René Cogny
Encyclopedia
René Cogny was a French
Général de division, World War II
and French Resistance
veteran and survivor of Buchenwald
and Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
s. He was a commander of the French forces in Tonkin
(northern Vietnam
) during the First Indochina War
, and notably during the Battle of Dien Bien Phu
. His post-war private and legal conflict with superior General Henri Navarre
became a public controversy. Known to his men as Le General Vitesse (General Hurry-Up), and reputable for his military pomp, physical presence and skill with the press, Cogny was killed when Air France Flight 1611
crashed in the Mediterranean near Nice
.
in April 1904, the son of a police sergeant. An academically gifted boy, Cogny was awarded a scholarship to École Polytechnique
, where he received an engineering degree, a diploma from the French Institute of Political Science, and a doctorate in law. Cogny enlisted in the French Army before the outbreak of World War II
, graduating in 1929 from the Fontainebleau artillery school, and was a battery commander by the time the war started. He was awarded the Croix de guerre
during early engagements.
army as it circumvented the Maginot Line
. He was held in captivity for almost a year before he escaped in May by crawling naked through a drain pipe with three companions, pushing their disguises out in front of them. Cogny moved back to Vichy France
through Bavaria
in 1941 to join the Armistice Army
and the underground French Resistance
. In 1943, now a Major
, Cogny was again arrested by the Gestapo
and underwent six months of interrogation and torture in Frennes prison before being sent to Buchenwald, and later Mauthausen
, concentration camps. Cogny was liberated in April 1945 in a poor state of health. Though he did recover from being a "walking skeleton", his severe limp would require the use of a cane for the rest of his life.
Between 1946 and 1947, Cogny, despite being an artillery officer, commanded an infantry division near Paris
, and he then gained political experience in an appointment to the War Ministry as executive secretary to the Defence Minister, and later to the staff of General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny
. Cogny was sent with de Lattre to French Indochina
in 1950, and after the latter departure, Cogny commanded a French division in Tonkin
and a Groupe Mobilé in the Red River Delta
. Henri Navarre
later offered him command of the Forces Terrestres du Nord Viêtnam (North Vietnam Ground Forces, or FTNV), and he oversaw the French efforts in the Delta until the end of the war.
as a "mooring point" to Navarre. Jules Roy
, however, disagrees. Where Cogny had envisioned a light mobile base of operations, Roy argues, Navarre saw a heavily defended fortress. Cogny was one of many officers who protested against this new strategy, stating that "we are running the risk of a new Na San under worse conditions". These protests, however, had no effect. Though stationed in Hanoi
during the Battle of Dien Bien Phu
itself, having seen the battle turning against France, Cogny attempted to reach the besieged garrison to take command; however, his aircraft was beaten back by anti-air fire on 17 March 1954. He considered parachuting in, but was advised against it. Throughout the battle, Cogny and his superior Navarre were at odds on the disposition of forces between Dien Bien Phu, Cogny's own sector in the Tonkin Delta, and Navarre's Operation 'Atlanta'. In response to a damming letter from Navarre on 29 March, Cogny informed his superior that he no longer wished to serve under his command. The time scale for his departure was not discussed at the time, and Cogny continued to serve under Navarre, with the relationship between the two degrading significantly. Cogny would continue attempts to with-hold certain reinforcements from Dien Bien Phu or relating relief efforts if he believed it would undermine his strength in the Tonkin Delta. On 2 May, Navarre went as far to threaten Cogny with an investigation into his 'defeatist' press releases. As Dien Bien Phu was about to fall, it was Cogny who took the final radio calls from the commander of the garrison there, Colonel
Christian de Castries
.
And:
By nightfall, all French central positions had been captured and Dien Bien Phu had fallen.
in Algeria
was revealed to have been executed by a former French paratrooper intending to have Salan replaced by Cogny, who nevertheless went on to become commander of French forces in Central Africa by 1963. On 11 September 1968, while flying across the Mediterranean, Cogny's Air France
Sud Aviation Caravelle
crashed near Nice
. Cogny was killed in the crash along with 94 others.
. Bernard B. Fall
remarked that it took "a special kind of guts and dash" to furfill Cogny's role during the conflict. As well as "Le General Vitesse", Cogny was known to his men as 'Coco the Siren' due to his use of motorcycle outriders with sirens. He was a popular commander with his men, and particularly with journalists with whom he often dealt with in the place of his more reclusive superiors. Cogny focused his interest on the Tonkin Delta region where his troops were stationed, calling himself "Delta Man". On 7 June 1954 Cogny was the subject of an article in Time Magazine with the title "Delta General." Despite the popularity, Cogny was said to be "sensitive to criticism" and had a tendency to "brood on real or imagined injuries." He is criticsed by Roy as having focused overly on blaming Navarre for defeat in Indochina rather than working on a solution.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Général de division, World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and French Resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
veteran and survivor of Buchenwald
Buchenwald concentration camp
Buchenwald concentration camp was a German Nazi concentration camp established on the Ettersberg near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937, one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps on German soil.Camp prisoners from all over Europe and Russia—Jews, non-Jewish Poles and Slovenes,...
and Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
Mauthausen Concentration Camp grew to become a large group of Nazi concentration camps that was built around the villages of Mauthausen and Gusen in Upper Austria, roughly east of the city of Linz.Initially a single camp at Mauthausen, it expanded over time and by the summer of 1940, the...
s. He was a commander of the French forces in Tonkin
Tonkin
Tonkin , also spelled Tongkin, Tonquin or Tongking, is the northernmost part of Vietnam, south of China's Yunnan and Guangxi Provinces, east of northern Laos, and west of the Gulf of Tonkin. Locally, it is known as Bắc Kỳ, meaning "Northern Region"...
(northern Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
) during the First Indochina War
First Indochina War
The First Indochina War was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946, until August 1, 1954, between the French Union's French Far East...
, and notably during the Battle of Dien Bien Phu
Battle of Dien Bien Phu
The Battle of Dien Bien Phu was the climactic confrontation of the First Indochina War between the French Union's French Far East Expeditionary Corps and Viet Minh communist revolutionaries. The battle occurred between March and May 1954 and culminated in a comprehensive French defeat that...
. His post-war private and legal conflict with superior General Henri Navarre
Henri Navarre
Henri Eugène Navarre was a French Army general. He fought during World War I, World War II and was the seventh commander of French Far East Expeditionary Corps during the First Indochina War...
became a public controversy. Known to his men as Le General Vitesse (General Hurry-Up), and reputable for his military pomp, physical presence and skill with the press, Cogny was killed when Air France Flight 1611
Air France Flight 1611
Air France Flight 1611 was a Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle III en route from the island of Corsica to Nice, France on September 11, 1968 when it crashed into the Mediterranean Sea off Nice, killing all 95 on board...
crashed in the Mediterranean near Nice
Nice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
.
Early life
Cogny was born in NormandyNormandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
in April 1904, the son of a police sergeant. An academically gifted boy, Cogny was awarded a scholarship to École Polytechnique
École Polytechnique
The École Polytechnique is a state-run institution of higher education and research in Palaiseau, Essonne, France, near Paris. Polytechnique is renowned for its four year undergraduate/graduate Master's program...
, where he received an engineering degree, a diploma from the French Institute of Political Science, and a doctorate in law. Cogny enlisted in the French Army before the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, graduating in 1929 from the Fontainebleau artillery school, and was a battery commander by the time the war started. He was awarded the Croix de guerre
Croix de guerre
The Croix de guerre is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was awarded during World War I, again in World War II, and in other conflicts...
during early engagements.
World War II
In June 1940, he was one of 780,000 soldiers captured by the GermanNazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
army as it circumvented the Maginot Line
Maginot Line
The Maginot Line , named after the French Minister of War André Maginot, was a line of concrete fortifications, tank obstacles, artillery casemates, machine gun posts, and other defences, which France constructed along its borders with Germany and Italy, in light of its experience in World War I,...
. He was held in captivity for almost a year before he escaped in May by crawling naked through a drain pipe with three companions, pushing their disguises out in front of them. Cogny moved back to Vichy France
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
through Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
in 1941 to join the Armistice Army
Armistice with France (Second Compiègne)
The Second Armistice at Compiègne was signed at 18:50 on 22 June 1940 near Compiègne, in the department of Oise, between Nazi Germany and France...
and the underground French Resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
. In 1943, now a Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
, Cogny was again arrested by the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
and underwent six months of interrogation and torture in Frennes prison before being sent to Buchenwald, and later Mauthausen
Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
Mauthausen Concentration Camp grew to become a large group of Nazi concentration camps that was built around the villages of Mauthausen and Gusen in Upper Austria, roughly east of the city of Linz.Initially a single camp at Mauthausen, it expanded over time and by the summer of 1940, the...
, concentration camps. Cogny was liberated in April 1945 in a poor state of health. Though he did recover from being a "walking skeleton", his severe limp would require the use of a cane for the rest of his life.
Between 1946 and 1947, Cogny, despite being an artillery officer, commanded an infantry division near Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, and he then gained political experience in an appointment to the War Ministry as executive secretary to the Defence Minister, and later to the staff of General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny
Jean de Lattre de Tassigny
Jean Joseph Marie Gabriel de Lattre de Tassigny, GCB, MC was a French military hero of World War II and commander in the First Indochina War.-Early life:...
. Cogny was sent with de Lattre to French Indochina
French Indochina
French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....
in 1950, and after the latter departure, Cogny commanded a French division in Tonkin
Tonkin
Tonkin , also spelled Tongkin, Tonquin or Tongking, is the northernmost part of Vietnam, south of China's Yunnan and Guangxi Provinces, east of northern Laos, and west of the Gulf of Tonkin. Locally, it is known as Bắc Kỳ, meaning "Northern Region"...
and a Groupe Mobilé in the Red River Delta
Red River Delta
The Red River Delta is the flat plain formed by the Red River and its distributaries joining in the Thai Binh River in northern Vietnam. The delta measuring some 15,000 square km is well protected by a network of dikes. It is an agriculturally rich area and densely populated...
. Henri Navarre
Henri Navarre
Henri Eugène Navarre was a French Army general. He fought during World War I, World War II and was the seventh commander of French Far East Expeditionary Corps during the First Indochina War...
later offered him command of the Forces Terrestres du Nord Viêtnam (North Vietnam Ground Forces, or FTNV), and he oversaw the French efforts in the Delta until the end of the war.
Dien Bien Phu
According to Davidson, Cogny was in fact the officer who proposed Dien Bien PhuDien Bien Phu
Điện Biên Phủ is a city in northwestern Vietnam. It is the capital of Dien Bien province, and is known for the events there during the First Indochina War, the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, during which the region was a breadbasket for the Việt Minh.-Population:...
as a "mooring point" to Navarre. Jules Roy
Jules Roy
Jules Roy was a French writer. "Prolific and polemical" Roy, born an Algerian pied noir and sent to a Roman Catholic seminary, used his experiences as the French colony and during his service in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War to inspire a number of his words...
, however, disagrees. Where Cogny had envisioned a light mobile base of operations, Roy argues, Navarre saw a heavily defended fortress. Cogny was one of many officers who protested against this new strategy, stating that "we are running the risk of a new Na San under worse conditions". These protests, however, had no effect. Though stationed in Hanoi
Hanoi
Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
during the Battle of Dien Bien Phu
Battle of Dien Bien Phu
The Battle of Dien Bien Phu was the climactic confrontation of the First Indochina War between the French Union's French Far East Expeditionary Corps and Viet Minh communist revolutionaries. The battle occurred between March and May 1954 and culminated in a comprehensive French defeat that...
itself, having seen the battle turning against France, Cogny attempted to reach the besieged garrison to take command; however, his aircraft was beaten back by anti-air fire on 17 March 1954. He considered parachuting in, but was advised against it. Throughout the battle, Cogny and his superior Navarre were at odds on the disposition of forces between Dien Bien Phu, Cogny's own sector in the Tonkin Delta, and Navarre's Operation 'Atlanta'. In response to a damming letter from Navarre on 29 March, Cogny informed his superior that he no longer wished to serve under his command. The time scale for his departure was not discussed at the time, and Cogny continued to serve under Navarre, with the relationship between the two degrading significantly. Cogny would continue attempts to with-hold certain reinforcements from Dien Bien Phu or relating relief efforts if he believed it would undermine his strength in the Tonkin Delta. On 2 May, Navarre went as far to threaten Cogny with an investigation into his 'defeatist' press releases. As Dien Bien Phu was about to fall, it was Cogny who took the final radio calls from the commander of the garrison there, Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
Christian de Castries
Christian de Castries
Christian Marie Ferdinand de la Croix de Castries was the French commander at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954. Castries was born into a distinguished military family and enlisted in the army at the age of 19. He was sent to the Saumur Cavalry School and in 1926 was commissioned an officer but...
.
De Castries: "The Viets are everywhere. The situation is very grave. The combat is confused and goes on all about. I feel the end is approaching, but we will fight to the finish."
Cogny: "Well understood. You will fight to the end. It is out of the question to run up the white flag after your heroic resistance."
And:
De Castries: "I'm blowing up the installations. The ammunition dumps are already exploding. Au revoir."
Cogny: "Well, then, au revoir, mon vieux." (literally 'my old one', more commonly translated as 'my friend', 'my fellow' or the phrase 'old man' in a sense of friendship)
By nightfall, all French central positions had been captured and Dien Bien Phu had fallen.
African command and death
After Indochina, Cogny went on to become a Lieutenant General. In January 1957, an assassination attempt on General Raoul SalanRaoul Salan
Raoul Albin Louis Salan was a French Army general and the fourth French commanding general during the First Indochina War. Salan was one of four generals who organized the 1961 Algiers Putsch operation and then founded the Organisation de l'armée secrète....
in Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
was revealed to have been executed by a former French paratrooper intending to have Salan replaced by Cogny, who nevertheless went on to become commander of French forces in Central Africa by 1963. On 11 September 1968, while flying across the Mediterranean, Cogny's Air France
Air France
Air France , stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the French flag carrier headquartered in Tremblay-en-France, , and is one of the world's largest airlines. It is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global airline alliance...
Sud Aviation Caravelle
Sud Aviation Caravelle
The Sud Aviation SE 210 Caravelle was the first short/medium-range jet airliner produced by the French Sud Aviation firm starting in 1955 . The Caravelle was one of the more successful European first generation jetliners, selling throughout Europe and even penetrating the United States market, with...
crashed near Nice
Nice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
. Cogny was killed in the crash along with 94 others.
Command style
Cogny is seen by historians to have had a particular style of military pomp during his time in VietnamVietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
. Bernard B. Fall
Bernard B. Fall
Bernard B. Fall was a prominent war correspondent, historian, political scientist, and expert on Indochina during the 1950s and 1960s...
remarked that it took "a special kind of guts and dash" to furfill Cogny's role during the conflict. As well as "Le General Vitesse", Cogny was known to his men as 'Coco the Siren' due to his use of motorcycle outriders with sirens. He was a popular commander with his men, and particularly with journalists with whom he often dealt with in the place of his more reclusive superiors. Cogny focused his interest on the Tonkin Delta region where his troops were stationed, calling himself "Delta Man". On 7 June 1954 Cogny was the subject of an article in Time Magazine with the title "Delta General." Despite the popularity, Cogny was said to be "sensitive to criticism" and had a tendency to "brood on real or imagined injuries." He is criticsed by Roy as having focused overly on blaming Navarre for defeat in Indochina rather than working on a solution.