Background
Augustin Guillaume was born on July 30, 1895 in Guillestre, Hautes-Alpes, France.
Augustin Guillaume was born on July 30, 1895 in Guillestre, Hautes-Alpes, France.
Augustin Guillaume was educated locally.
He was a POW through most WWI, after which he served briefly on the Allied staff in southern Russia before joining the bureau of native affairs in Morocco. After being assistant MA in Belgrade (1922-24), he was at the Ecole de Guerre (1926-28) before serving another eight years in Morocco. In 1936 he joined the staff of the Higher War Council in Paris but returned to Morocco when France declared war on 3 Sep 1939. After the Franco- German armistice of 25 June 1940 Guillaume was director of political affairs in Morocco. His office at Rabat and having the blessing of Nogues and JUIN he directed the clandestine formation of colonial troops, particularly the redoubtable mountain fighters called goumiers. Promoted to brigadier general in 1943 Guillaume led goumiers in Giraud’s liberation of Corsica, in the Italian campaign through the capture of Rome on 4 June 1944, and in southern France, where he had a major role capturing the stoutly defended port of Marseilles. With de Lattre's 1st French Army Guillaume commanded the 3d (Algerian) Inf Div, which fought through Alsace, across the Rhine, and on to Stuttgart and Pforzheim.
In Aug 1945 he began a two-year MA assignment in Moscow. Based on that experience, which included visits to battlefields, he became an authority on the Red Army and published two highly acclaimed books on Russia’s role in the war. In Mar 1948 he was assigned as CinC, French Occupation Force in Germany: in early 1951 he doubled as CinC, Allied Land Forces, Central Europe, before JUIN took command. Guillaume was resident general in Morocco 1951-54, then CGS and president of the Chiefs of Staff Committee in Paris until 1956, having reached the rank of full general.