The 7th Algerian Tirailleurs Regiment was an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

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 ...

, 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 I 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 ...

, when the unit was cited six times at the orders of the armed forces and awarded the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, it was part of the

3rd Algerian Infantry Division The 3rd Algerian Infantry Division (french: 3e Division d'Infanterie Algérienne, 3e DIA) was an infantry division of the Army of Africa (french: Armée d'Afrique) which participated in World War II. Following the liberation of French North Afri ...

(3^e DIA), notably in the Italian campaign with the

French Expeditionary Corps There have been several French Expeditionary Corps (French ''Corps expéditionnaire'' 'français'': * Expeditionary Corps of the Orient 'Corps expéditionnaire d'Orient'', CEO(1915), during World War I * Expeditionary Corps of the Dardanelles 'Co ...

of General Alphonse Juin, and was cited three times at the orders of the armed forces Dissolved in 1964, the regiment became the 170th Infantry Regiment (french: 170^e RI).

Creation and names

* 1913: creation of the 7th Marching Tirailleurs Regiment, (7^e RMT). * 1919: named the 7th Algerian Tirailleurs Regiment, (7^e RTA). * 1962: designated 7th Tirailleurs Regiment. * 1964: dissolved 1 July and re-formed as the 170th Infantry Regiment.

History

World War I

The 2nd battalion of the regiment remained in North Africa. It was part of the Moroccan Division and fought alongside the Marching Regiment of the Foreign Legion, the

4th Tunisian Tirailleurs Regiment The 4th Tunisian Tirailleurs Regiment (french: 4e Régiment de Tirailleurs Tunisiens, 4e RTT ) was an infantry regiment of the Army of Africa, part of the French Army. Active between 1884 and 1956, the regiment was one of the most decorated of ...

and the

8th Zouaves Regiment The 8th Zouaves Regiment (french: 8e Régiment de Zouaves , 8e R.Z) was an infantry unit of the French Army. Created in 1914, the unit was designated as 8th Marching Zouaves Regiment. Creation and different nominations * 1914 : 8th Marching Zoua ...

1914

* Deployment of the IIIrd and IVth Army on the

Marne Marne can refer to: Places France *Marne (river), a tributary of the Seine *Marne (department), a département in northeastern France named after the river * La Marne, a commune in western France *Marne, a legislative constituency (France) Nethe ...

* 5–13 September:

First Battle of the Marne The First Battle of the Marne was a battle of the First World War fought from 5 to 12 September 1914. It was fought in a collection of skirmishes around the Marne River Valley. It resulted in an Entente victory against the German armies in the ...

* First Battle of Ypres: ** Bois Triangulaire ** 12 November: North of

Ypres Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality co ...

1915

* 28 January: Flanders: Grande Dune near Nieuport *

Second Battle of Artois The Second Battle of Artois (french: Deuxième bataille de l'Artois, german: Lorettoschlacht) from 9 May to 18 June 1915, took place on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during the First World War. A German-held Salient (military), ...

: ** Cote 140 ** 9 May:

Vimy Ridge The Battle of Vimy Ridge was part of the Battle of Arras, in the Pas-de-Calais department of France, during the First World War. The main combatants were the four divisions of the Canadian Corps in the First Army, against three divisions of ...

* 25 September – 6 October:

Second Battle of Champagne The Second Battle of Champagne ( or Autumn Battle) in World War I was a French offensive against the German army at Champagne that coincided with an Anglo-French assault at north-east Artois and ended with French retreat. Battle On 25 Septem ...

** Butte de Souains ** 25 September: Bois Sabot

1916

* 4 July:

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

Belloy-en-Santerre Belloy-en-Santerre (, literally ''Belloy in Santerre'') is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography The commune is situated on the D79 road, about from the junction of the A1 autoroute and the N29, som ...

1917

* 17 April: Mont-sans-Nom,

Auberive Auberive () is a commune in the Haute-Marne department in the Grand Est region in northeastern France. Geography The Aujon flows west through the northeastern part of the commune. The Aube forms part of the commune's southern border, then flows ...

Verdun Verdun (, , , ; official name before 1970 ''Verdun-sur-Meuse'') is a large city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital ...

1918

* 26 April:

Villers-Bretonneux Villers-Bretonneux () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Villers-Bretonneux is situated some 19 km due east of Amiens, on the D1029 road and the A29 motorway. Villers-Bretonneux border ...

, Bois du Hangard * 29 May – 1 June: ,

Missy-aux-Bois Missy-aux-Bois () is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Population See also *Communes of the Aisne department The following is a list of the 799 communes in the French department of Aisne. The ...

Chaudun Chaudun () is a commune in the department of Aisne in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Population See also *Communes of the Aisne department The following is a list of the 799 Communes of France, communes in the French Departments of ...

* 12 June: Amblémy * Saint-Pierre-Aigle, Daumiers * July 1918: Chaudun * 28 August – 17 September: Tunnel of

Vauxaillon Vauxaillon is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography The river Ailette forms all of the commune's northern border. Population See also *Communes of the Aisne department The following is a li ...

, Neuville-sous-Marginal

Casualties

From 1914 to 1918, losses for the 7th Marching Tirailleurs Regiment were: 2326 killed or missing (97 officers, 232 junior officers, 260 corporals and 1737 soldiers). Throughout this war, the 7th Regiment collectively obtained 31 citations and 464 medals.

Interwar period

In 1928, the 7^e RTA adopted the designation of 11^e RTA then went back to 7^e RTA. In 1936, the 7^e RTA was garrisoned at

Constantine, Algeria Constantine ( ar, قسنطينة '), also spelled Qacentina or Kasantina, is the capital of Constantine Province in northeastern Algeria. During Roman Empire, Roman times it was called Cirta and was renamed "Constantina" in honor of emperor Const ...

World War II

Composition of the regiment

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, one North-African tirailleur regiment consisted of a little more than 3000 men (of which 500 officers and junior officers) and 200 vehicles. The proportion of Maghrebis reached 69% for the regiment, 74% for the battalion, 79% for the company of fusiliers-voltigeurs, 52% for the anti-tank company and 36% for the cannon infantry company.

Campaigns

* 1939: part of the 83^e DIA (french: 83^e DIA) * 1943: belonged to the

* January to May 1944:

Battle of Monte Cassino The Battle of Monte Cassino, also known as the Battle for Rome and the Battle for Cassino, was a series of four assaults made by the Allies against German forces in Italy during the Italian Campaign of World War II. The ultimate objective was ...

* August 1944: disembarkation at Provence, liberation of

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

and Marseille * Fall – winter 1944: Alps, Jura,

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

, Vosges, capture of

Mulhouse Mulhouse (; Alsatian language, Alsatian: or , ; ; meaning ''Mill (grinding), mill house'') is a city of the Haut-Rhin Departments of France, department, in the Grand Est Regions of France, region, eastern France, close to the France–Switzerl ...

and the defense of

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

Collective citations

Throughout the course of the Second World War, the 7^e RTA obtained ten collective citations at the orders of the armed forces (three for the regiment, four for battalions, and three for companies).

Casualties

The

3^e DIA recorded 809 killed in action in the 7th RTA from November 1942 to May 1945, of whom 614 were Maghrebis (75%) and 195 Europeans (25%).

Indochina War

Four marching battalions were constituted successively to fight in the First Indochina War, which included the heavy usage of colonial forces. The 5th Marching Battalion (V/7^e RTA), under chief of battalion Roland de Mecquenem, was at the

Battle of Dien Bien Phu The Battle of Dien Bien Phu (french: Bataille de Diên Biên Phu ; vi, Chiến dịch Điện Biên Phủ, ) was a climactic confrontation of the First Indochina War that took place between 13 March and 7 May 1954. It was fought between the Fr ...

during the Gabrielle resistance. After a heavy artillery bombardment they retreated from the

Viet Minh The Việt Minh (; abbreviated from , chữ Nôm and Hán tự: ; french: Ligue pour l'indépendance du Viêt Nam, ) was a national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1941. Also known as the Việt Minh Fro ...

's 308th Infantry Division.

Algerian War

The 7^e RTA fought in the

Algerian War The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...

, in the corps of the 21st Infantry Division, in the sector of Aurès

Nemencha The Nemencha are a large tribal confederation of Berber and Arab inhabiting North Africa. They are composed of four clans, in a territory in Algeria that bears their name, the Plateau Nemencha. The Nemencha are neighbors of the Berber tribes Fraic ...

. At the cease-fire on 19 March 1962, the regiment constituted along with 91 other regiments, a local unit force of the Algerian order of battle, the 427 UFL-UFO composed of 10% of metropolitan military and 90% of Muslim military personnel at

Barika Barika ( ar, بريكة) is a city in Batna Province, in Eastern Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algi ...

, during the transition period, while being at the service of the executive provisionary power of Algeria until the independence of Algeria ( Evian Accords, 18 March 1962). Following that, the regiment was back in France in 1962, and garrisoned until 1964, when the unit was dissolved to form the 170th Infantry Regiment.

Traditions

Regimental colors

Decorations

The regimental colors are decorated with: *

(1919): ** Cited for the First World War *

Croix de guerre 1914–1918 Croix (French for "cross") may refer to: Belgium * Croix-lez-Rouveroy, a village in municipality of Estinnes in the province of Hainaut France * Croix, Nord, in the Nord department * Croix, Territoire de Belfort, in the Territoire de Belfort depa ...

with: ** Six palms one vermeil star *

Croix de guerre 1939-1945 Croix (French for "cross") may refer to: Belgium * Croix-lez-Rouveroy, a village in municipality of Estinnes in the province of Hainaut France * Croix, Nord, in the Nord department * Croix, Territoire de Belfort, in the Territoire de Belfort depa ...

with: ** Three palms *

Croix de guerre des théâtres d'opérations extérieures The ''Croix de guerre des théâtres d'opérations extérieurs'' (War Cross for foreign operational theatres), also called the ''Croix de Guerre TOE'' for short, is a French military award denoting citations earned in combat in foreign countri ...

with: ** Three palms (One for the Levant, one for Indochina and one for Morocco) * * Fourragère: ** Colors of the Légion d'honneur with olives of the colors of the croix de guerre 1939–1945 The regiment was the first indigenous to be awarded the fourragère with the colors of the Croix de la Légion d'honneur (1914–1918). Image:Fourragère LH.png, Red fourragère with colors of the Légion d'honneur

Battle Honours

* Artois 1915 * Champagne 1915 *

1915 * Soissonnais 1918 *

Picardy Picardy (; Picard and french: Picardie, , ) is a historical territory and a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Hauts-de-France. It is located in the northern part of France. Hi ...

1918 *

Aisne Aisne ( , ; ; pcd, Ainne) is a French department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne. In 2019, it had a population of 531,345.Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is eq ...

1920–1921 *

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

1925–1926 *Fondouk El Okbi 1943 *

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

1944 *

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

1944 *Vosges 1944 *Indochina 1947–1954 *AFN 1952–1962

Regimental commanders

* Lt-Colonel Fellert: August 1914 – September 1914 * Lt-Colonel Levêque: October 1914 – December 1914 * Cdt Jacquot: December 1914 – January 1915 * Lt-Colonel Demetz: January 1915 – February 1916 * Lt-Colonel Schuhler: February 1916 – May 1916 * Lt-Colonel Schultz: May 1916 – May 1918 * Lt-Colonel Mensier: June 1918

Regimental Commanders

* 1913 – 1914: Colonel Mathieu * 1914 – 1916: Lt-Colonel Laurent * 1916 – 1916: Lt-Colonel Demaris * 1916 – 1916: Lt-Colonel Delom * 1916 – 1917: Cdt Pimont * 1917 – 1918: Lt-Colonel Felici * 1918 – 1918: Cdt Conneau * 1918 – 1918: Lt-Colonel Vaissières * 1918 – 1918: Colonel Fropo * 1918 – 1919: Colonel Lamiable * 1919 – 1920: Lt-Colonel Fadat * 1920 – 1920: Cdt de Font Reaulx * 1920 – 1920: Cdt Diard * 1920 – 1920: Lt-Colonel Fadat * 1920 – 1920: Cdt Diard * 1920 – 1920: Cdt de Font Reaulx * 1920 – 1924: Colonel Lemaître * 1924 – 1928: Colonel Pidaud * 1928 – 1930: Colonel Pichon * 1930 – 1933: Colonel de Tassy de Montluc * 1933 – 1937: Colonel Watrin * 1937 – 1940: Colonel Richard * 1940 – 1942: Colonel Cortot * 1942 – 1943: Colonel Regnault * 1943 – 1944: Colonel Chappuis * 1944 – 1944: Lt-Colonel Pichot * 1944 – 1945: Colonel Goutard * 1945 – 1947: Colonel Lardin * 1947 – 1948: Colonel Allard * 1948 – 1950: Colonel Du Passage * 1950 – 1952: Colonel Costantini * 1952 – 1954: Colonel Derville * 1954 – 1956: Colonel Arfouilloux * 1956 – 1958: Colonel de Raffin de la Raffinie * 1958 – 1960: Colonel Chevallier * 1960 – 1961: Colonel Ahmed Rafa * 1961: Colonel Breil

Honorary arms particular to the regiment

* Combats of 9 May 1915 in Artois. * Combats of 25 September 1915 in Champagne. * Combats of 20 August 1917 at Verdun. * Combats of April 1918 in the Somme. * Combats of 29 to 31 May and 18 to 20 July in Aisne. * Combats of 2 September to September 1918 in the Aisne. * Combats of 17 April 1917 in Champagne.

Officers and Tirailleurs

*General Jacques Schmitt (1919–2005), volunteer in 1941. Twelve citations, commander of the Légion d'honneur.

References

Bibliography

* ''Les Africains'', Historama, hors-série n° 10, 1970 * Anthony Clayton, ''Histoire de l'Armée française en Afrique 1830–1962'', Albin Michel, 1994 * ''L'Armée d'Afrique: 1830–1962'', Charles-Lavauzelle, 1977 * ''De Sétif à Marseille, par Cassino'', (Preface by General Jean Delaunay – commentary by Colonel Henri Ortholan) Editions Anovi 2007 * General Jacques Schmitt, ''Journal d'un officier de Tirailleurs (1944)'' (Preface by Colonel Ortholan), Editions Bernard Giovanangeli, 2010.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Algerian Tirailleurs, 7th Regiment Tirailleurs regiments of France Armée d’Afrique 20th-century regiments of France Military units and formations established in 1919 Military units and formations disestablished in 1964