Bonnot Gang
The Bonnot Gang (La Bande à Bonnot) was a French criminal anarchist group that operated in France and Belgium during the late Belle Époque, from 1911 to 1912. Composed of individuals who identified with the emerging illegalist milieu, the gang used cutting-edge technology (including automobiles and repeating rifles) not yet available to the French police.
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Originally referred to by the press as simply "The Auto Bandits" as its members carried out the first motorized robberies and bank raids in world history, the gang was dubbed "The Bonnot Gang" after Jules Bonnot gave an interview at the office of Le Petit Parisien, a popular daily paper. Bonnot's perceived prominence within the group was later reinforced by his high-profile death during a shootout with French police in Choisy-le-Roi.
Members
Principal gang members included:
- Jules Bonnot
- Octave Garnier
- Raymond Callemin
- Anna Dondon
- Marie Vuillemin
- André Soudy
- Édouard Carouy
- Jeanne Bélardie
- Jean de Boë
- Étienne Monier
- Eugène Dieudonné
- Jules Bonnot, shot dead by law enforcement officers in France
- Octave Garnier, executed by firearm
- Raymond Callemin, executed by guillotine
- Étienne Monier, executed by guillotine
- André Soudy, executed by guillotine
Crime spree
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The first robbery by Bonnot's Gang was on December 21, 1911 at the AB Branch of Société Générale Bank, located at 148 rue Ordener in the 18th Arrondissement of Paris. They shot a collection clerk in the neck and lung (yet he survived) and snatched his cash bags.[1]
On March 25, 1912, the gang stole a de Dion-Bouton automobile in the Forest of Sénart south of Paris by shooting the driver through the heart.[2] They drove into Chantilly north of Paris where they robbed the local branch of Société Générale Bank – fatally shooting two bank cashiers and severely wounding a bookkeeper.[1]
Sûreté Chief Xavier Guichard took the matter personally. Even politicians became concerned, increasing police funding by 800,000 francs. Banks began to prepare for forthcoming robberies and many cashiers armed themselves. The Société Générale promised a reward of 100,000 francs for information that would lead to arrests.[1]
See more
- La Bande à Bonnot, 1968 film
- Les Brigades du Tigre
- Les Vampires, 1915–16 serial
References
- ""Skedaddle!" The Bonnot Gang targets Societe Generale". Societe Generale. January 10, 2017. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
- Richard Parry: The Bonnot gang. Rebel Press, 1987, ISBN 978-0-946061-04-4, p. 115.
Further reading
- Cacucci, Pino. (2006) Without a Glimmer of Remorse. ChristieBooks. ISBN 1-873976-28-3.
- Imrie, Doug. (1994) The Illegalists. Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed.
- Merriman, John M. (2017). Ballad of the Anarchist Bandits: The Crime Spree that Gripped Belle Epoque Paris. Nation Books. ISBN 978-1568589886.
- Parry, Richard. (1987) The Bonnot Gang. Rebel Press. ISBN 0-946061-04-1.
External links
Media related to Bande à Bonnot at Wikimedia Commons