Uniforms of the French Foreign Legion 1831-1981

162 Pages·1986·21.03 MB·English

by  Martin Windrow

UNIFORMS OP THE
FRENCH
FOREIGN LEGION
Windrow
Martin
o
!
Illustrated byMichael Chappell
*ifl**

UNIFORMS OF THE
FRENCH
FOREIGN LEGION
1851-1981
by
MARTIN WINDROW
Colour Illustrations by Michael Chappell
BLANDFORD PRESS
Poole Dorset
K
FirstpublishedintheI
LinkHouse.West Street
Poole. Dorset BH15 ILL
>Uic> _^nryr'uDhcLibrary
Reprintedand revised. 1986 ft. Wayne, Indiana
Firstpublishedinpaperback 1986
Copyright © 1981, 1986MartinWindrow
BritishLibraryCatalogueinPublicationData
Windrow.MartinClive
UniformsottheFrenchForeignLegion1831-1981.
1.France.ArmeeLegionEtrangere-Uniforms-History
I.Title
UC485.F8
ISBN 7137 1010 1 vhardback)
ISBN 7137 1914 1 ^paperback)
Set in 10 on llpt V.I.P. Plantin by Tonbndge
Printers. ColourreproductionbyCulvergraphics.
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DistributedintheUnitedStatesby
StirlingPublishingCo,Inc,
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Thisbookisdedicated,withrespectandgratitude,to
CHARLES MILASSLN DECSIKY
Adjudant-ChefofForeignInfantry
HonoraryMajorofUnited StatesInfantry
Knightofthe HolyCrownofStStephenofHungary
MilitaryMedal;XatwnalOrderofMerit; WarCross 1939-45
threePalms,fourStars);WarCrossforOverseasOperations
(onePalm, tvx>Stars);CombattanfsCross;OrderofMilitary
Merit;ColonialMedal clasps Maroc, Sahara,Tunisie
|
1942-43, Indochine-:MedalofLiberatedFrance(Serious
WoundStar);CommemorativeMedal 1939-45(clasps Afrique,
Tunisie 1942-43. Liberation,Allemagne, Extreme-Orient);
Indo-ChinaMedal Serious WoundStar); ThaiOrderof
MilitaryMent; WoundMedal;FirstArmyMedal;European
Combattant'sCross;AfricaStar(Britain);ItalyStar(Britain);
Bronze S
K tNNOS,AMUIMASUAME
Wll
'Idlerofthe Legionforthirtyyears,
hehaspaid methecomplimentofhisfriendship.
Contents
7148505
List ofColour Plates 6
Introduction 7
1. Africa and Spain, 1831-54 10
Uniforms 1831-54 15
2. The Crimea and Italy 24
Uniforms 1854-60 26
3. From Vera Cruz to the Gare du Nord 30
Uniforms 1860-72 41
4. North Africa, 1871-1914 57
Uniforms, North Africa 1872-1914 69
5. Tonkin, Dahomey and Madagascar 77
Uniforms, Tonkin, Dahomey and Madagascar 80
6. World War I 83
Uniforms 1914-18 85
7. The Inter-War Years 90
Morocco 90
Syria 93
Indo-China 94
Uniforms 1919-39:
Infantry 94
Cavalry 104
8. World War II 112
Uniforms 1939-45 125
9. The Legion since 1945 133
Indo-China 133
Morocco and Madagascar 138
Algeria and Tunisia 139
Since Algeria 143
Uniforms since 1945:
North Africa 1945-54 145
Indo-China 1946-54 147
Algeria 1954-62 149
Since Algeria 152
Index 158
UNIFORMS OF THE FRENCH FOREIGN LEGION 1831-1981
LIST OF COLOUR PLATES
Plate Algeria 1832-35 34
Plate Campaign Dress, 1837 35
Plate Campaign Dress, 1840s-50s 38
Plate Crimea and Italy, 1854-59 39
Plate The Swiss, 1855-59 42
Plate Mexico, 1863-65 43
Plate Mounted Squadrons, Mexico 1865-66 46
Plate Campaign Dress, 1870-82 47
Plate Tonkin, Dahomey and Madagascar 1884-95 50
Plate 10: Uniforms of the 1880s-90s 51
Plate 11 Campaign Dress, Morocco, 1907 54
Plate 12: Campaign Dress, North Africa, 1903-11 55
Plate 13: Parade Dress, 1900-12 58
Plate 14: France, 1914-15 59
Plate 15: France, 1916-18 62
Plate 16: Morocco, 1920s-30s 63
Plate 17: Morocco, 1920s-30s 98
Plate 18: TREC, 1920s-30s 99
Plate 19: North Africa, 1930s 102
Plate 20: Compagnie Montee Automobile du 4e REI, Morocco, 1930s 103
Plate 21 Kettledrummers, lerREC, Sousse, Tunisia, 1937-38 106
Plate 22: Parade and Walking-out Dress, 1930s 107
Plate 23: 13TJBLE, circa 1940 110
Plate 24: 13TJBLE, and RMLE, 1942-45 Ill
Plate 25: Indo-China, 1946-50 114
Plate 26: Tonkin, 1952-54 115
Plate 27: Algeria, 1957-59 118
Plate 28: Algeria, 1955-61 119
Plate 29: Parade Dress 122
Plate 30: Service and Parade Dress, 1960s-70s 123
Plate 31 Service and Parade Dress, 1970s 126
Plate 32: Combat Dress, 1970s 127
. .
Introduction
Theaimofthisbookistopresent,asfullyasspace repaired, stolen, oratleasthadagoodlookat any
allows, an account of the development of the requireditem. Itwasnormalforthelegionnaireto
uniforms ofthe French Foreign Legion. Despite berequiredtomakeforhimselfandhiscomrades,
the publisher's generosity in the article ofcolour frommaterialsprovidedorscrounged,manyofthe
plates, it would be unrealistic to claim that the minor items of his uniform and kit. The late
result is entirely comprehensive. The Legion has twentiethcenturystudentmaygobadlyastrayifhe
existed for 150 years, and has at times achieved a seeks in an earlier age ofwarfare for information
strength of some 30,000 men in a score ofmajor whichfitsthepresent-daymatrixofmassproduc-
unitsscatteredthroughouttheworld. Ithasalways tion in minute accordance with a single official
indulged in a fair degree ofdiversity ofuniform, sealed pattern.
duebothtoalivelysenseofunitindividuahty,and Thisbookisaboutuniforms;andforthatreason
to its frequently underprivileged position on the I have been obliged, regretfully, to limit the
chainofsupply.Sedebrouillerhasalwaysbeenthe material on the Legion's battle history to a bare
mostcommonverbinthelanguageoftheLegion. minimum.IhopeIhaveincludedenoughtoenable
I believe it is fair to claim that this book thereadertomakesenseofthecolourplatesinthe
represents the fullest treatment yet published. contextofunitorganisationanddeploymentatany
Nevertheless, this is the logical point at which to given period. To cover in narrative form the
introducea 'blanket' qualification. Thehistoryof eventful history of this extraordinary corps
military dress may appear to the novice to have a through 150 years of war and peace in Algeria,
comfortingly rigid skeleton in the form ofofficial Morocco, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, East, West
regulations; but like most skeletons among the and Central Africa, Madagascar, Syria, Turkey,
higher animals, this one israrely visible from the Macedonia, Italy, Germany, France, Norway,
outside.Themajortrapfortheresearcher,whichI Britain, Russia, Formosa, Indo-China, Mexico,
havebeenatsomepainstoavoid,isthetemptation SouthAmericaandthePaci—ficislandswouldtakea
togeneralisefromtheparticular.Wheretheregula- far thicker book than this onewhich I hope to
tions are available and relevant they are quoted. write one day, but not yet.*
Whenever possible, however, I have preferred to Equally, the proliferation of individual unit
follow actual pictorial evidence. I have tried to badges over the past 40 years has been such that
reconcile the two sources, but have generally onlyarepresentative selectionofthemost impor-
placedmoreweightonthephotograph,thesketch tant has been included, out of more than 250
from life or the veteran's memoir than upon the known examples. For the rich fields of flags,
cold print from Paris. vehicle colourschemes and markings, and other
The Legion was for many decades an obscure, colourful aspects ofLegionalia there has been no
not to say despised branch of the French 19th space at all. I hope that by concentrating on the
Army Corps. Itreceived new patterns ofuniform mainstream of uniform history as it affected the
and equipment later than many other corps, ifat juniorranksofriflecompaniesIhavesucceededin
all. The insistence of quartermasters the world covering that one aspect in, at least, respectable
over that all stocks ofold—material be used before depth.
the new pattern is issued an invariable c—harac-
teristic ofthe species, throughout history has Terminology
playedaconsiderablepartintheappearanceofthe For reasons of space, clarity, and Anglo-Saxon
legionnaire.Thephysicaldispersalandremoteness
of Legion units has combined with the age-old
tradition ofsedemerder to distance thelegionnaire *ThereisagoodshorthistoryinEnglish,TheStoryofthe
eauvtehnoriftuiresthheravefrneovmerthheesitoaftfeidciatlo rmeolydeulp.onTthhee FbryenFcahbeFror&eiFganbLeerg;iotnh,ebsyamEedgaaurthOo'rBaalnldanpcueb,lipsuhbelrihsahveed
alsoproducedhistoriesoftheIndo-ChinaWar,1945-54,
extraordinary range of skills and former profes- andtheAlgerianWar, 1954-62,whicharerelevant.The
sionstobefoundintheranks. Inthegreatdaysof bestshorthistoryofall,withfinephotographsandmuch
FrenchAlgeriaandMorocco,anyLegionbattalion unitdetail,waspublishedinNovember 1967asSpecial
couldbecountedupontoproduceatleastoneman HorsSerie3oftheFrenchmagazineHistorama,withtext
who had, in happier days, manufactured, sold, by Lt Col Louis Garros.
habit, I have translated certain French terms by remained in such a dark blue as to be almost
simplified English equivalents. I have generally indistinguishablefromblack;Ihavegenerallyused
used the term 'warrant officer' for the French 'blue-black' or 'midnight blue'.
ranks of adjudant and adjudant-chef. (For short
periods, mainly in 1939-40, there was a French Method and Sources
rank of warrant officer, but this did not carry In each chronological chapter a brief account of
exactly the same meaning as in English.) In the unit organisation, deployment and campaigns is
FrenchArmyranksuptoandincludingcaporalare followed by a chronological narrative of uniform
termed 'troops'; I have generally used the phrase regulations, changes, and reported exceptions
'enlisted ranks'. In one or two cases my 'enlisted withinthatperiod.Inaddition,eachcolourplateis
ranks' refer to all ranks below adjudant, but I accompanied by a short commentary, and here I
believe my meaning in these cases is clear in havegenerallyindicatedmymain sources. SinceI
context. The term sous-officier refers only to the havebeensquirrellingawayeverypictureandnote
variousgradesofsergeantandsergeant-major,and Icouldlayhandsonfornearlytenyears, toquote
Ihavetranslatedthissimplyas'NCOs'. Therank theexactpedigreeofeveryphotousedinthecolour
of caporal-chef is officially included among the referenceswouldbebothimpossibleandpointless.
'troops',butinrecentdecadessomeoftheuniform But where I have relied partly or wholly on the
distinctionsofthesous-officierhavebeenextended work of previous artists and writers, or upon
to the'capo-chef; again, individual mentions will publishedphotosandaccountswhicharegenerally
clarify this point. available, Ihaveindicatedthesourcebyabbrevia-
Describingcoloursisanotoriouslyinexactbusi- tion.
ness. TheFrenchgarance, identifyingtherichred Themajorpublishedsourcehasalwaysbeenthe
of French Army trousers, cap crowns and some superb series ofcommissioned histories ofwhich
tunicdetails,hasnoEnglishequivalentmoreexact three editions have now appeared under the title
andlessunwieldythan'madderred',andeventhis LaLivred'OrdelaLegionEtrangere, in 1931, 1955
is open to wide interpretation. For simplicity I and 1976. These are referred to throughout asL
haveusedtheword'crimson'forgarancethrough- d'O(l), (2) and (3). The magnificently produced
out the book. For what it is worth, several late first edition, commissioned by General Rollet,
nineteenth century examples ofgarance military 'Father ofthe Legion', to coincide with the 1931
cloth which I have handled come closest to No centenarycelebrations,isnowrareandexpensive.
10 B8 in the Methuen Handbook ofColour. It contains a fairly detailed description ofLegion
Thecolourofthe FrenchArmycapote doesnot uniform pre-1914, and some notes on the period
allowsuchexactdescription, andIhavegenerally 1914-30, by the master historian Jean Brunon,
used 'grey-blue'. In the early decades of the illustratedbyBenigni. Theproperpostureforany
nineteenthcenturyitwasofficiallydescribedzsgris laterresearcherissittingatthefeetofthesegiants.
defer, 'irongrey',butfromabout1840contempor- Itisnoimpertinencetoremark,however,thattext
ary paintings and surviving examples generally andillustrationsarenotreconciledinthecomplete
showadarkblue-greyshade. Therewasprobably detail demanded by today's enthusiast in some
wide variation between batches, some tending to partsofthisimportantrecord. Moreimportantly,
greyandotherstoblue.Atthistimethecapotewas Benigni's superb plates have been reproduced
anitemofcampaignequipmentratherthanapart elsewhere many times since, often with miscon-
ofeveryday uniform throughout the Army. As it ceived captions which betray ignorance of the
became the norm for all field duties so a more originalaccompanyingtext. Thesecondandthird
uniform shade appeared, described from 1856 as editionsgenerallycontainselectionsofplatesfrom
grisdeferbleute. Survivingexamplestodayshowa the first with some additional material, and with
range of shades between a dark blue, and a up-dated uniform notes which perhaps lack the
definitelygreyershaderoughlycomparabletoNo depth of detail of Brunon's splendid original.
21 E7 in the Methuen charts. Nevertheless,allthreeeditionsoftheGoldenBook
The dark blueofhabits, tunicsandkepi-bands, must be regarded as essential source-works.
described initially asbleu de roi and from 1856 as A major written source isLa Legion Etrangere:
bluefonce, was a dark navy blue. By the 1870s it Recueil de Documents (Chapelot), prepared by Lt
was virtually black, and officers actually wore Col Morel and published in 1912. This is a
blackclothdespitetheregulationterm'darkblue', compilationofallmajorordersconcerningLegion
shoulder-boards,andinsigniabackinghave unit organisation, uniform regulations and condi-
8
. ,
tions of service up to that date, with page refer- Csiky,thisbookwouldhavebeenliterallyimposs-
ences to the original gazetting in the Journal ible. A soldier of the Legion for more than 30
Moniteur Officiel and Bulletin Officiel: it also years,andastudentofuniformhistoryformostof
contains a useful bibliography. These written thattime, Charles Milassinlooks backonacareer
regulations should not be accepted absolutely which began in a remote one-company fort in
uncritically, but taken in conjunction with the southern Morocco in the mid-1930s, and which
Livre d'Or they are a most valuable foundation. I spans active service, numerous wounds, and a
refer to this book asMorel in the plates commen- galaxy ofdecorations in thecourseofsome ofthe
taries and text. Legion's most punishing campaigns. The model
SincethehistoryofLegionuniformshasbeenat and archetype ofthe Legionsous-officier, he now
mostperiodssimplyanoff-shoot ofFrenchinfan- enjoys an active retirement on a hill-top in the
try practice, with unit peculiarities, another main —Vosgesnearthesceneofoneofhishardestbattles
sourcehasbeenLesUniformesdeI'ArmeeFrancaise a hill-topcommandinggood fieldsoffirein all
1872-1914, a series ofillustrated books privately directions, need it be said. Despite the weight of
produced by A. Galot and C. Robert and distri- German metal which he has carried round with
buted through the Societe des Collectioneurs de him ever since the battle of Tunisia and the
Figurines Historiques, Paris. A section dealing liberationofBelfort,itismyhappyconvictionthat
specifically with the Legion was prepared but he is virtually indestructible. His friendship over
neverpublished,owingtoanuntimelydeath;Iam the years has been a matterofgreat pridetome.
grateful to John Thompson ofEdinburgh for the For much material on the Legion ofthe 1970s,
opportunitytostudythetypescript. Referencesto and for his hilarious company I am indebted to
&
these works are coded Galot Robert. For the Tony Jackson, the one-timeBrigadier 'Alexander
same reason, the earliest sections ofChapter One Johnson' of the 1" REC. Tony enjoys a rather
naturally owe a good deal to Malibran's standard specialised claim to fame as the most recent
workGuide/AlbumduGuideaI'usagedesArtisteset Englishlegionnaire to beinvalided outwith major
Costumiers, 1904, which I have referred to simply abdominalbayonetwounds,sufferedinthecourse
asMalibran. ofservicenolessactiveforbeinggenerallyunpub-
Useful material has appeared in many issues of licised. As regulars at the York Minster can testify
the Legion'sfinemonthlymagazineKepiBlanc; I with feeling, his revised plumbing has in no way
have referred to this source asKB. affected his capacity or his zest.
A most impressive series ofarticles on Legion MyspecialthankstoMikeChappellmustalsobe
uniformsbytheFrenchexpertRaymondGuyader recorded here, for the great skill and imagination
has appea—red in recent issues of Gazette des withwhichhetransformedmycolourbriefinginto
Uniformes latterly, simply Uniformes. Theyare aseriesoflivelyandmeticulouslydetailedplates.It
heartily recommended, as indeed are all issues of is rare forawriterin this field to have theluckof
whathasbecome,undertheinspirededitorshipof workingwith anillustratorwho combines natural
Francois Vauvillier, simply the best military talent with the grounding of22 years as a regular
magazineintheworld. Referencesareintheform, infantryman.
e.g.,G d'Uno 33. Toallthefriendsandcorrespondentswhohave
A special publication of the Carnet de la Sab- helpedmeovertheyears,andtoallthose'civilian'
retasche, 'Hommage a la Legion Etrangere' friendswhohavepatientlybornemyinterminable
appeared in 1963. This comprises a series ofline monologues on the subject, my sincere thanks.
drawings by various hands, some excellent and Thosewhosecontributionhasbeenmostdirectare
someextremelyloose,andquitefullaccompanying listed in alphabetical order: Dan Ambrogi;
notes. This generally relies upon the Livre d'Or, Jean-Paul Benavente; Helen Bosshard; Wayne
and should be regarded as a secondary source, Braby; Tony Bradley; Emir Bukhari; Simon
thoughusefulinparts.Whereused,itisreferredto Dunstan; Gerry Embleton; Pierre Favre; Will
asSabretasche. Fowler;AldoGevi; RonHarris; RichardHook;J.
Atseveralpointsinthetextreferenceismadeto Lorette; Angus McBride; Paul Yates Rockwell;
the unpublished notes and photographs ofMilas- Jerry Scutts; Willem Steenkamp; John
sin; and this leads me naturally from sources, to Thompson; Bill Thorburn; Francois Vauvillier;
acknowledgments Fred Wilkinson; Dick Windrow.
Withouttheunfailinggenerosity,patience, and
memory of Adjudant-Chef Charles Milassin de Croydon, January 1980. M.C.W.
1
Africa and Spain,1831-54
The Old Legion' military service; no papers were demanded, and
At the beginning of 1831 King Louis-Philippe of anynameornationalitywasaccepted.Th—erecruits
Francesatuneasilyonhisthrone. Lessthanayear whopresentedthemselvesat—thedepots firstat
before,revolutionhadswepthispredecessorfrom Langres,lateratBar-le-Duc wereanextremely
the same perch, and the mob was still restive. It colourfulcrew. Apartfromthe SwissandGerman
had also been swollen in recent months by the ex-soldiers, there were hard cases, drifters, and
disbandment of seven regiments of Swiss and fugitivesofevenrdescription. Romantic boysand
GermansintheFrenchArmy;andthelastsubjects decayeddrunkardsrubbedshoulderswithgullible
aninsecuremonarchwishestoseeloiteringonthe would-becolonists,whohadsomehowgottheidea
streets of an excitable capital are disgruntled thatenlistmentwouldentitlethemtolandgrantsin
ex-soldiers. Thefeverofrevolutionandcivilstrife Algeria. In some cases French local authorities
was infecting several other European countries at seem to have contrived to empty their jails and
that time, and therehad beenaninfluxofforeign workhouses of citizens who had outlived their
refugees and deserters, some less desirable than welcome.
others. Finally, France's six-month-old military The 1st Battalion accepted most ofthe trained
adventure in Algeria was proving unpopular with ex-soldiers from the Swiss and Hohenlohe regi-
the families of Frenchmen, who were dying like ments,andthesameracialmixwasachievedinthe
flies from feverandinskirmishes with theArabs, 2ndand3rdBns. The4thwaslargelySpanish,and
for novery clear national advantage. On 9 March was organised at Agen. The 5th, formed at Aux-
1831 a law was passed which offered away outof erre,wascomposedofItaliansandSardinians.The
thesedifficulties,andaroyalordinancewasissued 6th,ofBelgiansandDutch,wasformedatChaum-
thefollowingdaywhichputitintoeffect. Itiseasy ont. (The 6th is the best example of the lack of
tobelievethetraditionthattheideaoriginatedwith judgementshownbytheauthoritiesinsegregating
Marshal Soult, the Minister of War, once the nationalities; feeling between these two com-
wiliest ofNapoleon's lieutenants. munities was runningveryhigh in the 1830s, and
The ordinance announced the formation of a to form a battalion solely of Dutch and Belgians
'Foreign Legion' forserviceoutsideFrenchconti- wasliketyingacatandadoginasack.Oldgrudges
nentalterritory. Itsbattalionsweretobeorganised withinandbetweenmostofthesenationalunitsled
in all respects like those of the French Line to serious problems ofdiscipline.)
infantry, andweretohaveeightcompaniesof112 The battalions were issued with a motley stock
men each; as faras possibleeach company was to ofuniformsandequipment; givensomerudimen-
becomposed ofmenspeakingthesamelanguage. tary training; and shipped off from Toulon to
Enlistment was to be voluntary, for at least three Algiersinsuccessivebatches. (Thedepothadlater
years and not more than five; recruits were to be been moved from Bar-le-Duc to Toulon.) Their
between 18 and 40 years ofage, at least five feet reception was less than ecstatic. They were
tall,andinpossessionofcertificatesofbirth,good dumped in the French-held coastal enclave with-
health, and good character. On 18 March a sup- outproperofficersorNCOs,andwithlittleideaof
plementary order barred enlistment by French- whattheyweredoingthere.Theyfeudedwitheach
men, Swiss, or married men, without special otherand with anyoneelsehandy; they tended to
dispensation. beat up their superiors; and they were regarded
Theactualrequirementswereratherlessstring- with disdain by the rest of the Army. A tough
ent. Anybody could enlist, in practice, providing Swiss, Colonel Stoffel, accepted the task ofwhip-
that their health was not visibly inadequate for ping them into shape. With the aid ofextremely
10