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Antoine-Marie-Benoît Besson

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General Besson in 1932.

Antoine-Marie-Benoit Besson (1876–1969) was a French military officer. In World War II he was a general commanding the Third Army Group stationed along the river Rhine manning the Maginot Line.[1][2]

Military career

World War I: 1914–1918

During World War I, Besson commanded a regiment.

Interwar period: 1918–1939

In the interbellum, he commanded a brigade, a division, and a field army.

World War II: 1939–1940

In October 1939, he took command of the French 3rd Army Group, which covered the section of the Maginot Line along the Rhine and the Swiss frontier. He and his command surrendered after 25 June as German Panzer units had reached the Swiss border and cut off the Maginot Line from the rest of France.

Sources

M Romanych & M Rupp, Maginot Line 1940, Battles on the French frontier, Osprey Publishing, page 13

References

  1. ^ "Biography of General Antoine-Marie-Benoit Besson (1876–1969), France".
  2. ^ Georg Zivkovic Army- and Navy-leaders of the world: 1971 - Page 158 1940 6. Armee: Besson, Antoine-Marie-Benoît AG. lX.-X. 1939