Victor Bourret (22 September 1877 – 5 August 1949) was a French general and military administrator.
Born on 22 September 1877 in
Bastia
Bastia (, , , ; co, Bastìa ) is a commune in the department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It is located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It also has the second-highest population of any commune on the is ...
on
Corsica
Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...
, he was the son of a
gendarme
Wrong info! -->
A gendarmerie () is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to "Man-at-arms, men-at-arms" ...
Saint-Maixent-l'École
Saint-Maixent-l'École () is a commune in the Deux-Sèvres department in western France.
Geography
Saint-Maixent-l'École is located in the Haut Val de Sèvre area of western France, about from Niort and from La Rochelle. The town sits in a fe ...
in 1900 and the ''
École Militaire
École may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France
* École, Savoi ...
'' in 1913. He served 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 ...
working on various staffs.
Between the wars he held various posts at the head of infantry units or in the Ministry of War, where he was chief of
Édouard Daladier
Édouard Daladier (; 18 June 1884 – 10 October 1970) was a French Radical-Socialist (centre-left) politician, and the Prime Minister of France who signed the Munich Agreement before the outbreak of World War II.
Daladier was born in Carpentr ...
's military cabinet three times between February 1932 and July 1937. Assessed by the British as a "political general ... of little of no worth," he was alleged to have formed a screen which restricted contact between the minister and the military officers under his command. During this period he was promoted Brigadier-General in 1932, Major-General in 1935, Lieutenant-General in 1936 and General in 1939.
On the outbreak 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 ...
, Bourret was given command of the Fifth Army, stationed in Alsace. Subordinates who had been critics of Bourret during his time at the ministry grew to admire him as a commander. Amongst the officers under his command was Colonel
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 ...
, who was in command of the army's five scattered battalions of tanks.
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 ...
, on 17 June 1940, he was replaced as commander of 5th Army by
Charles-Marie Condé
Charles-Marie Condé (Saint-Omer (Pas-de-Calais)
Saint-Omer (; vls, Sint-Omaars) is a commune and sub-prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department in France.
It is west-northwest of Lille on the railway to Calais, and is located in the Artois ...
and placed in command of the reserves. As the army retreated, he went to Fort de Girancourt, part of the outdated Séré de Rivières fortifications He was taken prisoner on 25 June 1940 at
Gérardmer
Gérardmer (; or archaic ''Geroldsee'', and ''Giraumoué'' in local Vosgian) is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France.
Population
Culture
The Festival international du film fantastique de Gérardmer (literally ...
and spent five years in captivity in the
Königstein Fortress
Königstein Fortress (german: Festung Königstein), the "Saxony, Saxon Bastille", is a hilltop fortress near Dresden, in Saxon Switzerland, Germany, above the town of Königstein, Saxony, Königstein on the left bank of the River Elbe. It is one ...
in
Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
. He was released on 9 May 1945 and was back in France 3 days later.
After the war he wrote a monograph about the fall of France entitled "The Tragedy of the French Army". He died on 5 August 1949 in