Tirailleur
Tirailleur means
sharpshooter in
French. The term dates back to the
Napoleonic period where it was used to designate light
infantry trained to skirmish ahead of the main columns. Subsequently "tirailleurs" was used by the French military as a classification for infantry recruited in the various
French colonial territories during the 19th and 20th centuries. Such units were generally
battalion to
regiment in size and were commanded by French officers.
Tirailleurs from
Algeria served in the
Crimean and
Franco-Prussian Wars (1870), as well as the various French colonial campaigns. 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 seige of Sebastopol.
During
World War I (1914-18) tirailleurs from the various African territories served on the Western Front, incurring heavy losses. The
Great Mosque of Paris was constructed afterwards in honour of the Muslim tirailleurs who had fought for France.
France made extensive use of tirailleurs in its various colonial campaigns. The best known of these were the "tirailleurs Algeriens" who served in Indo-China, Tunisia and Morocco; and the "tirailleurs Senegalais" (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 the Rif War of the 1920s.
Prior to and during
World War II (1939-45), tirailleurs were recruited from the
Maghreb (Algerian,
Moroccans, and
Tunisians), from
French West Africa, from
Madagascar and from
Indochina (
Annam,
Tonkin and
Cambodia). The individual regiments were named after the territory in which they were recruited. Thus "tirailleurs Malagache", "tirailleurs Annamites", "tirailleurs Tunisiens", "tirailleurs Tonkinese", tirailleurs Cambodgiens" etc.
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 disbanded following the Japanese coups against the French colonial administration in March 1945. Algerian, Moroccan and Senegalese 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 de Extreme Orient Dam San") continued to serve with the French Army in Algeria until 1960.
Most of the tirailleur regiments were disbanded as the various French colonies and protectorates achieved
independence between 1956 and 1962. In Morocco and the various new African states most tirailleurs transferred direct from the French service to their new national armies. This was not the case in Algeria where locally recruited tirailleurs who remained loyal to France were given the option of transfering to units in France itself at the end of the
Algerian War of Independence in 1962. The last Moroccan regiment in the French Army was the 5th RTM ("Regiment de Tirailleurs Marocain") which was stationed at Dijon until it was disbanded in 1965.
There is still one Tirailleur regiment in the modern
French Army, which is descended from the Algerian tirailleurs. While these troops are now entirely 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.References
C. R. Hure. "L'Armee d'Afrique 1830-1962".Pierre Dufour: "1er Regiment de Tirailleurs" ISBN 2-7025-0439-6.
*
Colonialism*
French Colonial Forces*
Harkis
