Augustin Gérard

Augustin Gérard (2 November 1857 – 2 November 1926) was a French général de division and Grand Master of the Grand Orient de France (1921–22).

Augustin Gérard
Augustin Gérard in Le Miroir N°120
Born	(1857-11-02)2 November 1857 Dunkirk, France
Died	2 November 1926(1926-11-02) (aged 69) Château-Gontier, France
Buried	Les Invalides, Paris
Allegiance	France
Service / branch	French Army
Years of service	1875–1919
Rank	général de division
Commands	41st Infantry Division 2nd Army Corps First Army Eighth Army
Battles / wars	World War I

Life

General Augustin Gérard, commanding the French Eighth Army, accompanied by Major General George B. Duncan, commanding the U.S. 77th Division, leaving the 77th's headquarters and passing by its Guard of Honor, Baccarat, France, June 1918.

His first important assignment was Chief of Staff of general Joseph Gallieni in Madagascar. In May 1912 he became commander of the 41st Infantry Division and by the outbreak of World War I, he was in charge of the 2nd Army Corps, with which he fought the Battle of the Ardennes and the First Battle of the Marne.

On 24 July 1915, he became commander of the Army Detachment of Lorraine, which was later renamed to Eighth Army. Between 31 March and 31 December 1916 he was in charge of the First Army, after which he returned to the Eighth Army for the rest of the war.

He commanded the Eighth Army for an initial period during the occupation of the Rhineland until he retired on 21 October 1919. During this period he supported the separatist movement and advocated the formation of an independent Pfalz republic.^[1]

Master of the Grand Orient de France in 1921 and 1922.

He died in 1926 and was buried in Les Invalides in Paris.

References

1. Collar, Peter. The propaganda war in the Rhineland : Weimar Germany, race and occupation after World War I (New paperback ed.). London: I. B. Tauris. ISBN 9781784536695.