Georges de Bazelaire

Bazelaire (in center) speaks with General Joseph Joffre (on left)

Georges de Bazelaire (January 30, 1858 – March 29, 1954) was a Major General in the French Army during World War I.[1]

Bazelaire commanded the 135th Infantry Regiment, the 27th and 38th Infantry Divisions and the 7th Army Corps.

In 1916, he took part in the Battle of Verdun,[2] defending the left bank of the river Meuse:[3] « He was to command the half of the Région Fortifiée de Verdun west of the river Meuse, including the section of front between Avocourt and the Meuse ».[4] In the first days of March, intense fighting involved the troops under Bazelaire's command in the areas of Bois des Corbeaux, Mort-Homme and the Cote 304.[5]

An order by Bazelaire dated March 7, 1916, quoted by the Germans and published in the New York Times,[6] reflects the extremely tough conditions of the fights when colonel Macker and his 92e Régiment d'infanterie were ordered to retake the Bois des Corbeaux where they demonstrated an admirable courage.[7]

In the British weekly The Graphic (July 1916) we can read the following comments: «After the Dead Man (Mort-Homme), none of the Verdun hills has been the scene of fiercer fighting than the now famous Hill 304 (Cote 304), where for many weeks general Bazelaire has held against the hellish fire of the Crown Prince's big guns and the massed attacks of his armed hosts [8] ».

During the offensive of the Chemin des Dames, in April 1917, the 7th Army Corps of general de Bazelaire, comprising three infantry divisions, was reinforced by the 1st and the 3rd Russian Brigades. These troops, commanded by general Nikolaï Lokhvitski, took part in the fighting near Courcy, where they behave courageously and suffered severe losses.[9]

In February 1918, as Douglas MacArthur recalls in his memoirs, four regiments of the 42nd Infantry Division (United States), the Rainbow Division of the American Expeditionary Forces, « were placed under the command of General Georges de Bazelaire of the French VII Army Corps to be battle-trained with four French divisions.» [10] Colonel MacArthur took part in what was his first raid against German trenches where several prisoners were seized, after which he was awarded a Croix de Guerre by Bazelaire.[11]

Military Commendations

Georges de Bazelaire received several military citations for his services in World War I[12]

Documents and references

Mort-Homme and Cote 304, Verdun, 1917
  1. ↑ Georges de Bazelaire de Saulcy. Individual
  2. ↑ French forces at Verdun - 21 February - 4 March 1916
  3. ↑ Battle of Verdun - Situation on 21 February 1916
  4. ↑ William F. Buckingham - Verdun 1916 - The deadliest battle of the First World War - Amberley Publishing - 2016 - page 28
  5. ↑ William F. Buckingham - Verdun 1916 - The deadliest battle of the First World War - Amberley Publishing - 2016 - pages 36-38
  6. ↑ « Germans say Bazelaire threatened to turn artillery on his retreating troops » - New York Times, March 16, 1916
  7. ↑ « The near suicidal courage of Colonel Macker and his men and their determination to close with the bayonet provides textbook example of attaque à outrance philosophy inculcated in all ranks of the French army in the run up to 1914. » See: William F. Buckingham - Verdun 1916 - The deadliest battle of the First World War - Amberley Publishing - 2016 - page 39. On 10 March 1916, the beau Colonel Macker « was struck dead by a German machine gunner » during a German counter-attack in Bois des Corbeaux. See: Alistair Horne - The price of glory - Verdun 1916 - Penguin Books - London, 1991 - page 159
  8. ↑ The Vigil of Verdun - General Joffre congratulating the holder of Hill 304 - The Graphic - July 1, 1916
  9. ↑ Jamie H. Cockfield - With snow on their boots: the tragic odyssey of the Russian expeditionary force in France in World War I - St Martin Press - New York, 1999 - pages 96 and fol.
  10. ↑ Douglas MacArthur - Reminiscences, page 54 - Naval Institute Press - Bluejacket Book, 2001.
  11. ↑ J. L. Abrahamson and A.P. O'Meara - Leadership - Combat leaders and lessons - 2008
  12. ↑ fr:Georges de Bazelaire
  13. ↑ Military Times: Hall of Valor. Georges de Bazelaire

Further reading

External links

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