Gabriel, Marie, Joseph Bougrain (Laval, April 9, 1882 ; Saint-Germain-en-Laye, May 30, 1966) was a general of the French Army who commanded the 2nd Light Mechanized Division during World War II. He is buried in the cemetery of Sainte-Marie-de-Ré.
Origins Gabriel Bougrain was born in Laval in 1882 to a family of bankers, only a few years after the defeat of Sedan and the fall of the Second Empire. He was the son of Auguste Bougrain, owner of the Bougrain bank in Laval, and Marguerite Lelièvre. His grandfather Augustin, a yarn merchant for several generations, bore the surname Bougrain-Dubourg, which originated from the Bougrain, master du Bourg in Vaucé, where Michel Bougrain, son of the royal notary of Couesmes, had settled in the middle of the 18th century. As the yarn industry in Mayenne was in sharp decline, Father Bougrain-Dubourg, chaplain of Sainte-Anne Hospital Center and the Salpêtrière,Guillemain Diriger les consciences, guérir les âmes La Découverte, Paris, 2006 encouraged his brother Augustin to direct his sons to the banking trades. Auguste Bougrain's son chose another path, the career of arms.
Early career He entered Saint Cyr in 1903 - promotion of La Tour d'Auvergne- and left for the cavalry. After his time at the Saumur Cavalry School of Application, he served in the 5th Dragoons Regiment, and then in the Chasseurs d’Afrique. At the end of the course of instruction, he was appointed sub-squire of the Cadre Noir. In 1909 he married Yvonne O'Mahony, daughter of Count O'Mahony and Marthe d'Amphernet of Pontbellanger.Gil Blas, Nov 13, 1909 p. 2 The O'Mahony are descended from an illustrious Irish family who came to serve the King of France. Barthelemy, Count O'Mahony,See this page (in french) Lieutenant-General of the King's Armies, Grand Cross of the Order of St. Louis, commanded the Berwick Regiment in 1788.Saint-Allais, 1873, T. III, p. 70-74
World War I From the declaration of World War I, he was a reconnaissance officer in the divisional squadron of the 60th Infantry Division. He served at the headquarter of the same division. This period on the war front earned him three citations:
- September 5, 1914, Lieutenant Bougrain, 24th Dragoon Regiment cited Reconnaissance officer with rare fearlessness, always willing to get involved. Foch. Croix de guerre with palm.
- November 24, 1915, Captain Bougrain, Gabriel Officer of unwavering dedication and renowned bravery, has shown during reconnaissance missions that he has performed the most brilliant qualities of intelligence, spirit and fearlessness. Cited to the order of the Army on September 5, 1914. Joffre. Knight of the Legion of honour, Croix de guerre with palm.
- July 23, 1916, Captain Bougrain, Gabriel Elite officer. During the fighting in Verdun, from 1 to 12 July 1916, demonstrated the most absolute dedication and reported the most accurate information following reconnaissance carried out on the war front. Patey.Henri Hippolyte Patey (1867-1957), X 1886, G.O of the Legion of Honor, general (1916) he commanded the 60th infantry division. See (in french) Croix de Guerre with silver star.
At the end of 1916, he volunteered for the Army of the Orient,Général Paul Azan, Franchet d'Espèrey, 1949, Flammarion. arrived in Salonika on 14 December and was successively under the command of General Sarrail, then General Guillaumat and finally General Franchet d'Espèrey. He was first appointed to organize and then lead the Hortackoy training instructions center, learning to fly at the Verria Mikros base (Macedonia) with Captain Victor Denain, head of the French Army's aeronautical service on the Eastern Front. He was appointed to head the 3rd Office headquarter of the Allied Armed Forces of the Orient, with a recommendation from General Franchet d'Espèrey.L’ILLUSTRATION, No 3944, 05/10/1918 After the armistice, the Commander-in Chief charged him with accompanying the Ottoman delegation to the Peace Congress in Paris.L’Homme libre, June 10th, 1919, p.1 ; La Croix June 13th, 1919 p. 1 ; Le petit journal June 11th, p. 1
On September 15, 1918, he was cited to the order of the Army: Captain Bougrain, Gabriel -“A first-rate officer whose brilliant military qualities continued to assert themselves during the war. Especially during his time in the Orient, has always been for the command a valuable auxiliary officer, executing with as much intelligence as calm bravery many reconnaissances as an Officer on the war front, either on land or in plane, and leading with as much skill as self-sacrifice the training centers of the Allied Armies where he has achieved quite remarkable results both in the French Army and in the Allied Armies.”Journal Officiel de la République Française june 24, 1919 p. 6494 Franchet d'Espèrey. Croix de Guerre with palm.
Interwar Period Promoted to squadron leader in 1919, he entered the elite École supérieure de guerre and, upon his release, was assigned to the Headquarter of the Fourth Army Corps, which he left to become a professor at the Ecole Superieur de Guerre (1922-1925). Among his pupils, Charles De Gaulle, Eugène Bridoux and Georges Loustaunau-Lacau. During a one-year leave of absence, he assumed the duties of general manager of the Montlhéry Autodrome.Excelsior, feb 18, 1925 p. 5 He then took over the direction of Studies at Saumur (1926-1931) and then became Chief of Staff of the Cavalry Inspection (General BrécardCharles Brecard 1867-1952 division general, great chancellor of the Legion of honnor (1949-1944), has been Military governor of Srasbourg and Cavalry Inspector general). In 1932, he became an auditor at the Center for Hautes Etudes Militaires. During this period, he defended the offensive concept of mobile and maneuverable warfare“ General Prioux, Cavalry Inspector and Commander of the Cavalry Corps in 1940 told me that following my internship at the Center des Hautes Études Militaires in 1932, that I had been criticized for considering as indispensable the use of armored units in combat, "en masse" and towards distant targets, in close connection with the air forces (reconnaissance and bombardment). The doctrine was then based on the advance of tanks under the protection of artillery trajectories. Gabriel Bougrain, Sous la Croix de Lorraine, les batailles de la 2e DLM, May–June 1940. and in particular the interaction between tanks and aircraft.At the end of 1935, Colonel Bougrain, who commanded the 4th Tunisian Spahis regiment in Sfax, sent Marshal Franchet d'Espèrey a study in which he emphasizes the role of tanks in a mobility war concept as well as the combined interaction of aviation and tanks. The Marshal replied : I read with great interest your study on the physiognomy of a modern warfare situation. It is full of new and often relevant ideas, although sometimes a little radical: I fear that the squadrons to which you entrust all the artillery actions other than direct support, will bring you many disillusions on days of bad weather (...) I would be happy to help bring your work to life: its purpose could be achieved if many people who still live had their eyes and mind not only fixed on the past, but rather on the future. Marshal Franchet d'Espèrey, correspondances, letter jan 6, 1936 to colonel Bougrain Colonel in 1933, he takes command of the 4th Tunisian Spahis Regiment in SfaxR. Noulens, Les Spahis, cavaliers de l'armée d'Afrique, Paris, 1997. which has just experienced a resounding scandal (the colonel has just been murdered by his wife's lover, a lieutenant of the regiment.)Le Casoar, nr233, april 2019, p. 46 In 1937, he is in command of the 4th Mechanized Light Brigade at Saint-Germain-en-Laye.Erik Barbanson, Les 2e et 3e Divisions Légères Mécaniques, Edition Arès.
World War II In January 1940, he was appointed head of the 2nd Light Mechanized Division (D.L.M.)." ... Lieutenant-Colonel Bougrain was also an officer convinced of the revolution of engines would be increasingly effective for the army. Very attracted by mechanics, he could not convince the cavalry generals who surrounded him, even if they showed him their esteem, notably by entrusting him with the command of the 2nd DLM which was going to be illustrated in May 1940 as part of the Cavalry Corps". Gérard Saint-Martin, L’Arme blindée Française. Its division was the only major unit to bear the Croix de Lorraine as its emblem;La Lorraine, Itinéraires de découvertes, Bruno Barbier, Editions Ouest-France. together with the 3rd D.L.M it formed the Cavalry Corps. On 10 May, this French Corps entered Belgium and on 12 May in Hannut, engaged in the first major armoured battle in history : D.L.M. against Panzers. The two D.L.M. will resists assaults from the tanks of General Hoepner's 16th Corps - outnumbered and supported by their Air force - in an extremely violent battles that will last until 14 May. In these clashes, attacks and counter-attacks of the armoured vehicles will follow, one after another at a hellish pace, the adversaries competing with audacity and courage. The two D.L.M. lost about 100 tanks and inflicted on the Germans the loss of about one hundred and sixty tanks." From a tactical point of view, the success was total for General Prioux. Its mission had been to provide a limited duration of resistance and to allow time for the 1st Army until the fifth day of fighting (May 14) to settle in the Gembloux position. Since the Germans were not able to carry out a massive attack on this area until 15 May, his mission was more than fulfilled. First, his tanks had inflicted severe losses on those of the enemy. The Germans had to accept enormous damages not only in Hannut, but also in Gembloux. Thus, the 4th Panzer Division, on the morning of May 16, had only 137 battle tanks, including 4 IV tanksThe statistics drawn up the same day announce 20 to 25% of unusable tanks in the 3rd Panzerdivision and up to 45 to 50% in the 4th. Of course, many of the broken down battle tanks could be quickly restored; However, initially, the attack force of this armored corps was greatly weakened." Karl-Heinz Friezer, Le mythe de la guerre-éclair. This battle will continue at Gembloux, and will halt the enemy offensive allowing the First Army to retain its positions." The light mechanized division was intended to carry out reconnaissance, or to cover troop movements and not at all to combat with the German Panzers: it did, however, that day. The first major tank battle of the Second World War began. Throughout the day of the 12th, between Tirlemont and Huy, General Prioux stood up with his cavalry corps (2nd and 3rd light mechanized divisions) to the corps of General H-pner, whose 824 armoured vehicles did not defeat the French 520. When the evening fell, the enemy had withdrawn. The Somua tanks, each division having 80, were superior to the Mark III and IV and the Hochkiss 35 to their two light models. But the Panzers were supported by waves of Stuka that operated without much opposition, while Prioux had no air support. Moreover, its units were handicapped by the lack of radio links - the light tanks were not equipped with radio - which prevented them from manoeuvring in large formations as the Germans did (...) Prioux's valiant resistance had given the first army time to settle in Gembloux's hole.. ". William L. Shirer, La chute de la Troisième République, une enquête sur la défaite de 1940. Cited to the Order of the ArmyListe des bénéficiaires de citations accordées par les autorités de l'Armée de terre: homologuées après révision et donnant droit au port de la nouvelle Croix de guerre 1939-1940, war ministry, order 128/C p.833
- Officer General of great value, showed, in the most difficult circumstances, af calmness and lucidity that allowed him to lead the fight of his division with a tenacity never denied. Weygand. Croix de Guerre with palm.