Emile Fayolle (14 May 1852-27 August 1928) was a Marshal of France during World War I. Fayolle was known for his army commands at Verdun and the Somme, and he led French troops in northern Italy at the end of the war.
Biography[]
Emile Fayolle was born in Le Puy-en-Velay, France in 1852, and he was commissioned into the French Army's artillery in 1873. Fayolle fought in Tunisia in 1881 and served in the army during the years leading up to World War I; when war broke out, he was called up from retirement with the rank of Brigadier-General. Fayolle led a division at the First Battle of the Marne in 1914, and he commanded a corps under Philippe Petain at the Battle of Verdun and the Battle of the Somme. On 31 December 1916, he took over command of the First Army, and he was sent to Italy in November 1917 to lead the seven divisions of French troops supporting the Royal Italian Army against the Imperial German Army in the north of the country. After the war, Fayolle commanded French troops occupying the Rhineland, and he was promoted to Marshal of France in 1921. he died in Paris in 1928 at the age of 76.