Henri Joseph Brugère (Uzerche, 27 June 1841 - Lautaret, 31 August 1918) was a French divisional general.

Joseph Brugère
Born27 June 1841
Uzerche
Died31 August 1918
Lautaret
Allegiance Second French Empire (1869)
 French Third Republic
Service / branchFrench Army
Years of service1859–1906
1914–1918
RankDivisional general
Commands2nd Army Corps
Battles / warsFranco-Prussian War
World War I
AwardsGrand cross of the Légion d'honneur

Career

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On 4 October 1914, German attacks by the II Cavalry Corps (General Georg von der Marwitz) and the XIV Reserve Corps drove the group of the 81st, 82nd, 84th and 88th Territorial divisions (General Joseph Brugère) back from Hébuterne, Gommecourt and Monchy au Bois to the north. The village was captured by the 1st Guard Division on the night of 5/6 October and held against French counter-attacks, which were stopped 50 yards (46 m) short of Gommecourt, where the front settled until March 1917.[1][2] The French XI Corps attacked at Beaumont Hamel on 19 November but failed to capture the village, after being held up by uncut wire. A diversion was conducted by XI Corps from 7–13 June 1915 at Toutvent Farm, 2 miles (3.2 km) to the north, during the Second Battle of Artois. On a 2,000-yard (1,800 m) stretch of the German front line, an area 1,000 yards (910 m) deep was captured and held against German counter-attacks, at a cost of 10,351 casualties. The area around Gommecourt was taken over by the British in July 1915.[3]

Footnotes

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  1. ^ Edmonds 1925, pp. 402–405.
  2. ^ Whitehead 2013, p. 136.
  3. ^ Edmonds 1993, pp. 475–476.

References

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  • Edmonds, J. E. (1925). Military Operations, France and Belgium: Mons, the Retreat to the Seine, the Marne and the Aisne, August – October 1914. History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence (2nd ed.). London: Macmillan. OCLC 604621263.
  • Edmonds, J. E. (1993) [1932]. Military Operations France and Belgium, 1916: Sir Douglas Haig's Command to the 1st July: Battle of the Somme. History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. Vol. I (Imperial War Museum & Battery Press ed.). London: Macmillan. ISBN 0-89839-185-7.
  • Whitehead, R. J. (2013). The Other Side of the Wire: The Battle of the Somme. With the German XIV Reserve Corps, 1 July 1916. Vol. II. Solihull: Helion. ISBN 978-1-907677-12-0.
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