French TextAn officer from the Polytechnique, gunner, Charles Dupont was assigned to the Intelligence Service after the Dreyfus affair. He performed several secret missions in Germany before taking the head of the 2nd office (intelligence) of the General Staff of the Army in 1913 and then the General Headquarters in August 1914 until 1917, passing through the great military impacts of the Western Front: the Marne (1914), Verdun (1916), the Chemin des Dames (1917). Regarded as the best ally of the German army, Dupont was also a keen observer; his memoirs, remained unpublished for some time, are an exceptional testimony to the character of General Joffre, Nivelle and Petain, but also the politicians whom he crossed paths with.