1940 General Gamelin with the Canadians

British Newsreel. April 1, 1940. General Maurice Gustave Gamelin is best remembered for his unsuccessful command of the French military in 1940 during the Battle of France and his steadfast defense of republican values.The generalissimo of the French armed forces in World War II, Gamelin was viewed as a man with significant intellectual ability. He was respected, even in Germany, for his intelligence and "subtle mind", though he was also viewed by some German generals as stiff and predictable. Despite this, and his competent service in World War I, his command of the French armies during the critical days of May 1940 proved to be disastrous. Historian and journalist William L. Shirer presented the view that Gamelin used World War I methods to fight World War II, but with less vigor and slower response.Gamelin's vision for France's defense was based upon a static defense along the Franco-German border, which was reinforced by the Maginot Line. The defensive approach of the Maginot Line was rather out of step with Gamelin's own views and he favoured an aggressive advance northward into Belgium and the Netherlands to meet the attacking German forces as far removed from French territory as possible. To this advance, which fitted with Beligan defence plans and British objectives was known as the Dyle Plan. Gamelin committed much of the motorized forces in the French Army and the entire BEF to this approach. The British and French, however, fearful of being outflanked withdrew quickly from the defensive lines drawn up across Belgium without holding them properly. Ultimately they did not pull back fast enough to prevent them being outflanked by the German Panzer divisions.