Antoine Huré

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Antoine Jules Joseph Huré
Born11 February 1873
Général de Division
Battles/warsZaian War
Battle of Aïn Médiouna

General Antoine Jules Joseph Huré (11 February 1873 – December 1949) was a French army officer and engineer noted for his service in

École d'Application de l'Artillerie et du Génie he was commissioned into the 3rd Regiment of Engineers. He spent a number of years with his regiment and on staff appointments in France before transferring to Algeria first with the 19th Army Corps, and then the 15th Army Corps. In 1912 Huré transferred to the general staff in eastern Morocco and earned the Colonial Medal
.

Huré was recalled to France at the start of the First World War and was shot in the chest whilst serving with the

Aïn Médiouna
which had put up a defence against a Moroccan force twenty times their number for four days during another uprising against French rule. Huré then launched further operations that stabilised the military situation in the area within the month. In July he was appointed commander of French troops in Southern Morocco.

Huré eventually reached the rank of

général de division and became supreme commander of all French troops in Morocco. Under his supervision the country was finally pacified in 1934. He returned to France in 1935 to serve on the Supreme Council of War and was later made inspector general of engineers. He wrote two books on military history, including one on the pacification of Morocco that was published after his death. Huré was rewarded for his work by appointment as Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour and as Commander of the Order of Ouissam Alaouite
.

Early career

Huré was born in

first captain on 23 June 1907 and joined the staff of the 19th Army Corps in Algiers on 24 October 1908. He transferred to the staff of the 15th Army Corps on 24 December 1910 and on 24 April 1912 to the staff of the military subdivision of Oran.[1]

Huré first arrived in

lieutenant-colonel.[1]

As a colonel in January 1919 he participated in an operation in the Tafilalt region, under the command of General Joseph-François Poeymirau, to put down an uprising against French rule led by Sidi Mhand n'Ifrutant as part of the Zaian War.[3] After Poeymirau was wounded by the accidental explosion of an artillery shell Huré assumed command and won victories against bands of Moroccans at Zrigat and Erfoud.[4][5] Huré engaged n'Ifrutant at Tizimi on 25 January, comprehensively defeating his entrenched forces in a six-hour battle and inflicting 600 casualties.[5] Huré received reinforcements from a 10,000 strong irregular tribal force sent by Thami El Glaoui, Pasha of Marrakesh and a French ally, and with their help was able to defeat the n'Ifrutant uprising by 31 January.[3][4][5][6]

Battle of Aïn Médiouna

From 15 February to 5 March 1919 Huré commanded a French column in the area to the north of

Aïn Médiouna, around 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) distant.[7] Just fifty men made the journey, Biron and the other officers being killed in an ambush set by local villagers who then besieged the French post, assisted by other tribesmen attracted by the sound of gunfire.[7] Attacks on the camp were repulsed by artillery fire directed by Lieutenant Solomon but the French were unable to break the siege.[7] Solomon and Lieutenant Andrew held out against twenty times their number for the next four days, being resupplied with food and water by air, with total casualties (including the fight at Gueznaïa) reaching 4 officers and 292 killed or missing and 67 injured.[7]

Huré led a relief column of 10 infantry companies, seven machine gun sections, 10 cavalry troops, a battery of

forced marches on routes made almost impassable by heavy rain, with one unit covering 62 kilometres (39 mi) in a single day.[7][8] On the morning of 5 April Huré pushed back the besieging force and made contact with the garrison by 9.00.[8] However the Moroccans counterattacked at 10.00, inflicting casualties of 24 Frenchmen killed and 59 wounded in a close-quarters fight in which they suffered heavy losses.[7][8]

At 11.00 on 6 April Huré sent out patrols to bury the dead at Gueznaïa, whilst he reinforced the defences at Aïn Médiouna and directed 12 aircraft to bomb the tribesmen remaining in the area.[8] Huré left three companies to garrison Aïn Médiouna before withdrawing the remainder of the men.[8] He and his men were commended for their enthusiasm and spirit which enabled the garrison to be relieved earlier than expected.[8] Huré singled out the French Foreign Legion machine gunners for praise, noting that they had held the enemy off for four hours to cover the retreat of other units.[9] He said "despite your small number ... I knew at once that you would save the situation".[9]

Despite Huré's victory at Aïn Médiouna attacks on loyal villages increased through April 1919 and on the 26th of that month Huré launched another column to defend them.

général de brigade (brigadier) and commander of the Marrakesh region and was commander of the Legion of Honour on 21 February 1928.[1]

Pacification of Morocco

Huré meets with Sultan Mohammed V in Rabat in 1932

Huré became supreme commander of all troops in Morocco in 1931. Upon his appointment the War Minister,

général de division (major-general).[1]

The years of 1933 and 1934 were spent in hard mountain warfare in the last bastions of Moroccan resistance in the High Atlas and Anti-Atlas mountain ranges.[12] Huré himself took personal command of the siege of the 6,000-foot-high (1,800 m) mountain fortress of Bu Gafer in February and March 1933, where he fought alongside General Henri Giraud, in a costly battle that caused the deaths of hundreds of French troops and up to 2,300 Moroccans.[12][13] In July Huré led another campaign in the Dadès Gorges, laying a new road as he went and utilising his engineering knowledge to procure dozens of truck-powered pneumatic drills for his sappers.[14] By the end of the month this region too was pacified leaving the last pocket of resistance at Mount Baddou, a 10,000-foot-high (3,000 m) peak home to 2,000-3,000 Berber tribesmen.[14] Huré again led directly, commanding a two-week complete siege that successfully forced the tribesmen and their families to surrender, they were treated well and given food and supplies and allowed to return to their homes.[15] There were further minor skirmishes in the Anti-Atlas in the winter of 1933/4 but by March 1934 Huré had pacified the remainder of the country and brought to an end almost 30 years of continuous French military involvement in Morocco.[16][17]

Return to France

Huré returned to France to serve on the Supreme Council of War in 1935 and also sat on

France had surrendered to the Germans.[23]

Huré died in December 1949 at

Saint-Valéry-sur-Somme in France.[1][20] In 1952 a book he had written, La Pacification du Maroc. Dernière étape : 1931–1934 (The Pacification of Morocco. The Last Step: 1931–1934), was published with a preface written by Marshal Alphonse Juin.[24]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Service Records". Archives Nationales. French Ministry of Culture. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  2. ^ a b c "Historique du 18e Bataillon de Tirailleurs Sénégalais" (PDF) (in French). Le Tableau D'Honneur. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  3. ^
    ISBN 0-312-12529-1
    .
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7538-2856-4
  5. ^ a b c Rabbe, P.F. (1922). Au Maroc: sur les rive s du Bou Regred (in French). Paris: Berger-Levrault. pp. 39–40.
  6. ISBN 978-2-600-04495-0
    .
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Gandini, Jacques. "Combats du Rif". Légion & Génie au Maroc (in French). Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 31 December 2012.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g "Maroc – La délivrance d'Aïn-Mediouna" (PDF). Les Temps (in French). 8 April 1919. Retrieved 31 December 2012.[permanent dead link]
  9. ^
    ISBN 2-7475-8057-1
    .
  10. ^ "Les Troupes Coloniales dans la Conquete et la Pacification du Maroc". Extract from Journal no. 117 (in French). La Sabretache (French military history society). Retrieved 31 December 2012.
  11. ISBN 978-0-7538-2856-4
  12. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7538-2856-4
  13. ISBN 978-0-7538-2856-4
  14. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7538-2856-4
  15. ISBN 978-0-7538-2856-4
  16. ^ "Page 8629 (Maroc)". Grand Encyclopédie Larousse (1971–1976 edition). Larousse. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  17. ISBN 978-0-7538-2856-4
  18. ISBN 2738446183
    .
  19. ^ "KÉPIS DE RABIOT. Souvenirs de la Saharienne du Haut-Guir au Tafilalet 1928-1932 - Dédicace de l'auteur". Abe Books. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  20. ^ a b "La pacification du Maroc, dernière étape 1931–1934". l'Association la Koumia. Archived from the original on 15 April 2013. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  21. ^ Howe, Sonia Elizabeth (1938). Lyautey du Tonkin au Maroc par Madagascar et le Sud-Oranais. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  22. ^ "Activité du Centre". Politique étrangère. 4 (2): 223–225. 1939. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  23. ^ "Annuaire". French Army. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  24. ^ "La Pacification du Maroc. Dernière étape : 1931–1934 (Broché)" (in French). Amazon.fr. Retrieved 31 December 2012.

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