.JPG)
Atirailleur (French:[tiʁajœʁ]), in theNapoleonic era, was a type oflight infantry trained toskirmish ahead of the main columns. Later, the term "tirailleur" was used by theFrench Army as a designation for indigenous infantry recruited in theFrench colonial territories during the 19th and 20th centuries, or formetropolitan units serving in a light infantry role.
The French army currently maintains one tirailleur regiment, the1st Tirailleur Regiment. This regiment was known as the170th Infantry Regiment between 1964 and 1994. Prior to 1964, it was known as the7th Algerian Tirailleur Regiment, but changed its name after it moved to France as a result ofAlgerian independence.
In the wars of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic periods, the designation "tirailleur" was a French military term used at first to refer generically to light infantry skirmishers.[1] The first regiments of Tirailleurs so called were part of theImperial Guard ofNapoleon I. By the fall of the Empire, some 16 regiments had been created. The Guard Tirailleurs were usually grouped as part of the Young Guard, along with their sisterVoltigeur regiments.
The Guard Tirailleur regiments were disbanded during the reorganization of the French Army in 1814 by the new royal government. On 28 March 1815, during Napoleon I's short-lived return to power (theHundred Days), Regiments 1-8 of the Guard Tirailleurs were officially re-raised. Only the 1st and 3rd Regiments actually took the field for the Waterloo campaign. All regiments of Imperial Guard Tirailleurs (along with the rest of the Guard) were disbanded following the Emperor's second abdication.
In addition to the regiments within the Imperial Guard, several foreign battalions of tirailleurs were raised, included the ItalianTirailleurs du Po and CorsicanTirailleurs Corses.[2]
The first tirailleurs employed in French North Africa were a metropolitan light infantry unit — the1er bataillon de tirailleurs de Vincennes which disembarked in Algiers in early 1840. This unit subsequently became thechasseurs d'Orléans but the title of tirailleurs was allocated the next year to newly raised regiments of indigenous Algerian infantry recruited from the Arab and Berber communities.[3]
The tirailleurs fromAlgeria subsequently served in theCrimean War, theSecond Italian War of Independence, theFrench intervention in Mexico and theFranco-Prussian War (1870), as well as in French colonial campaigns in Tunisia, Indochina, Morocco, Madagascar and Algeria itself. During the Crimean War the Algerian tirailleurs acquired the nickname of "Turcos" (Turks) by which they were widely known over the next hundred years. The name reportedly arose from comparisons between the Algerian troops and the Turkish allies serving alongside the French and British forces at the siege of Sevastopol.[4]
First raised in 1841 as battalions oftirailleurs indigenes, the locally recruited Algerian infantry were organised into three regiments of Algerian Tirailleurs by a decree dated 10 October 1855.[5] The number of such units fluctuated over the next hundred years until in the early 1960s eight regiments of tirailleurs plus a number of independent battalions remained in French service. Two battalions of Algerian Tirailleurs formed the bulk of theDétachement Français de Palestine et de Syrie that participated in theSinai and Palestine Campaign from 1917 onwards.
In 1884, the 4th Regiment of Tirailleurs was created in Tunisia. Except for minor distinctions of insignia and uniform (their numbering was based on the figure "4" and its multiples, plus light blue tombeaus or false pockets on their full dress zouave jackets) the Tunisian tirailleurs regiments had the same appearance as their Algerian counterparts.[6] It was only in 1921 that the French government decided to name them officially "Tunisian Tirailleurs Regiments".
In 1914, during World War I, the 1st Regiment of Moroccan Tirailleurs was created. At the end of the period of French rule in 1956 six regiments of Moroccan tirailleurs were still in existence.
The recruitment of Muslim tirailleurs was mainly voluntary with enlistment for three year periods (five for NCOs), although a limited form of conscription by ballot was introduced in Algeria in 1913 and continued until the end of French rule in North Africa.[7] Prior to 1939 up to 90% of the rank and file of each battalion had been indigenous. The proportion of French European (both metropolitan andpied-noir settlers) toMaghrébin (North African) personnel had however increased to about 30% by the end of World War II, as the tirailleur units became increasingly mechanized.
France made extensive use of tirailleurs in its colonial campaigns. The most numerous of these, after the "tirailleurs algériens" noted above, were the "tirailleurs sénégalais" (who were recruited from all of the French possessions in West and Central Africa). Both played an important role in the occupation of Morocco (1908–14) as well as in theRif War of the 1920s.[8][page needed]
Before and during World War II (1939–45), tirailleurs were recruited from theMaghreb (Algerian,Moroccans, andTunisians), fromFrench West Africa andMadagascar (Tirailleurs malgaches).
Regiments were recruited from the regions ofFrench Indochina:Annam,Tonkin, andCambodia. The regiments were named after the territory in which they were recruited. Thus "tirailleurs Annamites", "tirailleurs Tonkinois" and "tirailleurs Cambodgiens".[9]
During World War I (1914–18) tirailleurs from North African territories served on the Western Front,Salonika andin the Levant, incurring heavy losses. In spite of its title, theMoroccan Division (France) which fought on the Western Front contained Tirailleur battalions from all North African regions. TheGreat Mosque of Paris was constructed afterwards in honour of the Muslim tirailleurs who had fought for France.
Tirailleurs from North and Central Africa fought with distinction in Europe during World War II, notably in the Italian campaign. The Indo-Chinese tirailleur regiments were destroyed or disbanded following theJapanese coups against the French colonial administration in March 1945.[10] Algerian, Moroccan andSenegalese tirailleurs served in Indo-China until the fall of Dien Bien Phu and subsequently as part of the French forces during the Algerian War of Independence (1954–62). Even after the French withdrawal from Indochina, a unit of mostly Vietnamese tirailleurs ("le Commando d'Extreme Orient Dam San") continued to serve with the French Army in Algeria until 1960.[11]
Most tirailleur regiments were disbanded as French colonies and protectorates achievedindependence between 1956 and 1962. In Morocco, Tunisia and the new African states most serving tirailleurs transferred directly from the French armed forces to the new national armies. In Algeria locally recruited tirailleurs who remained loyal to France were given an option to transfer to units in France, or join a transitionalforce locale at the end of theAlgerian War in 1962. The six remaining Algerian tirailleur regiments (RTA) were disbanded or transformed into metropolitan infantry units between 1962 and 1964.[12] The last Moroccan regiment in the French Army was the 5th RTM (Regiment de Tirailleurs Marocain), stationed atDijon until it disbanded in 1965.[13]
The modernFrench Army still has one tirailleur regiment,[14] descended from the Algerian tirailleurs. While these troops are now all French, items of the traditional North African uniform are still worn on ceremonial occasions to commemorate the Algerian "Turcos" who served France for over 130 years. The traditions of thetirailleurs Senegalais are maintained by the21eme Regiment d'infanterie de marine stationed inFréjus, via the4e Régiment de Tirailleurs Sénégalais of the Second World War.[15]
Until 1914 the Algerian and Tunisian tirailleurs worezouave style uniforms of light blue with yellow braiding (see photographs on this page). White turbans (for parade), redfezzes and sashes were worn with thistenue orientale.[16] A white field dress of similar loose cut was worn for North African campaigning and in France during the early months of World War I.[17] They adopted a more practicalkhaki uniform from 1915 onwards, in common with the otherunits of the (North African) 19th Military District.[18][19] The West African and Madagascan tirailleurs wore a dark blue parade dress with red sash and fez while the Indochinese regiments wore an indigenous style of blue, white or khaki uniform with a flat "salacco" headdress.[20] Khaki had been widely worn as a hot-weather field dress in Indo-China and Africa during the years before the outbreak of World War I and thereafter became the norm. The North African tirailleurs however resumed their colourfulfull dress uniforms between 1927 and 1939 to assist recruitment. After World War II they were retained until the present day for wear by thenoubas (regimental bands).[21]
In France, citations made during World War I, World War II or colonial conflicts were accompanied with awards of aCroix de Guerre (Cross of War) with attachments on the ribbon depending on the degree of citation: the lowest being represented by a bronze star (for those who had been cited at the regiment or brigade level) while the highest degree is represented by a bronze palm (for those who had been cited at the army level). A unit can be mentioned in Despatches. Its flag is then decorated with the corresponding Croix. After two citations in Army Orders, the men of the unit concerned are all entitled to wear afourragère.
Regiments of North African Tirailleurs were, together with regiments ofZouaves, amongst the most decorated units in the French Army, ranking after only theColonial Infantry Regiment of Morocco and theForeign Legion March Regiment.[22]
As for theLégion d'honneur, this unit award should not be confused with the fourragère in the colors of theMédaille militaire. It is one of the rarest unit awards in the French military.
The Order is the highest decoration in France. In the case of a regiment, its flag is decorated with the insignia of a knight, which is a different award than the fourragère in the colors of theLégion d'honneur. Only 34 French Infantry Regiments were decorated with theLégion d'honneur including seven Regiment of North-African Tirailleurs.[23]
Among the 17 French regiments that won theFourragère in the colors of theLégion d'honneur (at least six citations in Army Orders), nine of them were from theArmy of Africa including four regiments of North African Tirailleurs (2nd, 4th, 7th Tirailleurs and 4th Zouaves and Tirailleurs).[24]
By the end of the war, all the 16 North African Tirailleur regiments existing as of August 1918 (12 Algerian/Tunisian, 2 Moroccan and 2 Zouaves and Tirailleurs), were awarded aFourragère (at least 2 citations in Army Orders). Only one regiment of Senegalese Tirailleurs were awarded aFourragère in 1919.[25]
As colonial subjects, tirailleurs were not awarded the same pensions as their French (European) counterparts after World War II. The discrimination led to a mutiny of Senegalese tirailleurs inDakar at Camp Tiaroye in December 1944. The tirailleurs involved were former prisoners of war who had been repatriated to West Africa and placed in a holding camp awaiting discharge. They demonstrated in protest against the failure of the French authorities to pay salary arrears and discharge allowances. French soldiers guarding the camp opened fire killing between thirty-five and seventy African soldiers.[26] The provisional government ofCharles de Gaulle, concerned at the impact of the Tiaroye incident on serving tirailleurs, acted quickly to ensure that claims for back pay and other money owed were settled.[27]
When France's African colonies achieved independence between 1956 and the early 1960s, the military pensions of veterans who became citizens of the new nations were frozen. By contrast their French counterparts, who might have served in the same units and fought in the same battles, received pensions that were adjusted for inflation in France itself.
While the imbalanced situation was widely deplored, successive French governments did not act on the complaints of former French Army soldiers. One rationale for the freezing of the pensions was that increased levels would have created an income gap between the former soldiers and the rest of the populations in African countries where the cost of living was significantly lower than in France.
It was only in 2006 that PresidentJacques Chirac, reportedly moved byRachid Bouchareb's movieIndigènes, gave instructions to increase the pensions of former colonial soldiers.[28] However, more than forty years after the colonies had gained independence and sixty years after World War II had ended, many of the veterans had already died.
TheSpanish Army of Africa included an indigenous light infantry force under European officers, designated as theTiradores de Ifni. In existence from 1934 to 1969, this corps was modelled on the North African tirailleurs of the French Army.