The 92nd Infantry Regiment is a 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 ...

. Tracing its descent from a unit of Irish troops in French service established in 1661, it received its regimental number in 1790. Since 1881 the unit has been garrisoned at

Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, ; ; oc, label=Auvergnat (dialect), Auvergnat, Clarmont-Ferrand or Clharmou ; la, Augustonemetum) is a city and Communes of France, commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions of France, region, with a population ...

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (ARA; ; frp, Ôvèrgne-Rôno-Ârpes; oc, Auvèrnhe Ròse Aups; it, Alvernia-Rodano-Alpi) is a region in southeast-central France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions; it resulted from the merger of Au ...

. The regiment fought at the battles of

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 ...

and

the Somme The Battle of the Somme (French language, 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. I ...

in 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 ...

and in the

Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...

in 1940. The unit was revived in 1944 as a unit of the

Maquis Maquis may refer to: Resistance groups * Maquis (World War II), predominantly rural guerrilla bands of the French Resistance * Spanish Maquis, guerrillas who fought against Francoist Spain in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War * The network ...

. In recent years it has served on

Opération Chammal Opération Chammal is a French military operation in Iraq and Syria launched to help curtail the expansion of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and to support the Iraqi Army. Its name comes from the Shamal (''Chammal'' in French), a no ...

in Iraq and on

Operation Barkhane Operation Barkhane was an anti-insurgent operation that started on 1 August 2014 and formally ended on 9 November 2022. It was led by the French military against Islamist groups in Africa's Sahel region.mechanised 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 ...

role and is equipped with the

Véhicule blindé de combat d'infanterie The Véhicule Blindé de Combat d'Infanterie (English: ''Armoured Infantry Fighting Vehicle'') or VBCI is a French Infantry fighting vehicle designed and manufactured by GIAT Industries (now Nexter Systems) and Renault Trucks Defense to replace ...

History

The 92nd Infantry Regiment traces its descent from a unit of Irish troops in French service in 1661. The regiment received its numerical designation in 1790 and has been garrisoned at

since 1881. The 92nd Regiment fought at the battles of

and

in the

. In 1933 future French president

Georges Pompidou Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou ( , ; 5 July 19112 April 1974) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1969 until his death in 1974. He previously was Prime Minister of France of President Charles de Gaulle from 1962 to 196 ...

served in the regiment as a second lieutenant. The 92nd Regiment suffered heavy losses in the 1940

and their flag was lost in the sinking of the French destroyer ''Siroco'' off

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France. The unit was re-established in 1944 from a group of

operating in Auvergne. The 92nd Regiment deployed during the

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC) *Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709) *Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see als ...

and built the bell tower at the

Tora Bora Tora Bora ( ps, توره بوړه, "Black Cave") is a cave complex, part of the Spin Ghar (White Mountains) mountain range of eastern Afghanistan. It is situated in the Pachir Aw Agam District of Nangarhar, approximately west of the Khyber ...

base. The unit successfully petitioned for permission to relocate the tower back to France before handing the base over to the

Afghan National Army Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia * Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity **Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...

. The 92nd Regiment was the first equipped with the

to be deployed to Mali in 2013. It has deployed as part of

Opération Sentinelle Opération Sentinelle is a French military operation with 10,000 soldiers and 4,700 police and gendarmes deployed since the aftermath of the January 2015 Île-de-France attacks, with the objective of protecting the deemed sensitive "points" of th ...

, the post-2015 security assistance provided by the army in France. In 2017 the 92nd Regiment deployed on

in Iraq, from 2018 to 2019 was on

Operation Barkhane Operation Barkhane was an anti-insurgent operation that started on 1 August 2014 and formally ended on 9 November 2022. It was led by the French military against Islamist groups in Africa's Sahel region.2nd Armoured Brigade. It amounts to 1,500 personnel in five combat companies, a support company, a command and logistics company and two reserve companies. Its equipment includes: *968 x

Heckler & Koch HK416 The Heckler & Koch HK416 is a gas-operated assault rifle chambered for the 5.56×45mm NATO cartridge. It is designed and manufactured by the German company Heckler & Koch. Although the design is based on the AR-15 class of firearm (specifical ...

assault rifles *110 x

FN Minimi The FN Minimi (short for french: Mini Mitrailleuse; "mini machine gun") is a Belgian 5.56mm light machine gun/squad automatic weapon developed by Ernest Vervier for FN Herstal. First introduced in the late 1970s, it is now in service in more th ...

light machine guns *54 x MAG58 general purpose machine guns *10 x

LLR 81mm The ''Mortier de 81mm léger long renforcé'' (LLR 81 mm) is a mortar used by the French Army, manufactured by Thales Thales of Miletus ( ; grc-gre, Θαλῆς; ) was a Greek mathematician, astronomer, statesman, and pre-Socratic phil ...

mortars *14 x

MILAN Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

anti-tank missile launchers *58 x

Petit Véhicule Protégé The ''Petit Véhicule Protégé'' ("Small Protected vehicle") is a light, general-purpose armoured 4-wheel drive vehicle used by the French Army, made by Panhard. It is also designated as Auverland A4 AVL (Armoured Vehicle Light). Built by Auve ...

4x4 light armoured vehicles *30 x Poste Eryx anti-tank equipped armoured personnel carriers *96 x

*10 x Masstech unarmoured vehicles *56 x

Renault GBC 180 The Renault GBC 180 is an all-terrain truck used by the French armed forces since the late 1990s. History The GBC 180 is an advanced upgrade and refurbished version of the Berliet Berliet was a French manufacturer of automobiles, buses, tru ...

trucks

Honours

The 92nd Regiment has received the following battle honours: * Rivoli 1797 * Austerlitz 1805 * Jena 1806 * Constantine 1837 *

Ypres 1914 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 ...

* Verdun 1916-1917 * The Somme 1916 * The Ourcq 1918 The regimental flag also bears the wording "Honneur et Patrie" and the

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 three palms. The regimental insignia shows a Gaul's head on a silver shield with red enamel edging from which the members of the regiment are known as Gauls (french: Gaulois). The garrison is near to

Gergovie Gergovie (in auvergnat ''Gergòia'') is a French village in the commune of La Roche-Blanche in the Puy-de-Dôme ''département'', a few kilometres south of Clermont-Ferrand. It is situated at the foot of the Gergovie plateau, the official but d ...

which is associated with the victory of Gallic chief

Vercingetorix Vercingetorix (; Greek: Οὐερκιγγετόριξ; – 46 BC) was a Gallic king and chieftain of the Arverni tribe who united the Gauls in a failed revolt against Roman forces during the last phase of Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars. Despite h ...

over the Romans at the

Battle of Gergovia The Battle of Gergovia took place in 52 BC in Gaul at Gergovia, the chief oppidum (fortified town) of the Arverni. The battle was fought between a Roman Republican army, led by proconsul Julius Caesar, and Gallic forces led by Vercingetorix, wh ...

. The regimental motto is "Debout soldats d'Auvergne, debout ça va barder! À moi...! Auvergne... !" (French for "Stand-up, soldiers of Auvergne, stand-up, it will be tough! To me! Auvergne!") which comes from words spoken by

Nicolas-Louis d'Assas Nicolas-Louis d'Assas (1733–1760), also known as Louis d'Assas du Mercou and Chevalier d'Assas, was a captain of the French Régiment d'Auvergne, whose celebrity depends on a single act of defiance. He was born in Le Vigan, Languedoc, France. ...

, of the Auvergne Regiment, at the

Battle of Kloster Kampen The Battle of Kloster Kampen (or Kloster Kamp, or Campen) was a tactical French victory over a British and allied army in the Seven Years' War. The Allied forces were driven from the field. Prelude During the autumn of 1760 Duke Ferdinand of Br ...

in 1760.

References

{{reflist Infantry regiments of France Military units and formations established in 1661 1661 establishments in Europe 1660s establishments in France