Portal:Military history of France/Selected unit/Archive
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The French Foreign Legion (French: Légion Étrangère) is a unique unit within the French Army established in 1831. It was created as a unit for foreign volunteers, because they were forbidden to enlist in the French Army after the July Revolution in 1830.
It was primarily used to protect and expand the French colonial empire during the 19th century, but has also taken part in all of its wars against other European powers such as the Franco-Prussian War and both World Wars. Despite being thought of as outdated and an anachronism, the legion has remained an important part of the French Army. It has survived three republics, one empire, two World Wars, the rise and fall of mass conscript armies, the painful dismantlement of the French colonial empire and finally, the loss of its fatherland — Algeria.
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The Imperial Guard (French:Garde impériale) was originally a small group of elite soldiers of the French Army under the direct command of Napoleon I, but grew considerably over time. It acted as his bodyguard and tactical reserve, and he was careful of its use in battle.
The Guard had its origin in the Consular Guard (Garde des consuls), created November 28, 1799 by the union of the Guard of the Directory (Garde du Directoire exécutif) and the Grenadiers of the Legislature (Grenadiers près la Représentation nationale). These formations had for principal purpose the security of the executive and legislative branches of the French Republic and gathered a small number of soldiers, about a thousand.
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The Garde du Corps (English: Life Guards or Body Guards) was the senior formation of the King of France's Household Cavalry, the Maison du Roi.
The oldest company in the Garde du Corps was the Company of Scottish Archers, later just the 1st Scottish Company, formed in 1440 from Scots that fought for the French in Hundred Years' War. In the Battle of Fornovo during the Italian Wars the Garde du Corps saved king Charles VIII from being captured by enemy forces. Later in the Italian Wars they failed to save Francis I from being captured in the Battle of Pavia. The last time the Garde du Corps campaigned was during the War of the Austrian Succession because it only went on campaign when the king was present. The last battle in which the Garde du Corps was present was Lauffeld on 1 July 1747. The Garde du Corps was dissolved in 1791 along with all of the Maison du Roi.
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The French 2nd Armored Division, commanded by General Leclerc, fought during the final phases of World War II in the Western Front.
It landed in Normandy on August 1, 1944, about two months after the D-Day landings, and served under General Patton's Third Army. The division played a critical role in Operation Cobra, the Allied breakthrough from Normandy, when it served as a link between American and Canadian armies and made rapid progress against German forces. They all but destroyed the 9th Panzer Division and defeated several other German units. The 2nd Division's losses amounted to 141 killed and 58 medium and light tanks while they killed 4,500 Germans, captured 8,800, and destroyed 118 heavy and medium tanks.
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The Musketeers of the Guard were a fighting company of the military branch of the Royal Household or Maison du Roi. They were created in 1622 when Louis XIII furnished a company of light cavalry (the "carabins", created by Louis' father Henri IV) with muskets. Musketeers fought in battle both on foot (infantry) and on horseback (dragoons). They formed the royal guard for the king while he was outside of the royal residences (within the royal residences, the king's guard was the "Garde du corps" and the "Gardes suisses")
Shortly after their creation, a second company of Musketeers was created for Cardinal Richelieu. At the cardinal's death in 1642, the company passed to his successor Cardinal Mazarin who disbanned the Musketeers in 1646. The Musketeers reappeared in 1657 with a company of 150 men.
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The Chasseurs Alpins (Alpine Hunters or Alpine Chasers) are the mountain infantry and an elite unit of the French Army. They are trained to operate in mountainous terrain and in urban warfare.
Training includes climbing, cross-country skiing, plus winter and summer mountain leadership and mountain guiding skills. Traditional training included mountain survival skills such as to build an igloo shelter and to sleep in by temperatures around 0°C. Modern troops may be transported in all-terrain VMBs VACs or untracked VAB personnel carriers. Personal weaponry includes the FAMAS assault rifle, Minimi machine gun, FRF-2 sniper rifle, PGM Hecate II heavy sniper rifle, and LGI light mortar, while group weapons included the M2 machine gun, LLR 81mm mortar, and vehicle-mounted 20mm autocannon, plus AT4, ERYX and MILAN anti-tank missiles.
The Chasseurs are easily recognised by their wide beret (when not in battle uniform), named tarte (= pie). The British Army adopted the wearing of the beret in the 1920s after having seen similar berets worn by the 70th Chasseurs Alpins, which have now been disbanded.
French Colonial Forces or Troupes Coloniales is a general designation for the military forces that garrisoned and were largely recruited from the French colonial empire from the late 17th century until 1960. This force played a substantial part in both World Wars as well as in the Indochina and Algerian wars that followed. It remains a key branch of the modern French military, though with only limited responsibilities relating to the remaining French overseas territories.
The "Armee Coloniale" did not include the famous North African regiments such as the Foreign Legion, Zouaves, Spahis, Tirailleurs Algerienne and Goums, all of which were considered part of the French Metropolitan Army. Instead the "Troupes Coloniale" can be divided into: (i) French long service volunteers (or colonial settlers doing their military service) assigned to service in France itself or as garrisons in French West and Central Africa, Madagascar, New Caledonia or Indochina; and (ii) Indigenous troops recruited in any of the above, serving under French officers. These were designated as Tirailleurs Senegalais, Tirailleurs Malagache, Tirailleurs Indochinois etc according to the name of the colony of origin. Tirailleurs (sharpshooters) Senegalais was the name given to all West and Central African regiments since Senegal had been the first French colony south of the Sahara.
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The 13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade (French: 13e Démi-Brigade de Légion Étrangère) (13e DBLE) is an infantry demi-brigade in the French Foreign Legion. It is the only permanent demi-brigade in the French Army.
The 13 DBLE was raised in February 1940 at Sidi Bel Abbes in Algeria, with its cadre drawn from 1e REI. The 13 DBLE fought during World War Two for the Free French Forces including service at the Battle of Bir Hakeim. The unit fought in the French Indochina War and suffered heavy losses at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu.
1st battalion (1/13 DBLE) and 3rd battalion (3/13 DBLE) fought at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu during the French Indochina War. At the commencement of the campaign, the demi-brigade was commanded by Colonel Jules Gaucher. During the early stages of the battle, 1/13 DBLE occupied positions at the “Claudine” fortifications and 3/13 DBLE occupied positions at the “Beatrice” fortifications.
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Zouave was the name given to certain infantry regiments in the French army, as well as to units in other armies which imitated the dress or drill of the French zouaves.
The corps was first raised in Algeria in 1831 with one and later two battalions, and recruited solely from the Zouaoua, a tribe of Berbers, dwelling in the mountains of the Jurjura range (see Kabyles). In 1838 a third battalion was raised, and the regiment thus formed was commanded by Lamoriciere. Shortly afterwards the formation of the Tirailleurs algeriens, the Turcos, as the corps for Muslim troops, changed the enlistment for the Zouave battalions, and they became a purely French body. Three regiments had been formed by 1852, and a fourth, the Zouaves of the Imperial Guard, in 1854.
The Crimean War was the first service which the regiments saw outside Algeria. They subsequently saw service in the Franco-Austrian War of 1859, the Mexican Intervention (1864-66)and the Franco-Prussian War(1870).
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The Chasseurs d'Afrique (literally "Hunters of Africa" although "African Light Horse" would be an alternative translation) were a light cavalry corps in the French Armée d'Afrique (Army of Africa). First raised in the 1830s from regular French cavalry posted to Algeria, they numbered 5 regiments by World War II. For most of their history they were recruited from either French volunteers or French settlers in North African doing their military service. As such they were the mounted equivalent of the French Zouave infantry. The other major cavalry element in the Armee d' Afrique were the Spahis - recruited from the indigenous peoples of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco with mostly French officers.
The Chasseurs d'Afrique were until 1914 clothed in light blue tunics tucked into a red sash and red breeches. Their normal headdress was the same light blue shako as the equivalent light cavalry regiments (hussars and chasseurs à cheval) of the metropolitan army but worn with a white or light khaki cover. Red fezs were worn off duty or when in barracks. The light blue tunics had yellow facings and reportedly earned them the nickname of "Blue Butchers" amongst some of their opponents.
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