Bonnot Gang

Composed of individuals who identified with the emerging illegalist milieu, the gang used new technology, such as cars and repeating rifles not then available to the police.

The press originally referred to them as simply "The Auto Bandits", as they carried out the first motorized robberies and bank raids in world history.

While many of the gang's members originated from regions across France and Belgium, such as Lyon, Brussels, Charleroi, and Alais, they congregated in the city of Paris.

[1] The first robbery by Bonnot's Gang was on 21 December 1911 at the AB Branch of Société Générale Bank, located at 148 rue Ordener in the 18th Arrondissement of Paris.

[2] On 25 March 1912, the gang stole a de Dion-Bouton automobile in the Forest of Sénart south of Paris by shooting the driver through the heart.

A 1912 illustration of the Bonnot Gang stealing an automobile in the Forest of Senart .
Illustration of the robbery of Société Générale Bank in Chantilly on 25 March 1912
Courtroom photo from the Bonnot Gang mass trial at the Palais du Justice , February 3-27, 1913.
Some members of the Bonnot gang, including (from top left): Eugène Dieudonné , Jules Bonnot , Antoine Gauzy, Arthur Mallet, Pierre Cardi, Marius Metge, Edouard Carouy, Octave Garnier , René Valet, Joseph Renard, Émile Bachelet , Louis Rimbault , Marie Vuillemin , André Soudy, Étienne Monier , Raymond Callemin, Jean De Boë , and Bernard Godoresky.