Pierre Armand Gaston Billotte (8 March 1906 – 29 June 1992) was a French Army officer and politician. He was the son of General

Gaston Billotte Gaston-Henri Billotte (10 February 1875 – 23 May 1940) was a French military officer, remembered chiefly for his central role in the failure of the French Army to defeat the German invasion of France in May 1940. He was killed in a car accident ...

, who commanded parts of the French Army at the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Pierre Billotte was himself notable for his combat actions during the

Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...

16 May 1940

Billotte is known for his extraordinary actions as a French Tank Commander on 16 May 1940 during the

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

at the French village of Stonne. Billotte served in the 1st Compagnie of the 41st Tank Battalion, equipped with the

Char B1 The Char B1 was a French heavy tank manufactured before World War II. The Char B1 was a specialised break-through vehicle, originally conceived as a self-propelled gun with a 75 mm howitzer in the hull; later a 47 mm gun in a turre ...

heavy tank Heavy tank is a term used to define a class of tanks produced from World War I through the end of the Cold War. These tanks generally sacrificed mobility and maneuverability for better armour protection and equal or greater firepower than tanks ...

. Then-Captain Billotte, commanding a Char B1 Bis tank nicknamed "Eure", was instrumental in retaking the village of Stonne, defended by elements of the German 8th Panzer Regiment. The village had already been the scene of fierce fighting before Billotte's action, having changed hands numerous times and lying on a strategic location on the road to Sedan. On 16 May, while under heavy fire from German tanks, Billotte and his B1 Bis managed to break through the German defences and to destroy two German

Panzer IV The ''Panzerkampfwagen'' IV (Pz.Kpfw. IV), commonly known as the ''Panzer'' IV, was a German medium tank developed in the late 1930s and used extensively during the Second World War. Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. 161. The Panze ...

tanks, eleven

Panzer III The ''Panzerkampfwagen III'', commonly known as the Panzer III, was a medium tank developed in the 1930s by Germany, and was used extensively in World War II. The official German ordnance designation was Sd.Kfz. 141. It was intended to fight oth ...

tanks and two enemy guns. Billotte's Char B1-Bis tank received 140 hits from enemy tanks and guns, but none were able to penetrate the tank's heavy armour.

Further career

Following the death of his father and the German victory in the Battle of France, Billotte was imprisoned by the German military. He escaped the next year, and was appointed by the

Free French Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile ...

government-in-exile as head of the French Military Mission to Moscow. From 1942 to 1943, he served as chief of staff to

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...

. After the Allied invasion of France, he was attached to the 2nd Armored Division. Later in 1944, he was put in command of the 10th Infantry Division, and after the liberation of France he became Assistant

Chief of Staff of the French Army The Chief of the Army Staff (french: Chef d'état-major de l'armée de terre, CEMAT) is the military head of the French Army. The chief directs the army staff and acts as the principal advisor to the Chief of the Defence Staff on subjects concern ...

. From 1946 to 1950, he headed the French Military Mission to the UN. Following his retirement from active service, he served as Minister of National Defence (1955–1956) under

Edgar Faure Edgar Jean Faure (; 18 August 1908 – 30 March 1988) was a French politician, lawyer, essayist, historian and memoirist who served as Prime Minister of France in 1952 and again between 1955 and 1956.Georges Pompidou Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou ( , ; 5 July 19112 April 1974) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1969 until his death in 1974. He previously was Prime Minister of France of President Charles de Gaulle from 1962 to 196 ...

In popular culture

Massively multiplayer online game A massively multiplayer online game (MMOG or more commonly MMO) is an online video game with a large number of players, often hundreds or thousands, on the same server. MMOs usually feature a huge, persistent world, persistent open world, alt ...

, ''

World of Tanks ''World of Tanks'' (''WoT'') is a massively multiplayer online game developed by Belarusian company Wargaming, featuring 20th century (1910s–1970s) era combat vehicles. It is built upon a freemium business model where the game is free-to ...

'', includes an award, BILLOTTE'S MEDAL, named for Pierre Billotte.

, ''

War Thunder ''War Thunder'' is a free-to-play vehicular combat multiplayer video game developed and published by Gaijin Entertainment. Announced in 2011, it was first released in November 2012 as an open beta with a worldwide release in January 2013; it had ...

'', has a purchasable skin of Billotte's Char B1 Bis for the game's version of the tank.

Awards and honors

References

Literature

* Frieser, Karl-Heinz. ''The Blitzkrieg Legend''. Naval Institute Press, 2005.

External links

Generals.dk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Billotte, Pierre 1906 births 1992 deaths Politicians from Paris Rally of the French People politicians Democratic Union of Labour politicians Union of Democrats for the Republic politicians Rally for the Republic politicians French Ministers of Overseas France Deputies of the 2nd National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic Deputies of the 2nd National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 3rd National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 4th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 5th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic French generals French prisoners of war in World War II World War II prisoners of war held by Germany French escapees Escapees from German detention French people of the Algerian War Foreign recipients of the Legion of Merit Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Companions of the Liberation Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) Recipients of the Aeronautical Medal Recipients of the Order of the Dragon of Annam Recipients of the Croix de guerre (Belgium) Tank commanders