Army Group North (France)

situation of the Army Group North in 1917

Army Group North (French: Groupe d'armées du Nord, GAN) was a grouping of French field armies during the First World War, which was created on June 13, 1915, from French: Groupe Provisoire du Nord (GPN) which had been formed on October 4, 1914. On July 6, 1918, GAN was renamed Groupe d'armées du Centre (GAC).

Composition

October 1914

July 1, 1915

from North to South :

  • Belgian Army (general Félix Wielemans)
  • 36th French Army Corps (général de division Alexis Hély d'Oissel)
  • 2nd British Army (General Horace Smith-Dorrien)
  • 1st British Army (General Douglas Haig)
  • 10th French Army (général Victor d'Urbal)
  • 2nd French Army (général Philippe Pétain)

July 1, 1916

from North to South :

  • 6th Army (général Émile Fayolle)
  • 10th Army (général Victor d'Urbal)

February 15, 1917

from North to South :

  • 3rd Army (général Georges Louis Humbert)
  • 1st Army (général Émile Fayolle)

Commanders

  • Général Ferdinand Foch (October 4, 1914 – December 27, 1916)
  • Général Louis Franchet d'Espèrey (December 27, 1916 – June 10, 1918)
  • Général Paul Maistre (June 10 – July 6, 1918)

Sources

  • The French Army and the First World War by Elizabeth Greenhalgh
  • Cartographie 1914 - 1918
  • Philippe Pétain et Marc Ferro (Avant-propos), La Guerre mondiale : 1914–1918, Toulouse, Éditions Privat, 2014, 372 p. (ISBN 978-2-708-96961-2, OCLC 891408727)
  • Les Armées Françaises dans la Grande Guerre. Tome X. Premier volume, p. 13 et s. Ministère de la Guerre 1923–1924