The 19th Army Corps ( 19e Corps d'Armée) was a corps of the French army. In December 1870, the Tours delegation created the 19th Army Corps which was formed in Alençon. It was recreated by decree of the JO of August 13, 1874, it brought together the various military units of Algeria. It constituted the nucleus of the Army of Africa. The corps appears to have been disbanded and superseded by the 10th Military Region by a decree of 18 February 1946.

19th Military Region

The Army Corps was located in the 19th Military Region of the Metropolitan Army which included the three

départements A department (, ) is an administrative or political division in several countries. Departments are the first-level divisions of 11 countries, nine in the Americas and two in Africa. An additional 10 countries use departments as second-level div ...

of Algiers, Oran and

Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I *Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine given name ...

, situated in modern day Algeria. The garrisons were principally based in Algiers,

Mascara Mascara is a cosmetic commonly used to enhance the upper and lower eyelashes. It is used to darken, thicken, lengthen, and/or define the eyelashes. Normally in one of three forms—liquid, powder, or cream—the modern mascara product has vari ...

Tlemcen Tlemcen (; ar, تلمسان, translit=Tilimsān) is the second-largest city in northwestern Algeria after Oran, and capital of the Tlemcen Province. The city has developed leather, carpet, and textile industries, which it exports through the p ...

, and Ain. Elements were also in Tunisia, forming the 'Tunisian occupation division', located mainly in

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

, Bizerte and Sousse. The other twenty military regions of the Metropolitan army covered mainland France, hence the distinction this was the 'Army of Africa'.

Franco-Prussian War

The Twenty-one army corps were established in December 1870, each with its own military region. The 19th Army Corps was stood down on 13 March 1871.

From 1870 to 1914

The corps' Oran and Algiers divisions fought the -'Aït Khabbash', a fraction of the Aït Ounbgui ''khams'' of the

Aït Atta The Ait Atta (Berber language: Ayt Ɛeṭṭa, ⴰⵢⵜ ⵄⵟⵟⴰ) are a large Berber tribal confederation of South eastern Morocco, estimated to number about 330,000 as of 1960. They are divided into "five fifths" (''khams khmas''), all said t ...

confederation in the late 1890s. The conflict ended by the annexation of the Touat-Gourara-Tidikelt complex by France in 1901.

First World War

The Moroccan Division was one of the most decorated units 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 Force ...

and all its regiments were distinguished by unit citations mentioned in despatches of the armed forces at the end of the conflict. The Moroccan Division was the only division to receive the battle honour of being decorated with 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 ...

throughout the course of

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 ...

. The following troops were detached from the 19th Army Corps to serve in the

Corps expéditionnaire d'Orient The Corps Expeditionnaire d'Orient (Oriental Expeditionary Force) (CEO) was a French Expeditionary Force raised for service during the Gallipoli Campaign in World War I. The corps initially consisted of a single infantry division, but later grew ...

. Two provisional regiments compromising of a total of five Zouave battalions and one Foreign Legion battalion, saw action in the Gallipoli campaign, and thereafter on the

Salonika front The Macedonian front, also known as the Salonica front (after Thessaloniki), was a military theatre of World War I formed as a result of an attempt by the Allied Powers to aid Serbia, in the autumn of 1915, against the combined attack of German ...

, fighting alongside British troops in both theatres of war.

Second World War

The 85th African Infantry Division (85e DIA) was a Formation-A-Class reserve mountain division mobilized 2 September 1939 in Algiers. The 85th DIA occupied covering positions along the Libyan border until the end of May 1940 and was then shipped to Marseille by 3 June 1940. On 10 May 1940, the corps comprised the 85e DIA; the 181st African Infantry Division; the 182nd African Infantry Division; the 183rd African Infantry Division; the East Saharan Front of division size; an armoured battalion, an infantry battalion (21e ''Bataillon d'Infanterie Légère d'Afrique,'' of the Battalions of Light Infantry of Africa), and a cavalry regiment. The Oran, Constantine, and Algiers Divisions existed on 8 November 1942 as Operation Torch began; the corps was commanded by Lieutenant General :fr:Louis Koeltz while the Algiers Division was under

Charles Mast Emmanuel Charles Mast (7 January 1889 – 30 September 1977) was a major general who participated in the liberation of North Africa in 1942 and was Resident General of France in Tunisia between 1943 and 1947. Prewar He was the son of Miche ...

. The corps joined the Allies in late 1942 when

Vichy French Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...

forces in north-west Africa went over to the Allies after 'Torch' and Hitler ordered ' Case Anton,' the German and Italian occupation of Vichy France. The Corps order of battle in 1942 (as far as known) during this time was: *''Division de marche d'Alger'' **1er régiment de

Tirailleurs A tirailleur (), in the Napoleonic era, was a type of light infantry trained to skirmish ahead of the main columns. Later, the term "''tirailleur''" was used by the French Army as a designation for indigenous infantry recruited in the French ...

algériens (Algerian native infantry regiment) **9e régiment de tirailleurs algériens (Algerian native infantry regiment) **3e régiment de Zouaves (north African European infantry regiment) **2e régiment de

Chasseurs d'Afrique The ''Chasseurs d'Afrique'' were a light cavalry corps of chasseurs in the French Armée d'Afrique (Army of Africa). First raised in 1831 from regular French cavalry posted to Algeria, they numbered five regiments by World War II. For most of ...

(north African European cavalry regiment)> **1er régiment de spahis algériens (Algerian native cavalry regiment) **65e régiment d'artillerie d'Afrique (north African artillery regiment) **410e régiment d'artillerie de défense contre aéronef (anti-aircraft artillery regiment) *''Division de Marche d'Oran'' **2e régiment de tirailleurs algériens (Algerian native infantry regiment) **6e régiment de tirailleurs algériens (Algerian native infantry regiment) **15e régiment de tirailleurs sénégalais (African native infantry regiment) ** 1st Foreign Infantry Regiment (French Foreign Legion) **1st et 3rd Batteries, 62e Regiment d'Artillerie Africaine (RAA), 2e 66e RAA, 1er 68e RAA. **Batteries A/C 47mm (2 ? 3? Š) **411e régiment d'artillerie de défense contre aéronef (anti-aircraft artillery regiment) *''Division de Marche du Maroc'' : As of 27 December 1942 :
**7e régiment de tirailleurs marocains (Moroccan native infantry regiment) **3e régiment de tirailleurs marocains (Moroccan native infantry regiment) **4e régiment de tirailleurs tunisiens (Tunisian native infantry regiment) **3e régiment étranger d'infanterie (foreign legion infantry regiment) **1er Groupe de tabors marocains (Moroccan native infantry regiment) ** 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (''1er régiment étranger de cavalerie'') (2 escadrons ? 1 groupe ?) (Foreign Legion) **2 groupes de 75 **1 battery of 47mm **1 escadron d'automitrailleuses (GB) **1 company of light tanks (US) NB sont mentionnés : mountain artillery reinforcements (2 ou 3 ou 4 batteries ?) The 19th Army Corps fought as an Allied formation within the

British 1st Army The First Army was a Formation (military), formation of the British Army that existed during the World War I, First and World War II, Second World Wars. The First Army included British Indian Army#First World War, Indian and Portuguese Expeditiona ...

until the surrender of

Axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis * Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...

forces in Tunisia.

Postwar changeover to 10th Military Region

General :fr:Henry Martin (général) appears to have been the last commander of the 19th Army Corps (1944–46) and the first commander of the successor 10th Military Region, formed in accordance with the decree of 18 February 1946.

Corps commanders 1920 – 1946

* 5 March 1920 – 30 September 1920:

Général is the French word for general. There are two main categories of generals: the general officers (), which are the highest-ranking commanding officers in the armed forces, and the specialist officers with flag rank (), which are high-level office ...

Henri Albert Niessel * 9 November 1920 – 26 September 1923: Genéral Marie Jean Auguste Paulinier * 4 October 1923: General

Edmond Just Victor Boichut Edmond is a given name related to Edmund. Persons named Edmond include: * Edmond Canaple (1797–1876), French politician * Edmond Chehade (born 1993), Lebanese footballer * Edmond Conn (1914–1998), American farmer, businessman, and politician ...

* 24 December 1925: General Stanislas Naulin * 23 November 1930 : General Georges * 20 March 1933: General

Charles Noguès Charles Noguès (13 August 1876 – 20 April 1971) was a French general. He graduated from the École Polytechnique, and he was awarded the Grand Croix of the Legion of Honour in 1939. Biography On 20 March 1933, he became commander of the 19 ...

* 16 September 1936 : General Catroux * 29 January 1939 – 20 August 1940 : General Poupinel * August 1940 – September 1941 : General Paul Beynet * 15 September 1941 – 10 May 1944 : General Koeltz * 30 August 1944 – 27 June 1945 : General

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austr ...

Notes

References

* {{cite book , first=Anthony, last=Clayton, title=France, Soldiers, and Africa, publisher=Brassey's Defence Publishers, date=1988 *Service Historique de l'Armée de Terre. ''Guerre 1939–1945 Les

Grandes Unités Françaises Grandes Unités Françaises (full title: ''Guerre 1939-1945 Les Grandes Unités Françaises'') is a monumental six-volume (the fifth volume is actually composed of four separate works) World War II order of battle and military unit history referenc ...

''. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1967. Vol. 3

019 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

Military units and formations established in 1873 Military units and formations disestablished in 1946