The 1st Tirailleur Regiment () is a

mechanized infantry Mechanized infantry are infantry units equipped with armored personnel carriers (APCs) or infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) for transport and combat (see also mechanized force). As defined by the United States Army, mechanized infantry is di ...

unit of the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed For ...

, created in 1994 under the command of the

7th Armoured Brigade 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion, mythology, s ...

. It is mainly composed of active soldiers but also reservists, deployed both overseas and in internal security tasks such as Operation Vigipirate. It is currently only tirailleur regiment in the French army.

History

It was formed on 1 May 1994 from the 170th infantry regiment. The ceremony was held in

Golbey Golbey () is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France. It lies on the left bank of the Moselle, directly north of Épinal. Population See also *Communes of the Vosges department The following is a list of the 50 ...

, in the presence of the heirs of the Army of Africa,

legionnaire The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, Armoured Cavalry Arm, cavalry, Military engineering, engineers, Airborne forces, airborne troops. It was created ...

Spahis Spahis () were light-cavalry regiments of the French army recruited primarily from the indigenous populations of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. The modern French Army retains one regiment of Spahis as an armoured unit, with personnel now r ...

Zouaves The Zouaves were a class of light infantry regiments of the French Army serving between 1830 and 1962 and linked to French North Africa; as well as some units of other countries modelled upon them. The zouaves were among the most decorated unit ...

and the 170th Infantry Regiment, who kept the flag of the

7th Algerian Tirailleurs Regiment The 7th Algerian Tirailleurs Regiment was an infantry unit of the French Army, part of the Army of Africa. Active between 1913 and 1946, the unit is one of the most decorated of the French Army. The regiment distinguished itself in World War ...

, became the 1er Régiment de Tirailleurs. It is officially recreated under the command of

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Jean-Guy Gendras and in the presence of

François Léotard François Gerard Marie Léotard (; born 26 March 1942, in Cannes) is a retired French politician. Singer and actor Philippe Léotard (1940–2001) was his brother. Member of the Republican Party, the liberal-conservative component of the ...

, the French Minister of Defence. It was created in tribute to

North African North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

Tirailleurs who took part in all the battles of France on the occasion of the

golden jubilee A golden jubilee marks a 50th anniversary. It variously is applied to people, events, and nations. Bangladesh In Bangladesh, golden jubilee refers the 50th anniversary year of the separation from Pakistan and is called in Bengali ''"সু ...

of the

Liberation of France The liberation of France in the Second World War was accomplished through diplomacy, politics and the combined military efforts of the Allied Powers of World War II, Allied Powers, Free French forces in London and Africa, as well as the French R ...

. The regiment formerly was stationed at the Haxo Golbey neighborhood and the neighborhood Varaigne in Epinal. Since 2005, the entire regiment has been grouped in Varaigne neighborhood abandoning Haxo.

Traditions

Regimental Nouba

The regimental

military band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the tit ...

of the regiment is known as the "Nouba". The traditional uniform is generally derived from those in use in the 19th century. The earliest evidence of music in these African regiments dates back to the centenary of

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

in 1860, and the painter Edouard Detaille in 1884 represented the nouba of the 2nd Infantry. The band, which is a small size ensemble, has had a

turkish crescent A Turkish crescent, (a smaller version is called a çevgen or ''çağana'' (Tr.), Turkish jingle, Jingling Johnny, ' (Ger.), ' or ''pavillon chinois'' (Fr.)), is a percussion instrument traditionally used by military bands internationally. In some ...

used for ceremonial dutues since the end of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Mascot

Around 1930, some regiments most often had a

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

, a

bighorn The bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') is a species of sheep native to North America. It is named for its large horns. A pair of horns might weigh up to ; the sheep typically weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates three distinct subspec ...

sheep or a

ram Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to: Animals * A male sheep * Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish People * Ram (given name) * Ram (surname) * Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director * RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch * ...

. The mascot of the 1st Regiment is called Messaoud, which in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

means "fortune".

Uniform

A characteristic of La Nouba is its

oriental The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the ...

dress, which recalls the uniform of the old Algerian tirailleurs created around 1840. The origin of these troops goes back to the Arab and Turkish units formed by the French after the

Invasion of Algiers in 1830 The invasion of Algiers in 1830 was a large-scale military operation by which the Kingdom of France, ruled by Charles X, invaded and conquered the Deylik of Algiers. Algiers was annexed by the Ottoman Empire in 1529 after the capture of Algie ...

, with volunteers, contingents provided by different local chiefs, or with organized troops from the various beys defeated by the French. This uniform consists of baggy pants called "

saroual Sirwal, also sherwal, saroual, seroual, sarouel or serouelSmith, Robin (199''American Civil War Zouaves'', p. 52. Osprey PublishingAt Google Books. Retrieved 23 August 2013. ( ar, سِرْوَال (''sirwāl''), (''šalvâr'') ku, شه‌واڵ ...

", which sky blue or white depending on the season, tightened at the waist by a wide red woolen belt. Its function was to keep the abdomen of soldiers and non-commissioned officers warm to prevent them from suffering from intestinal ailments. The short, blue jacket, with yellow facings drawing beautiful scrolls, is worn over a sleeveless vest: the "sedria". On the head, the

skirmishers Skirmishers are light infantry or light cavalry soldiers deployed as a vanguard, flank guard or rearguard to screen a tactical position or a larger body of friendly troops from enemy advances. They are usually deployed in a skirmish line, an i ...

wear the "chèche", that is to say a strip of white rolled up fabric, or the "chéchia" in crimson felt with a pompom with sky blue fringes. Only this regiment is authorized to wear the golden half-moon on a clear sky-blue background, crowned with three

chevron Chevron (often relating to V-shaped patterns) may refer to: Science and technology * Chevron (aerospace), sawtooth patterns on some jet engines * Chevron (anatomy), a bone * '' Eulithis testata'', a moth * Chevron (geology), a fold in rock ...

s of the African arm.

Commanders

* Colonel Jean-Guy Gendras (1993-1995) * Colonel Éric de Fleurian (1995-1997) * Colonel Jean-Jacques Poch (1997-1999) * Lieutenant Colonel François-Xavier Yves (1999-2001) * Colonel Bruno Dran (2001-2003) * Colonel Thierry Lion (2003-2005) * Colonel Pierre Esnault (2005-2007) * Colonel Emmanuel Gaulin (2007-2009) * Colonel Rémy Cadapeaud (2009-2011) * Colonel Cédric du Gardin (2011-2013) * Colonel Marc Espitalier (2013-2015) * Colonel Franck Boudet (2015-2017) * Colonel Cyril Leprêtre (2017-2010) * Colonel Jean-Baptiste Vouilloux (2019-2021)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tirailleur Regiment, 1st Épinal Military units and formations established in 1994 1994 establishments in France Infantry regiments of France