compiègne that ended fighting on land, sea, and air in World War I between the Entente and their last remaining opponent, Germany. Previous armistices ...

signed, General Blondlat commanded the 1st French Military Region in

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

until October 1919. From April 1921 to December 1924, he was at the head of the troops of

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...

General Blondlat's Flight

In April 1922, Major General Ernest Blondlat, now the superior commander of the troops of the Indochina soldiers, expressed the wish to go from

Saigon , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

Hanoï Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

by air with six

Bréguet 14 The Bréguet XIV (in contemporary practice) or Bréguet 14 was a French biplane bomber and reconnaissance aircraft of World War I. It was built in very large numbers and production continued for many years after the end of the war. The Brégue ...

's. The first stage of Saigon to

Quy Nhon Quy Nhon ( vi, Quy Nhơn ) is a coastal city in Bình Định province in central Vietnam. It is composed of 16 wards and five communes with a total of . Quy Nhon is the capital of Bình Định province. As of 2019 its population was 457,400. H ...

was over 595 kilometers with a stopover in

Phan Rang Phan may refer to: * Phan (surname), a Vietnamese family name * Phan District, Chiang Rai Province, Thailand * Phan River, Bình Thuận Province, Vietnam * Phan (tray) Phan ( th, พาน, ) is an artistically decorated tray with pedestal. It ...

, was covered on April 4 aboard three seaplanes from the 2nd Squadron. The second stage of Qui Nhon to

Huế Huế () is the capital of Thừa Thiên Huế province in central Vietnam and was the capital of Đàng Trong from 1738 to 1775 and of Vietnam during the Nguyễn dynasty from 1802 to 1945. The city served as the old Imperial City and admi ...

was over 400 km with a stopover in

Tourane Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons ( ; vi, Đà Nẵng, ) is a class-1 municipality and the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the East Sea of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is one ...

and Lieutenant Dumas took the general to the capital of Annam where he stayed for two days. The third stage of Hué to Hanoï was over 600 km with a stopover in

Vinh Vinh () is the biggest city and economic and cultural center of north-central Vietnam. Vinh is the capital of Nghệ An Province, and is a key point in the East–West economic corridor linking Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. The city is ...

, involved three land-based Bréguet 14s piloted by François Glaize who took General Blondlat on board. The two men land in the morning of April 8 at the Bach Maï field where they were welcomed by Major General Jean-Paul Sicre, commander of the Annam-Tonkin division. Ernest Blondlat completed the 1,600 km trip in 14 hours with 35 min of flight with an average speed of 110 km/h.

Awards

Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

**Grand Officer (June 16, 1920) **Commander (August 10, 1914) **Officer (July 13, 1903)

Foreign Awards

Order of St. George The Order of Saint George (russian: Орден Святого Георгия, Orden Svyatogo Georgiya) is the highest military decoration of the Russian Federation. Originally established on 26 November 1769 Julian (7 December 1769 Gregorian) a ...

, 4th Class (January 1915)Военный орден Святого Великомученика и Победоносца Георгия. Именные списки 1769—1920. Биобиблиографический справочник. Отв. сост. ''В. М. Шабанов''. Федеральное архивное агенство. Российский государственный военно-исторический архив (РГВИА).М.: Русскій мiръ, 2004. p. 411-412, . *:

Distinguished Service Medal Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a high award of a nation. Examples include: *Distinguished Service Medal (Australia) (established 1991), awarded to personnel of the Australian Defence Force for distinguished leadership in action * Distinguishe ...

(July 9, 1918)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blondlat, Ernest Joseph 1862 births 1938 deaths French military personnel of World War I People from Charleville-Mézières French generals Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Recipients of the Order of St. George of the Fourth Degree French military personnel of the Sino-French War