Wikipedia

Armée d'Orient (1915–1919)

The Armée d'Orient (AO) was a field army of the French Army during World War I who fought on the Macedonian front.

The Armée d'Orient was formed in September 1915 during the Conquest of Serbia by German-Austrian-Bulgarian forces. It was shipped to the Greek port of Salonika, where its first units arrived on 5 October. Despite several offensives, the front stabilized on the Greek-Serbian border until September 1918, when the Bulgarian army disintegrated after defeat in the Battle of Dobro Pole.

On 11 August 1916, all allied troops on the Salonika front came under a united command, and named Allied Army of the Orient (AAO). The AAO supreme commander became the French commander of the Armée d'Orient Maurice Sarrail. He was succeeded as commander of the Armée d'Orient by Victor Cordonnier, and the army itself was renamed the Armée française d'Orient (AFO).

Commanders

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Units

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After World War I

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After the victory against Bulgaria in the autumn of 1918, the AFO is divided in 3 parts :

Army of the Danube

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Army of Hungary

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  • Army of Hungary (AH), created on 1 March 1919 and dissolved on 31 August 1919. Commanded by

Corps for the Occupation of Constantinople

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ General Jean César Graziani, as Chief of the General Staff of the French Army, was asked to provide statistical information, in respect of in the Gallipoli and Salonika campaigns, to highlight French participation in these theatres of war to the Russians. As at 17 August 1916, French forces comprised 3,075 officers, 113,000 other ranks, 45,593 horses & mules, 6,954 carriages and 1,110 automobiles.[3]
  2. ^ The Groupe Léger formation comprised six dismounted cavalry squadrons[5]

Citations

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  1. ^ "De Gallipoli à Salonique". Forum pages14-18 (in French). Retrieved 8 September 2020. transcriptions of primary source documents, listing which units redeployed to Salonika
  2. ^ "Foreign Legion in the Balkans: 1915-1919". foreignlegion.info. Retrieved 22 June 2021. Here is the detailed history of the French Foreign Legion in the Balkans during the First World War.
  3. ^ Letter from Graziani to Lavergne dated 15 September 1916. '(Enclosure 2) The French war effort in Salonika.' In AFGG 8,1,1 Annexes (1924) Annexe n° 438, p. 728–734
  4. ^ Lepetit et al. 1933, p. 43.
  5. ^ Goya 2018, p. 157.
  6. ^ "13e régiment de chasseurs à cheval: J.M.O. 24 février 1915-22 février 1916: 26 N 890/16" (JPG). Mémoire des hommes: Journaux des Unites (1914–1918) (in French). Ministere De la Defense. image 19 of 31. Retrieved 29 June 2021. 17 October 1915: The dismounted squadrons of the light brigade are withdrawn ...to form part of the Serbian Expeditionary Force
  7. ^ "recherches infos sur 13 RCC". Forum pages14-18 (in French). Retrieved 29 June 2021. Extract from the war diary, stating the six squadrons, the disbandment date and the fate of the troopers
  8. ^ "17e régiment de chasseurs à cheval: Escadron à pied J.M.O. 18 octobre 1915-16 juin 1917: 26 N 892/10" (JPG). Mémoire des hommes: Journaux des Unites (1914–1918) (in French). Ministere De la Defense. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  9. ^ Historique du 8e RMCA 1915–1919 1920.
  10. ^ Lepetit et al. 1933, p. 476.
  11. ^ Historique du 4e RCA 1839–1919 1920.
  12. ^ Historique du 1er RCA 1914–1919 1920.
  13. ^ "Régiment de marche de spahis marocains: J.M.O. 1er janvier-8 décembre 1917: 26 N 75/10" (JPG). Mémoire des hommes: Journaux des Unites (1914–1918) (in French). Ministere De la Defense. Retrieved 29 June 2021. Embarked the British troopships Cestrian & Nitonian for passage to Salonika
  14. ^ Lepetit et al. 1933, p. 486.
  15. ^ "Historique du 2e Régiment Bis de Marche de Zouaves". Archived from the original on 15 March 2016. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  16. ^ Pompé 1924, pp. 972–973.
  17. ^ Over the Front: The Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914–1918, p. 221
  18. ^ Baker, Chris. "26th Division". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  19. ^ "156e division d'infanterie: J.M.O. 25 septembre 1915–26 novembre 1916 – 26 N 447/1" (JPG). Mémoire des hommes: Journaux des Unites (1914–1918) (in French). Ministere De la Defense. images 113 to 122 of 235. Retrieved 4 July 2021.

References

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Further reading

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  • Dardanelles, Orient, Levant: 1915–1921 Ce que les combattants ont écrit [Dardanelles, Orient, Levant: 1915–1921 A compendium of veterans' eyewitness accounts] (in French). Preface written by Michèle Alliot-Marie. Paris: Association nationale pour le souvenir des Dardanelles et fronts d'Orient. 2005. ISBN 2-7475-7905-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  • Général Bernachot, Les armées françaises en Orient après l’armistice de 1918, Imprimerie nationale, 1970, 3 volumes :
    • 1. L’armée française d’Orient, l’armée de Hongrie (11 novembre 1918 - 10 septembre 1919).
    • 2. L’armée du Danube, l’armée française d’Orient (28 octobre 1918 - 25 janvier 1920).
    • 3. Le corps d’occupation de Constantinople (6 novembre 1920 - 2 octobre 1923).
  • Schiavon, Max (2014). Le Front d’Orient. Du désastre des Dardanelles à la victoire finale. 1915-1918 (in French). Tallandier. ISBN 979-1-02-104699-3.
  • Saint-Ramond, Francine (2019). Les Désorientés: Expériences des soldats français aux Dardanelles et en Macédoine, 1915-1919 (in French). Presses de l’Inalco. ISBN 978-2-85-831299-3.
  • Thomas, Nigel; Babac, Dusan (2001). Armies in the Balkans 1914–18. Men-at-Arms 356. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-194-X.
  • "Le poilu de l'Armée d'Orient". Militaria Magazine (in French) (398). Paris: Histoire & Collections. November 2018.
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