GmJIlMILITARY MEN-AT-ARMS SERIES 286

THE FRENCH ARMY1914-18

THE FRENCH ARMY 1914-18

to the number of their parent regiment) and 145territorial regiments (formed of men who had ful­filled their reservist obligations but were still ofmilitary age). Territorial regiments contained a vari­able number of battalions, depending on the size ofthe local population. Each such regiment containedtwo machine gun sections. 1anpower shortages in1916 saw two reserYC regiments from each reservedivision being disbanded, and the survivors distrib­uted between the other regiments.

Towards the end of the War, a number ofFrench Army units were formed from prisoners ofwar and from volunteers transferred from the LegionEtYllngere, and these went on to form the nucleus

3

•

•

THEORGANISATION

OFTHEARMYIn common with all other contemporary armies, theFrench Army of World War I was organised intodivisions for tactical purposes. 'T'he divisions werc, ina sense, the building blocks used by the strategists tomake their plans. The divisions in turn were assem­bled into army corps, then armies and groups ofarmies but the composition of these higher forma­tions would "ary from time to time whereas thedivisions would have an identity, with regimentsusually allocated to them for a considerable period oftime.

Like all the other major European armies, apartfrom the British, the French Army was based on asystem of national military service with a large pro­portion of young men of the appropriate age groupcalled up each year in peace time for three years as aconscript and then subject for seven years afterwardsto recall for war serrice as a reservist. This systemwas administered on a regimental basis, although itshould be made clear that the battalions making upthe regiments would expect to serve together, unlikein the British regimental system where battalionswould more usually be brigaded apart from theothers of their regiment.

Tables and diagrams show the Order of Battle ofthe French Army at the start of the war in 19 Handthe composition of corps, di,oisions and smaller unitsat various times in the course of the connict asorganisations changed to accord with manpoweravailability and new tactics and weapons.

Line infantry

The line infantry was divided into 173 active regi­ments (with a pre-war existence), an equal number ofreserve regiments (formed from recalled reservists onmobilisation, and numbered by adding two hundred

Generals Pau,jo{fre :wdCasteJnau in 1914.CasteJnau wears the

braided doJ.man, the othert\l'O, the (unique. (IWM)

of the armies of independent Czechoslo"akia andPoland. They wore a uniform similar to that of theFrench, but with their own badges on helmet andcapote.

Light infantry

In 1914 the light infantry was composed of 31 activebattalions ofchassellrs d pied. Each of these also raiseda reserve battalion, which was numbered the same asits parent battalion, plus 40. Battalions were normallyattached to infantry divisions, but from 1915 somewere grouped into the ·Be 01 (Divisioll d'lllfallterie­-l3rd Infantry Division).

In 1888, fear ofa possible Italian invasion had ledto the conversion of 12 light battalions into chasseursa/pills, specifically trained for mountain warfare in

4

General de divisionDebeney in 1917. He iswearing a fairly regulationva reuse, and three servicechevrons. His kepi has a

line ofbraid around thecrown, and another underthe three stars ofhis rank,to indicate his commandofan army corps.

the Alps on the Franco-Italian frontier. Once Francehad received assurances that ltaly was not about tofulfil its treaty obligations to Germany in 191-l, thesebattalions were transferred to the Vosges front, andlater formed into the -l7e Dr. The battalions con­cerned were - 6e, 7e, 11e- He, 22e-He, 27e, 28e and30e. A third chasseur formation was that consistingof the groups of clltlsseur cyclists (see Plate B I).

Order of Battle .\ug"ust 19H

North-East Army Group (General JoITre)

1st Arm) (Gen. Dubail)7th Corps (l~th, ~ lSI Oi\'isions)8th Corps (15alh, 161h Oh-isions)131h Corps (25lh, 26 Oi"isions)Hlh Corps (27Ih, 28th Di'"isions)21s1 Corps (13Ih, -I3rd Oi\-isions)6th. 8th Cauln Oi, isions-Hth Oi,-ision .1st Resene Group (58th, 63rd, 66lh Oi, isions)Alpine Group

2nd Arm) (Gen. de Gstelnau)9th Corps (I71h, 181h, ,\1orocco Oi,-isions)15th Corps (291h, 30lh Oi,-isions)161h Corps (3Isl, 32nd Dh-isions)18th Corps (35th, 361h oi\isions)20th Corps (11th, 39th oil'isions)2nd, 10th Ca\alr) Di\isions2nd Resene Group (59th, 681h, 70lh Divisions)

3rd Arm~ (Gen. RufTC}).fth Corps (7th, 81h Divisions)5th Corps (9th, 10th Di\isions)6th Corps (12th. 40th, .f2nd Di' isions)7th Guln Dh ision3rd Resen'c Group (5.fth, 55th, 56th Di\isions)

.fth .\rm) (Gen. Langle de Car~)

12th Corps (lJrd. 24th Di\isions)17th Corps (33rd, 34th Oi\ isions)Colomal Corps (1st. 2nd. 3rd Colonial oil'isions)9th Caul~ DI\ ISlon

5th .\rnl\ (Gm Lanre7.ac)1st Corps (lSi. 2nd Oi, isions)2nd Corps (3n!• .flh Di\isions)3rd Corps (5th. 61h Ol\ ISlons)10th Corps (19th. 20th Ohisions)11th Corps (12th. 21st Oil isions)~th Ca\aln 01\ Ision3 th Dl\is~n~Ih Rc~nc Group (51st. 53rd, 69th Dh isions)52nd. 60th DI\ ISlons

GJI.QR~ne

Gnal~ Corps (1st. Jrd. 51h Ca\alr~ oi\ isions)

\\;u :\tmlStf\ Rtstt'\c615t. 6200. 6ith OJ'isIons

.\IolKk Defmca of the 'onh-East57th.il • :2. -;rd D'I\lStOI1S

Bth and 15th RtpOfIlUKnes64th. 65th. ; -kh.. ; p th D'I\isiorb

A group ofofficers in theOccupied Zone ofGermany in 1919. Fromleft to righe; a chefdebaeaiJJon ofehe /03e RJ, ageneral de division, ageneral de brigade and aseaffeolonelofColonialtroops, and a captain onehe seaffofan army orarmy corps.

Cavalry

Cuirassiers'fhere were 12 regiments of cuirassiers, dressed inalmost Napoleonic fashion in steel helmet andcuirass. They were organised into brigades of tworegiments, serving in the 1st, 3rd, 'h~, 6th, 7th and9th Cwalry Divisions.

From November 1914 every cavalry brigadeformed a 'Light Group' of a number of squadronsdrawn from its constituent regiments and attachedcyclists. These were in fact infantry units, and thosedrawn from the cuirassiers were soon renamedcuirassiers it pied. Additionally, from 1916, sixhorsed regiments (the 4e, 5e, 8e, ge, lIe and 12e)were formally organised as infantry.

DragoonsThere were 32 regiments of dragoons in 1914, em­ployed in the different cavalry divisions. These werealso organised into brigades of two regiments, form­ing a division either with a brigade of cuirassiers, orin the case of the 2nd, 5th, 8th and 10th Divisions,with a second brigade of dragoons.

Chasseurs achevalThere were 21 regiments of chasseurs it cheval, form­ing part of the light cavalry arm. There was a lightbrigade in each of the 2nd to 8th Cavalry Divisions;those of the 2nd and 5th consisted of two chasseurregiments, those of the 6th-8th Divisions of oneregiment ofchasseurs and one ofhussars. The remain-

ing regiments were largely dispersed, serving as corpsand divisional cal-airy - where possible the four pre­war regular squadrons ofa regiment formed the corpscavalry, whilst the 5th and 6th Squadrons, formedfrom reservists on mobilisation, were divisional cav­alry. The reserve squadrons of those light regimentsserving in cavalry divisions functioned as divisionalcavalry with reserve and territorial divisions.

HussarsThe 14 regiments of hussars formed the other ele­ment of the light cavalry. The 3rd and 4th CavalryDivisions each had a light cavalry brigade composcdof two regiments of hussars; the remainder served asdivisional or corps cavalry.

Artillery and engineers

The artillery consisted of a number of differentbranches. There were 62 regiments of field artilleryin 19H, cquipped with the 75 mm field gun, andattached to both infantry and cavalry divisions, or inCorps reserve. There were also two mountain artil­lery regiments, equipped with 65 mm guns carriedon mule-back; five heavy artillery regiments,equipped with either 120 mm or ISS mm guns; nineregiments of 'foot artillery', equipped with siegeartillery; and ten independent groupes (of three orfour batteries each) in Africa.

The wartime regiment functioned largely as anadministrative unit - most grollpes serving togetherin corps and divisional artillery were drawn fromdifferent regiments. In 1917, many of the latter were

5

The French liaison teamattached to the British20th Division. iHost ofthem wear khaki with skl'blue distinctions, togetherwith the metal sphinxbadge of the interpreter.There are almost as m:InYdifferent styles of va reuseas there are men. The opencollar :wd tie was afashion of front-linetroops, in imitation ofthcBritish. The officer incharge (centre, front)u'ears the \'elver faced kepiof the Engineers.

Or/:anisation of an \rmy Corps

Note: The same basic structure held good for the War, the mainchangt.'S occurring: in support arms. By 1917, Corps artiller)eon!>istcd of t\\O groups (six ballcries) of 75s. a group of 1201.hC;l\ies and a group of 105 howitzers. Occasionall~, one or 1\\0

groups of 90s or 95s were attached. The ca\alr~ and resenebrigade \\ ere transferred else\\ here.

largely amalgamated to form new regiments, num­bered from 200. Most units were horse-drawn,though from 1915, an increasing number used Jefferytractors. Some field guns were also mounted ontractor chassis, to speed up cross-country movement- there were 33 of these units by ovember 1918,known as regiments portis.

Trench artillery weapons consisted of a 37 mmclose support cannon manned by infantry and vari­ous trench mortars of different calibres manned byartillerymen. The most prominent in use were theBrandt 90 mm, and the Stokes. Larger calibres in­eluded the Fabry 150T and HOCT or LT, which

Dhision Di\ision

Corps

Canllry Regt.

Field Artiller~ Rcgt.

1100\itzer Group

Resene Brigade

Engineer Co.

General Staff Clerks Seelion

came into use in 1916-17.The engineers consisted of 11 regiments, of

which one, the 5e, was a railway regiment, andanother (the 8e) a signals regiment. They were splitup into company-sized or smaller detachments, at­tached to infantry divisions or army eorps.

Both artillery and engineers were responsible forproviding weapons and wagons for the Army fromtheir own workshops and arsenals.

Artillerie SpecialeThe French tank arm was formed in late 1916 as partof the artillery, and this was reflected in its organisa­tion and uniforms, with each of the early units,equipped with Schneiders or Saint Chamonds, beingorganised into batteries. The light Renault tanksproduced slightly later were organised differently,since they were conceived more as mobile machine­gun posts to support the infantry.

AviationThe Sen-ice Airotlautique was formed in 1903, as anoffshoot of the engineers. A reorganisation of 1912created separate aircraft, balloon (airostatioll) andadministration sections. Units then belonged toeither the balloon group at Versailles or one of twoaireraft groups at Lyons and Reims. There were 21squadrons in 19H, numbered consecutively, butdistinguished by a prefix indicating their equipment;this number had inereased to 331 by 1918.

6

Administration, train, medical

The Administration embraced not only clerks andGeneral Staff personnel, but also supply troops andmedical orderlies. Their uniform was similar to thatof the line infantry except that the buttons of ordi­nary clerks were in tin rather than brass. Medicalorderlies wore a Red Cross armband. Supply officers(Intendance) had their own uniform with differentbadges.

The Train des equipages, or more simply, theTrain, was the transport corps. Its uniform was basedon that of the artillery. It contained 21 squadrons in1914, but this was soon increased by a large numberof territorial units.

The Service AUlomobile, which was formed from

the Train, provided drivers for staff cars and trucksalike. Each motorised unit was organised into seclionsof 20 vehicles each with 45 men and an officer. Theywere distinguished by letters indicating their pur­pose, and a number. These letters were TP (trans­port of personnel), TM (materiel), RVF (fresh meat),SS (ambulance - English and American volunteerunits were designated SSA and SSU respectively),TMR (building materials, etc.), TPT (telegraph per­sonnel), SMA (artillery shells) and SP (transportpark). Each section could be formed into a Groupe offour sections under a captajn, and was named afterthe officer in command. Army Reserve transportconsisted of two to three groupemel1ts of five to sixgroupes each. Traffic was controlled in rear areas byvarious Commissiolls Regulalrices AUlomobiles, the first

Table \: Brassards Or~anis.ltionof an Int'lntr~ Di\ isioll

Division

Division

Summer 1917

Regiment Regiment Regiment Chasseur GrOUI>

Tnin Sqd.

Provost Co.

Admin. Secl.

Medical Section

Engineer

Company

3 ArtilleryBrigade Brigade Cavalry

~sq"'dro" Gro"",

Two Resen'e Regiments

--r-----,

3 Regiments Cavalry Artillery Engineers Medical

I IInfantry Depot 3 Field Groups 2 Mining Cos.

I Trench Ban. I Park Co.

I Projector Co. Signals Sect.

Notes: The change to a three regiment (nine battalion)-division wasa gradual one, begun in late 1916, and still not completed in eightout of the 108 divisions by November 1917. A further fourteendivisions had either eight, ten or eleven battalions at the same time.

Divisional cavalry was one squadron when the division formedpart of a Corps, two squadrons otherwise.

Divisional artillery was also upposed to have a battery of155TR howitzers attached, but by 1917, only fow divisions con­tained such a unit.

Note: Some, but by no means all, Regular Divisions had a chasseurgroup of one or two battalions attached. By 1916, the ReserveRegiments and the chasseur group had been removed to form theirown divisions; a trench artillery battery had been added, and therewere three engineer companies as well as a signalling detachment.Reserve Divisions, numbered from 51, had three regiments in eachbrigade, and no chasseur group.

August 1914

Nou: StafT brassards were made of silk; the Red Cross band ofstretcher bearers from cotton; and the rest from uniform doth.

General StafTof the President of the Republic: horizontal stripes inblue, white and red, with a gold stylised thunderbolt

Personal staffof the Minister of War: white with the thunderboltStafT of the Ministry of War, of Annies and of AmlY Groups:

horizontal stripes of white over red, with the thunderboltArmy Corps stafT: horizontal stripes in blue, white red, with the

thunderbolt above the Corps number in arabic numeralsDivisional staff: red, with grenade for infantry, or eight-pointed star

for cavalry, abo\'e the divisional number in arabic numeralsBrigade staff: blue, with a grenade or eight-pointed star and the

brigade number in arabic numerals, except for divisional cavalry,which used roman numerals

Brigade stafT: blue, with a grenade or eight-pointed star and thebrigadc number in arabic numerals, except for divisional cavalry,which used roman numerals

Artillery Brigade (attached to an Army Corps): blue with crossedcannon above the corps number in arabic numerals

Anny Engineers: red, with the helmeted cuirass branch deviceStaff of the Governor of a fortified place: red with the thunderboltStretcher bearer of an ambulance unit: white with a red crossStrctcher bearer of a line unit: horizon blue or khaki, depending on

the regimem, with a white Maltese cross. Piped on top andbottom with the same colour. It was positioned to conceal themusician's badge on the upper ann

Drivers of regimental transport: horizon blue or khaki, with theregimental number embroidered in the same colour as thesoulachu and numbers on the collar patches, piped on to andbottom with the same colour (replaced by dark brown embroideryfor khaki uniforms from September 1916).

Cyclists: horizon blue or khaki with the regimental number in thedistincti\'e colour; zouaves and tirailleurs added a crescent abovethe number. Superseded in September 1916 by the next item,and abolished in November of the samc year

Runners, dispatch carriers: horizon blue or khaki with the letter 'L'(i.e. liaison) in the distinctive colour. Introduced September 1916

Flying personnel: dark blue with yellow edging and a yellowpropeller; a smaller version was attached to the nying helmet

Service Automobile: red with a white (silver for officers) letter 'A'.This was replaced by a horizon blue version in 1915, with thesame colour letters, and in 1916, by one with a dark blue letter forother ranks. Officers continued with their silver version, until itwas abolished with the introduction of Service Automobile uni­forms for officers.

Traffic control units: green over white (introduced 1917)

7

of which was formed at Bar-Ie-Due in February 1916to control the Voie Sam!e behind Verdun.

The Service de Sallie was the medical branch,and consisted only of officers in one of two speciali­ties - doctors or chemists (orderlies and stretcherbearers were provided by the Administration branch,or by individual units). The jacket bore a gold em­broidered collar badge employing the traditionalmedical symbol of a caduceus in a wreath.

The African Army

The Amtee d'Afrique was the unofficial name given tothe regiments of the XIX Army Corps area, raised to

garrison France's North African possessions. Therewere several different types of regiment - those

recruited from Frenchmen (zouaves, African LightInfantry, c!tasseurs d'Afrique), those recruited fromthe indigenous population (Iirailleurs, spa!tis), and theLegiou Elraugere, the Foreign Legion.

Zouaves and tirailleursThere were four regiments each of zouaves andtirailleurs. Complete regiments were not sent toFrance, but rather regiments de marche, composed ofamixture of active, reserve and newly-raised battal­ions. This resulted in nine regiments de marche dezouaves, two regiments de marche d'Afrique (one azouave/Foreign Legion formation, the second allzouave), four regiments de marche mixtes de zouaveset tirailleurs and 20 regiments de marche de

8

A colour parry in 1913. Themen are allwcaring thedevices orehe 104e Rl, buta note on the back ofthephoro states that it;s thecolour of the ReserveRegiment, the 304e, so thismust be a regular cadre.The two men on the rightare wearing 1888ammunition pouches.

A squad orehe 29c RI. Notcthe roll orehe greatcoatshoulder co support therifle. They are wearing acombination ofpouchcs ofdifferent dates.

tirailleurs. It was the numbers of these regiments thatappeared on the khaki uniform, rather than that ofthe individual's parent regiment. Two other regi­ments were raised from native Moroccans (whichwas a French protectorate in 1914) called regimentsde marche de chasseurs indigenes in 1914, laterrenamed tirailleurs marocains.

Particularly early in the war, zouave regimentsattacked with a ferocity unknown in the metropolitanarmy, and were for some time an elite attack force.Wartime losses gradually diluted this fervour, and bythe end of the war, they were no better than most line

regiments. The tirailleurs were by no means assteady, though the best battalions fought very well.There were several incidents of panic and small-scalemutinies from the beginning, and they often had tobe stiffened by the presence of French troops withineach brigade.

African Light InfantryAlthough frequently described as such, the IllfalllerieLegiTe d'Afrique was not a penal regiment - but itsrank and file were either men released from militaryprisons awaiting the end of their engagement, or

()ry,anisatinn of an InElIHr~ Rl'g:inll~nt

August 1914

M.G. Section

,Baltation

Regiment,

Company Company

Pla,~'oo-n-----=P~laioon,.-----.J.'~

Sq~ad Sq~ad

,Battalion

IComp:my

,Battalion

Company

April 1916-0ctobcr 1917

Batt'~lion

RegimentI

Baualion Batt~lion

,Platoon

,Platoon

Com'pany ,Platoon

I

Com'pany

Plal~n

M.G. U;mpany

3-4 M,G: Seclion37mm Platoon

,Rifle squad

(13 men, 2 V.13.s)

,Rifle squad

(I2 men, 2 V.Os)

Half-platoonHalf-platoon,.M.G. 'squad

(I m.g., 7 men)Bombin~ squad

(8 men)

October 1917-0ctober 1918

,Rifle squad

(7 men)

Half-platoon

Platoon,

~I.G. 'squad M.G.'squad(I m.g., 7 mcn, 3 V.B.s each)

HaJf-~latoon,,Bombing squad

(7 men)

October 1918

Groupe de combat

Bombi~g team(1 v.B., 6 men)

Platoon,Groupe de combat.,

M.d. team(I m.g., 6 men)

Groupe de combat

9

A St Etienne machine gunsection in action. Theammunition strips are onthe ground at the side orthe weapon. On the rightis a man with astereoscopic rangefjnder.

petty criminals convicted in France. This grim mix­ture was held under a discipline at least as tough asthat of the Legion.

The five regular battalions formed threebataillons de marche, which served in France.

Foreign LegionThe large influx of foreign volunteers who joined theFrench Army in 1914 were directed into the ForeignLegion. Here, they were formed into regiments demarche belonging to the two existing Legion infantryregiments. The regiments thus formed were the 2e,3e, and 4e of the 1er Regiment Etranger and the 2e ofthe 2e Regiment. Heavy losses in action, and therepatriation of men of Allied nations into their ownarmies forced a reorganisation, and in 1915 theseregiments were all amalgamated into the formidableRegiment de Marche de la Legion Etrangere, whichearned itself an almost unparalleled fighting record.A Legion battalion also formed part of the lerRegiment de Marche d'Afrique with two zouavebattalions; whilst other battalions, largely of Germanand Austrian soldiers, served in Morocco and theSahara.

Chasseurs d'AfriqueThe chasseurs d'Afrique were the European cavalrycomponent of the Armee d'Afrique. There were sixregiments in 1914, and initially one regiment demarche was sent to France, then dismounted to fightas infantry, only to be reformed as cavalry in 1915.Five regiments, including one newly-raised, foughton the Western Front, whilst three served in Mace­donia. A detached squadron also served in Palestine.

10

SpahisSpahis were light cavalry regiments recruited fromnative personnel. There were four North Africanregiments in 1914, and a further three were raisedduring the war. All served on the Western Front atone time or another, and a detached squadron servedin Palestine. Although it was noted that spahis'horses stood up better to long marches than those ofmetropolitan regiments, in comparison with Britishpractice the horses were heavily burdened and off­saddled only infrequently.

Mention should also be made of two squadronsof spahis senegalais, who hardly saw action outsideFrench African territory during the war; and thecompagnies sahariennes, camel-mounted Chambaaor Touareg under French officers, who secured theSaharan oases from Senussi attack.

Colonial troops

Colonial troops were regiments raised from Frenchcitizens in France or the Colonies, to garrison thelatter, and consisted of European infantry and artil­lery, administrative and medical staffs, and a numberof native regiments.

In 1914, there were 12 infantry regiments sta­tioned in France (numbered 1 to 8 and 21 to 24) plusa further four in the colonies (one in China and threein Indochina); in addition, there were six regimentsof mixed Europeans and Senegalese in Morocco, andindependent battalions in West Africa, Madagascarand New Caledonia. A further 19 regiments wereraised from reservists or from scratch during thecourse of the war, most of these being regimentsmixtes, formed from European and Senegalese bat-

rhe presentation ofaregimental award to the78e Ri. A number ofsuchawards would lead to thewearing ofa fourragere onthe uniform.

Below: l1te 313e Rl,complete with regimentalpioneers and band, marchup to the line, 1917. (flV1H)

I

talions. The most distinguished was the Regimentd'Infanterie Coloniale du Maroc, the most highlydecorated unit of the war, raised originally frompersonnel stationed in Morocco in 1914.

Native regimentsRegiments were raised from indigenous peoples inAfrica and Indochina. In 1914 there were 21 battal­ions of Senegalese in Northern and Western Africa,as well as ten battalions of Malagasies and one ofSomalis; two regiments of Congolese in EquitorialAfrica; and five Indochinese regiments.

Five battalions of Senegalese present on opera­tions in North Africa at the outbreak of war weremoved to France after the opening of hostilities,forming two regiments de marche senegalais. After areorganisation, and with the addition of a European

battalion, they formed two regIments mixtescoloniaux and the Regiment Mixte Colonial duMaroc. The mixed white/Senegalese regiments be­came the norm, going on to serve in other regimentsmixtes coloniaux in the Dardanelles and Salonika,and being replaced in France by new battalions (afurther 93 battalions of Senegalese alone) raised in1915-18. Most of the Malagasy and Indochineseunits served as depot troops, although some did seecombat, both in France and Macedonia. There werealso some 36,000 Chinese labourers who served inFrance.

Colonial artillery and administrationIn 1914, there were three artillery regiments,equipped with 75s, stationed in France, and a furthertwo in Indochina. During the course of the war, a

II

further 15 regiments were raised, an approximatetotal of 160 batteries.

There were also separate administrative, medicaland telegraph services.

Navy

The Navy provided landing parties of sailors, butmore significantly, a number of battalions ofjilsiliers­marins, which fought as a brigade under Contre­Amiral Ronarc'h in Belgium throughout the war, anda number of groupes mixtes of armoured cars at­tached to both infantr)' and cavalry formations (N.B.a fusilier-marin is one trade specialisation amongstothers within the French Navy - they are notmarines in the British or American sense).

UNIFORMS ANDEQUIPMENT

niforms of 1914

The uniforms worn in 1914 were broadly similarthroughout the Army. For dismounted personnel,the uniform consisted of a jacket (veste for otherranks, an 1897 pattern tunique or 1913 pattern vareusefor officers), the 1867 pattern trousers, an 1877pattern greatcoat (capote), an 1884 pattern kipi, the1893 boots and the 1897 gaiters. In practice, the ,'estewas rarely worn, except under the greatcoat in coldweather, the capote being the usual order of dress.

The 1884 kepi, standard throughout the Army,was little different from Second Empire patterns,and was coloured according to the arm of service.

The vcste was a simple jacket with a low uprightcollar in the arm-of-service colour and seven buttonsdown the front; the tunique was more formal with adeeper collar and a three-button cuff flap, and wasusually worn only by senior COs. The vareuse,whilst retaining the seven buttons down the front,also had an integral waist belt, fastened with twobuttons at the front, and had a wide box pleat at theback,

Cavalry, on the other hand, wore an 1883 pattern!Unique, a shako or helmet depending on the branch(with a kepi for ofT-duty wear), ankle boots andleggings. The tunique and trousers were of a moregenerous cut than those of the infantry, as was the

12

greatcoat (manteau), which was intended to cover thewhole saddle,

Differences between the various arms of servicewere displayed in the colours of the kepi and thetrousers (which were red for most arms except artil­lery and engineers) and in the colour and shape of thepatches on the collars of both capote and veste, Boththe tunique and the vareuse had collars and cufTpatches in the facing colour. Details of all these aregiven in the accompanying tables.

Those regiments recruited from natives in thevarious overseas possessions were the only exceptionto these general rules. North African regiments ­zouaves, tirailleurs and spahis - all wore short jacketswith baggy trousers and, as headgear, either a fez or aIwick. Regiments from elsewhere in Africa and fromIndochina wore a sand coloured cotton uniform ofcollarless shirt and shorts, with either a fez or abamboo cap.

An

PIi\\

\I

a\I

tl1g\\

tlE\\

Sl

\\

F\\

L

"

From full dress to horizon blue

Alone amongst the Great Powers in 1914, France hadno camouflage uniform available for general use in itsprincipal army, which continued to wear uniformslittle changed from those of the Second Empire. Thiswas not for want of trying, but each attempt tointroduce such a uniform had foundered in a morassof misplaced sentimentality and political point scor­mg.

The most distinctive feature of the uniform wasthe garallce red trousers, introduced originally in1829, in an attempt to boost the French madder­growing industry (the dye, also known as madder,was produced from the root of the madder plant),then trying to win a share in world markets againstBritish competition. As long as the range of firearmswas measured in hundreds of feet, and tactics werestill Napoleonic, the high visibility of the garmentswas not a problem; but even by the period of theFranco-Prussian War, the increased ranges of theweapons then in use made this visibility a liability,

and some dissenting voices had been raised. Theintroduction of smokeless powder from 1890 in­creased battlefield visibility even further.

At first the red trousers and kepi were retainedbecause they provided a ready mark of differencebetween the French and German Armies (thedarker-uniformed chasseurs a pied had been mis­taken for Germans on the battlefields of 1870, par­ticularly that of Coulmiers). Several attempts weremade to find an alternative uniform by Ministersconcerned about future wars. In 1902, a blue-greytell lie Boiir, so called because of the slouch hat whichreplaced the kepi, underwent trials; followed 12months later by a beige-hlell uniform (which actuallyappeared as grey at a distance). Both were rejectedfor their similarity to German uniforms. A grey­green tallie resida was tried in 1911 following theintroduction of khaki into the British Army in 1908,and offield grey into the German Army in 1910, butthis was rejected as being too like the Italian Army'suniforms.

The native dye industry had succumbed to artifi-

Left: A soldier tries out hisM2 gas mask. (IIVM) Table B: Distinctions of unifi>rtns in l'il-t

Tunic Facings Bultons Trousers/siriprOffi.lD.R.s

Generals black black yellow scarlet Iblack (2 stripesand a line of piping)

General Staff black garance yellow garance/blackLine infantry black/blue garance yellow garance/blackLight infantry black/blue jonquil white bluc-grey/jonquilCuirassiers black/blue scarlet while garance/blackDragoons black/blue white while garance/blackChasseurs acheval pale/sky bluc crimson while garance/lighl blueHussars pale/sky blue pale blue white garance/pale blueRemount companies black/blue black white garance/sky blueArtillery dark blue scarlct yellow dark blue/scarlet (2 stripes

and a line of pipingEngineers dark bluc black yellow dark blue/scarlet (2 stripes

and a line of piping)Train iron grey/ dk grey garance while gannce/iron greyService dc Sante black crimson/green yellow garance/blackGendarmerie black scarlet while grey-blue/blackZouavcs black scarlet yellow garance/blackTirailleurs sky blue garance yellow garance/sky blueIn[ Leg. d'Afrique black/blue black/ yellow white garance/noneLegion Etrangere black/blue garance yellow garance/blackChasseurs d'Afrique pale/sky blue jonquil white garance/sky blueSpahis scarlet pale bluc white pale blue/garanceColonial infantry black/blue black/blue yellow grey-blue/scarletColonial artillery dark blue dark blue yellow grey-blue/scarlct

NoltsTunic: refers to ttmique (officers) or vesJe (other ranks)Facings: appeared on collars and on cufT patches of the tunique; those of engincer officers and Scrvicede Sante were of velvctButlOns: yellow and while metal were gilded or silvered for officers; officcrs' rank braid followed this colourTrousers: except as noted above, only officers and N.C.o.s had stripes (two stripes and a line of pipingin the light cavalry); other ranks had a line of piping onlyOfficers seconded to Staff appointments wore their own regimentals

13

Bretons of the 89cRegiment d'lnfrrnrerieTcrritoriale. They arcwearing a miscellaneousco//ecrion ofuniforms ­four of (he men on thefront row arc ,,"earingcorduroy trousers, andtwo, corduroy tunics. Theman third (rom the Jeft in(he back row is wearingthe simplified 191-1greatcoat. They arcemployed on lines ofcommUniCfJt;on duties (theletters 011 the brassards arcG. V.c. =gardes avoies decommunication).

cial colours in the I870s, and madder had beenreplaced by the chemical alarizine, so that was nolonger an issue. But by this time, the uniform ques­tion had become caught up in the larger strugglebetween Left and Right in the French political sys­tem. The Radical Left, gaining power in the wake ofthe Dreyfus affair in 1899, had sought to'republieanise' the Army by breaking down what itthought was a caste-ridden system and replacing it bya kind of citizens' militia. One of their aims was toabolish the gaudier items of uniform, so minimisingthe difference in dress between soldier and civilian.The Right opposed this on principle, and red trou­sers thus became an article of faith rather than afunctional garment. The newspaper Echo de Poriswent further, denouncing any attempt to introduce acamouflage uniform as the work of a Masonic plot!The Army itself had no say at all - the inherentweakness of governments in the Third Republic(there were 42 Ministers of War between 187\ and1914), and the anti-militaristic attitudes of the Left,did not encourage soldiers, the generals especially, toventure an opinion in public. Adolphe Messimy,Minister of War in 1911, was moved to predict that'This blind stupid attachment to the most visible ofcolours will have cruel consequences'; yet, even in1913, M.inister of War Eugene Etienne could expos­tulate, 'A bolish red trousers' Ne,'er! Red trousers areFrance!'

The military artists Georges Scott and Edouard

I~

Detaille made a fourth attempt at designing a newuniform, retaining red trousers but with a blue-grey(hleu Cfndre) tunic. But this was no more successfulthan the others. A fifth attempt used 'tricolour' clothof blue (60 per cent), red (30 per cent) and white (J 0per cent) threads, until it was found that the appro­priate red alarizine dye was produced only in Ger­many. It was decided instead to proceed without thered. The resulting shade was officially named lightblue (hleu clair), but was popularly christened hori­zon blue on its introduction. Yet it still remainsunclear just why tltis shade was chosen in preferenceto the rest, particularly since it offered little camou­flage protection and was easily dirtied. Fortunately,the rather fugiti"e nature of the early dyes meant thatthe shade often decayed to a light blue-grey, whichtoned in well with the chalky mud of Champagne andArtois.

Production of the new uniform began at the endof August 191~, and General Gallieni, the MilitaryGovernor of Paris, was photographed wearing it asearly as November of that year; but it was to be sometime before it became widely available. Kepis andputtees were the first items to be made from the newcloth, and these were mentioned in a circular of 5January 1915 concerning the uniform of those at thefront. A decision of21 April 1915 ordered that menserving at the front should wear complete uniformsof the new material.

So it was that the French Army went to war in

what was virtually full dress uniform, despite thetrials of 1902, 1903 and 1911. Events provedMessimy right, and desperate short-term measureswere needed to reduee its visibility, particularly thered trousers. Items in 'mechanic's blue', a deep skyblue shade, were issued as over-trousers to the infan­try from October 1914, but were also worn on theirown during warm weather; a kepi cover in bluecretonne was also widely issued. These were fol­lowed by issues of trousers, vareuses and even bOlllletsde police in dark blue or brown corduroy to infantryand light cavalry. Some infantrymen received insteadblue trousers with red piping, commandeered fromlocal companies of firemen.

The new uniform was to be the same for all arms,but with distinguishing features in the collar patches,and in the piping down the outside of the trousers.The collar patches displayed the regimental numberand had two lines of braid (solltaches), placed towards

Tahle C: Colours of kepis in usc, 19 H

the rear of the patch. The uniform consisted of atunic, trousers, greatcoat, puttees and a bonnet depolice side cap, which had been revived to replace thekepi (although officers tended to retain the kepi).The vareuse was single breasted, closed with fivesmall metal buttons painted horizon blue, with dou­ble rear vents, a stand-up collar, a belt loop on theleft, and two pockets with flaps in the skirts. It wasrarely worn, except in cold weather (under the great­coat), and the usual order of dress was the simplified1914 pattern capote, modified again in May 1915 bythe addition of two more pockets in the skirts, whichwere invariably worn buttoned back. Trousers weretied just above the ankles with a draw string. Theywere generally of good woollen cloth or corduroy, orof ratteen for summer, and were tucked into puttees.Boots and belts were now produced in natural leatherfor economy.

A steel helmet was introduced, following a deci-

dark blue garancc goldthe colours and devices of their original corpsdark blue garancc dark blue/golddark bluc dark blue jonquil/silverdark blue garance dark blue/silverdark blue garance dark blue/silversky blue red red/silversky blue red sky blue/silverdark blue garance dark blue/silverdark blue dark blue scarlet/golddark blue dark blue scarlel/goldiron grey garance garance/silverdark blue ganncc dark blue/goldcrimson garance goldgreen garance goldblack grey~blue silverblack gannce giltsky blue garance giltdark blue gannce yellow/silverdark blue gannce dark blue/gold

GeneralsGeneral StafTInfantryLight infantryCuirassiersDragoonsChasseurs achevalHussarsRemOUni companiesAnilleryEngineersTrainAdministrationService de Sante (doctors)Service de Sante (chemists)GendarmerieZouavesTiraillcursInf. Leg. d'AfriqueLegion EtrangereChasseurs d'AfriqueSpahisColonial infantryColonial artillery

Band

nOI worngarancedark blucdark bluc

Top

sky bluedark bluedark blue

Piping/braidOR.,/OjJi.

goldscarlet/goldscarlet/gold

Badge

none

regimental numberbattalion numberregimental numberregimental numberregimental numberregimental numbercompany numberregimenml numberregimental numbersquadron number

caduceuscaduceusgrenaderegimental numberregimental numberregimental numbergrenade

regimental number and a crescentanchorgrenade

No(tsKepis were service dress headgear for all except the following:cuirassiers, dragoons, chasseurs acheval, hussars and those unitsof artillery equipped with helmels, native officers and all otherranks of zouaves, tirailleurs and spahis, regiments of Chasseursd'Afrique, natives of colonial regiments.

Bands were in velvet for the Service de SanteBands and tops of dark blue were black for officers; sky blue

bands of light cavalry regiments were pale blue for officersOn the 1914 pattern bluish-grey kepi, the numbers were

displayed on a bluish-grey rectangle-in garance: cuirassiers, dragoons and trainin sky blue: chasseurs acheval and hussarsin scarlet: artillery and engineersin jonquil: chasseurs apiedand in bluish-grey figures on a garance rectangle: line infantry,

remounts and administrationColonial infantry used a red anchor, Colonial artillery a red

grenade

15

The informal nature ofFrench trenches ;s shownhere. The officer on the leftis a chasscur apied. asrevealed by the huntinghorn badge on his helmetand his dark grey-blueuniform trousers; he iswearing a vareuse with itsintegral belt. Chasseurswere much Jess willing codiscard their pre-waruniform chan the lineinfantry.

Right: The official view ofwhal a soldier, in this casea chasseur apied, shouldlook Jike. Needless to S3Y,in the front ljnc, comfort,rfJlhcr than regulation,rook precedence. (IWM)

sian of 21 February 1915 to replace a steel skull capworn under the kepi. The original pattern was de­signed by Georges Scott, and was similar to a dra­goon helmet, but this proved too costly to manufac­ture, and a much simplified pattern, the Adrianhelmet, was produced on the orders of a SupplyDepartment official by that name. This was officiallyadopted on 21 May, and by 23 December 1915, over3 million examples had been produced. They werepainted in shades of light blue, initially with sucha gloss that khaki covers had to be introducedto cut down the reflection. On the front of the helmetwas a badge, differing according to the arm ofserncc.

Officers continued to wear the 1913 pattern,·arcuse, but many adopted a style inspired by theBritish uniform, without a belt and with large bel­lows pockets on the skirts, sometimes with pleatedpockets, sometimes without. Private purchases fromci,"ilian tailors increased the variations on a basictheme. A Sam Browne style belt was frequently\\ oro.

16

Rank badges were standardised in the infantrypattern, using 35 mm long strips of braid, in red forjunior NCOs and gold for senior NCOs and officers,worn on the cuffs. Service at the front was indicatedby a number of dark blue chevrons worn on theupper arm.

What makes the choice of horizon blue as acamouflage uniform colour even more strange is thefact that it had been decided to dress African regi­ments in khaki. Troops operating in hot climates hadworn sand or khaki cotton uniforms for some years,but on their return to Europe, had resumed theirusual dress, as detailed below, whilst the Moroccanchasseurs did not have a winter weight uniform at all.The visibility of their white trousers was alreadycausing concern by September 1914, and as a tem­porary measure, French infantry greatcoats were.handed out to the tirailleurs, along with brown cor­duroy trousers and dark blue puttees. When khakiuniforms started to arrive at the front, the first itemsissued were the trousers, but by spring 1915, wholeuniforms in khaki were being supplied. In many

cases, the greatcoat was the last item to be issued, andsome zouaves were issued temporarily with horizonblue items during the winter of 1914---15. The reasonfor the choice of khaki has never completely come tolight. The original order, for 500,000 metres ofcloth,went to Great Britain, and it may have been the readyavailability of khaki cloth that was the decidingfactor.

The style of the tunic and greatcoat was similarto that worn by French metropolitan regiments. Thewide trousers of the zouaves and tirailleurs wereinitially replaced by ones similar to those of theFrench regiments, but cut rather more generously.These in turn were replaced late in 1915 by the so­called 'Russian breeches' (culottes russes), which re­sembled narrow-cut breeches. Puttees were khaki.The native regiments retained the tasselled fez

A diagrammaticrepresentation ofrankbadges. Column A: 1914,greatcoats ofall branches,tuniques ofline infantry,Legion, cuirassiers,engineers, administration,Colonial infantry; ColumnB: 1914, tuniques oflightinfantry, African lightinfantry, cavalry exceptcuirassiers, artillery, train,and the jackets ofzoua yesand Algerians, Senegalese,etc. tirajlleurs; Column C:1914 kepis; Column D:horizon blue uniform;Column E: 191-1 officer'stunique; Column E: kepis;Column F: horizon blueuniform; Columns G andH: generals' uniforms. Al­Zand BI-2 were ingarance, except forengineers, artillery andtrain (scarlet), lightinfantry, tiraiJ]eurs andchasseurs d'Afrique(yellow). The braid ofsergeants, adjumnts-chefsand o{fjcers was in thebutton colour; those ofadjutants, and the secondand fourth lines of thelieutenant colonel's werein the opposite colour. Alladjutants and adjutants­chefs wore a scarier stripein the centre of their sleevebraid, and metal/redmixed braid on their kepis.

Adjutant-Chef

Right: A warrant officerof the 64e BCA, thereserve unit ofthe 24eBataillon de ChasseursAlpins. His distinctionsand badges, includingnon-regulation huntinghorn collar badges, arc insilver wire. The uniformis bluish iron-grey.

Colonel Marechal

17

(chichia) as undress headgear, but with a cover inkhaki for service and a blue one for walking out (thelatter was later withdrawn). The tassel itself was intheory withdrawn in May 1915, but continued in uselong afterwards. The shade of khaki employed couldvary between garment and garment, according to itsorigin. The first uniforms were British khaki, butmost of the later uniforms were of a more yellowshade, popularly called 'mustard'. Steel helmets, firstissued in 1915, were painted horizon blue at first,then khaki.

The Legion Etrangere and Colonial regimentshad converted to horizon blue in the same way asother metropolitan French regiments, but by 1916these regiments were converting to khaki, with theresult that both were sometimes worn together in thesame regiment (and indeed, on the same person).

Regimental awards

As the war dragged on, a way was sought of honour­ing regiments as well as individuals. The Croix deCuerre was introduced in April 1915 to honoursoldiers mentioned in Regimental, Brigade, Division,Corps or Army Orders. Almost a year later, it wasdecided to award the medal on a collective basis forparticular feats of arms by the regiment as a whole.This, it was hoped, would serve to stimulate units to

great deeds, as well as providing a method of recog­nising past feats. [t was open to any unit that could beemployed independently in action.

It was decided to present a [ourragere in the redand green of the ribbon of the Croix de Guerre to

qualifying regiments. This consisted of a loop ofbraid worn around the upper arm and shoulder and

Tahle D: \nn-of-scn icc distinctions on the horizon hlue 1Il1ifi)rnl1 - \Ietropolitan troops

TrOMMr PIP"'! Colf4r pault SOultuJUI R~!JmNftQI"umM

Staff The colour of the regimen! or corps from Lightning boltwhich they wen:: dCI2ched

Line infantry yellow yellow· dark blue dark blueChasscurs:i picd/alpins yellow iron grey yellow' )'ellow2

Cuirassiers dark blue dark blue crimson crimsonCuirassiers:i pied dark blue dark blue crimson/yellowJ crimsonDragoons dark blue dark blue white whiteChasseurs acheval dark blue dark blue green greenHussars d:ark blue d:ark blue sky blue sky blueField :artilleT)' scarlet scarlet light blue light blueFoot :artilleT) scarlet scarlet green greenHOrK :artilleT)' scarlet scarlet d:ark blue d:ark blueHo\] :artillery scarlet scarlet :ash grey ash gre)'Mount:ain :arliller) scarlet scarlet white whiteAfrican :artilleT)' scarlet scarlet light bluel light blueArtillerie spea:ale scarlet scarlet iron gre) iron gre)Engineers bl:ack bl:ack (\'e!vet for offiars) scarlet scarletB:aloon sen'ice onnge bl:ack orange or.mgeS

A\'iation sen'ice orange or:ange black black'Administration -

Clerks grey blue~ garance none bluish iron greyMediClllorderlies gannce7 gannce none caduceus/number'

Tnin green green scarlet crimsonService Automobile green d:ark green none scarlet letter AGend:armerie white black none white grenadeSupply grey-blue grey blue \'e1n~t none siker acanthus sprigSen'jet de Sante-

Docto", gannce crimson \'eh'et none gold caduceusChemists green green \'eh'el none gold caduceus

Veterinaries garana g:arnet red \ehet none gold sage ~ rt:athG.S. clerks dark blue greyl gre)'-blue none scarlet

18

NotnOfficers' numbers were in the button colourI yellow collar patches were replaad by

horizon blue in April 19152 rcplaced by green NO\'cmber 19153 two crimson, and one yellow furthest from

the number4 three soutaches5 but aircrew wore the appropriate bre\'et

instod of :a number

6 changed to grey in October 1915, and toyellow twelve months later

7 changed 10 yellow in October 19168 white caduceus; iron grcy section number

for non-medially qu:alifit.'d orderlies. lightblue for the mcdiClllly qualified

fixed under the shoulder strap or collar of the great­coat. It was 85 cm long, each end having a 65 mmlong metal tip (white or yellow metal according to thearm of service).

The fourragere could be awarded to any unitwith two citations in Army Orders, after a board ofsenior officers had examined the previous citat.ionsand deemed them sufficient to merit the award (regi­ments already decorated with the Legion d'Honneur- as some had been, from the days of the SecondEmpire - would qualify after one such citation). Thefirst units to receive it were the 152e Regimentd'lnfanterie, the 1er and 22e Bataillons de Chasseursa Pied, the 8e Regiment de Marche de Tirailleurs,the Regiment de Marche de la Legion Etrangere, andfive companies of engineers.

By the start of 1917, this was thought insuffi­cient, since some regiments had received four cita­tions. By an order of April 1917, a fourragere in theyellow and green of the ribbon of the MedailleMilitaire, was to be worn instead. It was immediatelyawarded to the 152e and the Legion's Regiment deMarche, and in July to the Regiment d'lnfanterieColoniale de Maroc (R.l.C.M.), for three citationsand the Legion d'Honneur awarded for the recaptureof Fort Douaumont.

When the Legion regiment was cited for thesixth time, in that same year, it was given a redfourragere, the colour of the ribbon of the Legiond'Honneur.

The system was extended in late 1918, so that adouble fourragere in red (across the shoulder) and in

red and green (around the arm) could be awarded for9, 10, or 11 citations (provision was made for up to 15citations, but was never needed). By the end of thewar, two units, the Legion and the R.I.C. 1., hadwon the double fourragere, 22 that of the Legiond'Honneur, 129 that of the Medaille Militaire, and600 that of the Croix de Guerre (including aviationsquadrons and ships).

'The ace of diamonds'

Like his uniform, the soldier's individual equipmentwas also of an old pattern. The 'ace of diamonds' oras de carreau (a pun - the word for the pack also beingthat for diamonds in playing cards) was officially the1893 pattern pack, but in fact the design had hardlychanged since the days of the Second Empire. Madefrom leather over a rigid wooden frame, it was nolonger festooned with tent sections and picket posts,leaving only a pair ofofT-dury shoes, the 1852 patternmess tin - posed at such an angle that it did notinterfere with the man's head whilst in the pronefiring position - an individual tool, and one of thesquad's pieces of cooking equipment. The waistbeltheld three 1888 or 1905 pattern cartridge pouchesand the bayonet frog, supported by the 1892 patternY-shaped braces. Over the right shoulder was slung acanvas haversack, and over the left, a one litre waterbottle, first issued in 1877.

Experience in the field only served to increasethe burden of the infantryman. Rolled blankets and atent section, complete with cords and pegs, wereagain strapped to the outside of the pack, although

Or~anisation of a e", alr~ Di\ ision

August 1914

Briiadc Briiade

~_I-,....-_----,-~RCg}:ncnt Rcgi~lcnl M.G. S~ction

11-I.Q and" sabre squadrons

Artillery'l3rigade(2 battcril.'S)

C)cliSI 'GroupI

3 cnasscur Platoons1 Engineer ))latoon

Tclcgra~h DCI.

Summer 1917

Sign~lIersArti'lIer)

I .2xro"~s porU~SI field group

Di\ision,Oismo'unledRegiment

19

2 3 4

Devices from the front ofthe Adrian helmet. 1 allbranches, except 2 lightinfantry, 3 artillery,4 engineers, 5 medical,6 supply, 7zouaves andriraiJleurs, 8 Colonialtroops.

; 6 8

from 1915, the material of the pack itself was changedfrom leather to canvas. In the same year, the two litrewater bottle, previously issued only to Africantroops, was supplied to the whole of the Army. 1917saw the introduction of a new assault order. The packwas now left in the trench, and necessities carriedrolled up in the tent section and blanket. The lastamendment to the equipment was the introduction ofa modified pack in 1917 for members ofmachine-gunteams. This had an internal metal frame to supportthe weight of twelve magazines for the Chauchatmachine gun. It also incorporated a quick-releasebuckle on the right shoulder, so it could be droppedquickly when coming into action.

In the cavalry, the only items of personal equip­ment worn by the trooper were the water-bottle,which was slung over the right shoulder, a naturalleather cartridge pouch worn on the belt or on thecuirass strap on the right hand side of the wearer,and, further round on the same side, an 1892 patternrevolver in a natural leather holster. Blanket andgreatcoat were carried rolled across the saddle, and ablue saddle blanket underneath.

Gas masks

Poisonous gas, initially chlorine, was first usedagainst French troops on 22 April 1915 on the frontbetween Bixschoote and Langemarck, in Belgium.The first protective response was a gauze pad, issuedbetween May and June 1915, impregnated withhyposulphite and sodium carbonate, and tied aroundthe head with cloth loops. A hood was then tried, but

20

it was made in too light a fabric to be of any use. Thefirst type of pad was succeeded by two others beforethe end of August, but the only difference betweenthem lay in the form of fastening, replacing the clothloops with either a broad strip of cotton or an elasticband.

The initial formula proved useless and so, inAugust 1915, a new hood and pad were introduced.Both the hood, now in thicker fabric, and the padwere impregnated with a solution of soda and castoroil. The new design included three thin metal strips,so that the pad could be fitted better onto the face. Alltypes of pad were carried in a cloth pouch, worn onthe front of the waistbelt.

Further revisions of the impregnating formulawere introduced almost immediately, first to cO)Jn­teract phosgene, by using sodium thiosulphanate,and then prussic acid gas, using a nickel acetatecompound. This last proved the most efficacious,and was used in the new M2 mask of 1916, and thelater ARS 17 mask of 1918 (ARS=appareil respiraloirespecial - special breathing apparatus). These werecarried in tins, painted in grey-green, attached to acanvas strap, or sometimes just hung from a stringover a cartridge pouch.

Small arms

The French Army was ill-served by its small armsmanufacturers. It went to war with a rifle which wasobsolete within three years of its introduction(though it continued in use until the end of theSecond World War), whilst the automatic weapons

these guns were burdened with carrying the gunitself, broken up into the barrel and the tripodcomponents (nearly 24 kilos altogether), plus theammunition. As a concession to this extra weight,machine gunners were armed only with pistols in­stead of rifles. The 1905 pattern Puteaux was anattempt to improve on the Hotchkiss, but in factmade it worse.. The 1907 pattern 5t Etienne tried toimprove on the Puteaux, but to no effect; it was atotal disaster - prone to overheating, and using anover-complicated mechanism. Both were speedilydropped and relegated to fortress work or sent to thecolonies.

The cavalry retained their sturdy 1890 pattern8 mm carbine throughout the war. It was providedwith a bayonet, except in the dragoons, who, pre­sumably because they were equipped with a lance,were thought not to need one. The sword (either themodified 1854 pattern in the heavy cavalry or themodified 1822 pattern in the light cavalry) was hungfrom the saddle on the left, and the carbine, muzzledown, in a natural leather scabbard on the right.Cavalry officers, NCOs, trumpeters, machine-gun­ners and pioneers carried the sword and an 1892pattern revolver only.

introduced during the war itself varied in qualityfrom poor to downright awful.

The principal rifle of the French Army was the1886 Lebel, as modified in 1893. It fired 8 mmcartridges, using the outdated Kropatschek system;and whilst it could hold eight bullets in its magazine,and a ninth up the spout, each bullet had to be loadedindividually into a tube magazine under the barrel.The result was an over-long weapon, whose centre ofgravity changed with every shot, and which was soonovertaken by the superior Mauser and Mannlicherweapons.

The Lebel was replaced from 1916 by the 1907Berthier. This was a development of the cavalrycarbine, changed to rifle length, and was first issuedto Colonial troops from 1907. Early models featuredan angled bolt handle (later straightened) but, moreimportantly, ammunition was loaded in three-roundclips. This was an improvement but inadequate inbattle conditions and modifications were made in1916 to provide a five-round magazine.

The bayonet was the fragile 1886 pattern, some55 em long and cruciform in section. Although itlooked impressive, it had a tendency to snap whenbeing used for useful things such as opening tins.

Like the British Army, the French made noprovision for an automatic weapon at squad level in1914, but soon realised the need for one. The weaponchosen was the 1915 C5RG (from the names of thefour manufacturers, Chauchat-5utter-Ribeyrolles­Gladiator), known as the Chauchat for short. Manu­factured in haste from steel starnpings, this was amediocre weapon at best. Lebel ammunition wasused for ease ofsupply, butthe gun was very prone tostoppages, partly due to the shape of the cartridges,which required the 20-round magazines to be semi­circular, so preventing a smooth feed. The ensemblewas also heavy. The gun itself was relatively light atnine kilos (its sale virtue), but the ammunitionweighed a further 36. This was at first distributedbetween the team oftwa, who carried it in addition toall their personal equipment; but by spring 1918, theteam had been strengthened by two extra amnlOcarners.

The main heavy automatic weapon was the 1914pattern Hotchkiss machine gun (originally intro­duced in 1897) which was fed by strips of 30 roundsrather than by belts. Members of the teams carrying

A cuirassier on outpostduty. Lirrle concession hasbeen made to thecondicions ofmodern

warfare although thehelmet is in a cover andthe finish on the cuirasshas been dulled.

21

A decision had been taken in 1883 to equipdragoon regiments with a lance, and this was ex­tended to some regiments of chasseurs a cheval in1912. The following chasseur regiments are thoughtto have received them by February 1915 - 13e, He,15e, 17e, and 18e. The lance was slung from the rightarm. Early models were of bamboo, but a steelpattern was introduced in 1913. No pennants wereWOfn during wartime. Officers, senior NCOs, trum­peters, machine gunners, drivers and farrier NCOswere not equipped with the lance, and carried only arevolver and sword.

TACTICS ANDTRENCHES

The cult of the offensive

The high visibility of the French uniforms of 1914contributed to over half a million casualties in thefirst five months of war. Yet tactics played a fargreater part. Officers at the Ecole de Guerre, the StaffCollege, had studied the war of 1870 to identifyFrench mistakes, and came to the conclusion that theFrench, having surrendered the strategic, tacticaland moral initiative to the enemy, were defeatedalmost before they took the field. To counter this, itwas suggested that in future connicts a French armyshould launch attacks immediately on all fronts, soforcing the enemy to stretch his own resources tobreaking point in trying to repulse them. Espousedby a group of vocal officers with a nair for publicity,notably a Colonel de Grandmaison, these ideas fellinto a policy vacuum, and were taken up by an officercorps eager for any kind of firm lead. Some ofGrandmaison's statements make strange readingnow: 'In the offensive imprudence is the best ofassurances . .. Let us go even to excess, and thatperhaps will not be far enough ... In the attack onlytwo things arc necessary: to know where the enemyis, and to decide what to do. What the enemy intendsto do is of no consequence.'

Indifference to the enemy's intentions permitteda tactical approach with all the subtlety' of a sledge­hammer (there was to be no firing in the advance: thefirst order was to fix oayonets, the second to charge)­mass formations of French soldiers made an easy

22

A dragoon of the 6e RD. The badge on his sleeve is that ofthe machine gun section.

target over the rolling hills of Champagne, Artois andAlsace (and would probably have done so whateverthe colour of their uniform).

The emphasis on mobility and attack left theartillery at a disadvantage. A first-class field gun hadbeen developed in the shape of the 75 mm cannon,which could regularly fire 10-15 rounds a minute. Inconlrast, little emphasis had been placed on heavyartillery or howitzers, until French trials and reportsfrom the Balkan Wars showed that heavy artillerycould be moved relatively easily. However, littlethought had been given as to their use in mobilewarfare. Combined with parsimonious funding, thisleft the French eompletely out-gunned in heavierweapons by the Germans in 19H.

The deciding factor, according to Grandmaisonand his Young Turks, would not be weaponry, but

the morale of the combatants. Always taking theoffensive, driving the enemy before them, wouldguarantee French victory, since attack was the natu­ral French way to conduct war - the Juria frallceserevisited. In pursuit of this notion, however, perhapsas many as two-thirds of infantry officers in action in1914 became casualties. It soon became patentlyobvious that what worked in pre-war manoeuvres didnot work on the battlefield. Joffre ruthlessly sackedmany incompetent senior officers in the firstcampaigns - or rather transferred them to the Head­quarters of the Rear Area at Limoges (the verb/imoger meaning to sack). New tactics had to beworked out to break the stalemate of trench warfare.

New weapons, new tactics

The evolution of new tactics was aided by a newweapon, the Vivien-Bessieres rifle grenade, an accu­rate 'bullet-through' weapon, which greatly in­creased the firepower of the platoon. The first waveof an attack of 1916-17 was to consist of alternateriflemen and bombers, each platoon taking up afrontage of 90 metres, and behind this line, a secondconsisting of bombers and rifle grenadiers. Thirtymetres behind that was a line of moppers-up. Per­haps 50 metres behind them came the other twoplatoons of the company, with rifle grenadiers to­wards the flanks and in the centre of the formation.The first wave was to take the first line of enemytrenches and then carryon, with the main objectiveof gaining ground; the moppers-up took possessionof the trench, bombed their way along the traverses,and reduced any strong points. The second waveacted as a reserve, and could pass through the first tomaintain the momentum of the attack. In addition,each regiment had a section of three 37 mm guns,which were to be manhandled forward with theattacking troops to provide mobile close support(these were later partially replaced by improvedtrench mortars). These formations were to be sup­ported by creeping barrages (a French invention) andartillery concentrations, but the former usuallymoved too quickly and that, together with the usualhazards of uncut wire, counter-bombardment andcounter-attack made each attack no less of a lottery.

French tanks (two types of heavy tank were

Two troopers from the 2e Chasseurs aCheval. Theplume wbuJd be detached in the lield.

produced, the Schneider and St Chamond) fre­quently found themselves attacking alone, often dueto poor liaison with the infantry, or after Germancounter-bombardments killed the supports. Builtmore as gun carriers than mobile strong points, theirfurther employment was hampered by their no morethan partial success in the failed Nivelle offensive of1917, and tanks came to be seen by the French not asa weapon of breakthrough, but merely in terms ofinfantry support - an attitude which was to have direconsequences in 1940.

In and out of the trenches

French trench systems were similar in most respectsto those of other nations, consisting at the very frontline ofa firing trench and a covering trench 15 metresbehind. Some 50-70 metres behind that, and con­nected by communications trenches, was the supporttrench, where company HQwas situated; and behindthat, the reserve trench, with Battalion HQand self­contained redoubts. More flexible systems could beused where the ground warranted. During 1916 inthe Bois des Caures in front of Verdun, the front line

23

was held by small outposts, backed up by GralldesGardes, platoon-sized redoubts; further back was theS, or support, line, and behind that the R line ofconcrete redoubts. The flexible system used by theGermans, and later by the British, was not intro­duced into French defensive systems until the sum­mer of 1918.

French trenches, like so much else, were morcfrequently governed by the 0 system (0 from all sedebrouillera toujours - we'll always muddle through).This stipulated that anything that eould not be doneright away would get done sooner or later. Shortagesof reveting material led to many trenches collapsingunder the weight of tons of wet mud and water, thesituation remaining unchanged until someone cameup with the wood or eoncrete.

The details ofdaily life in the trenches have beendescribed many times elsewhere. At first, there wasno set period of duty. Divisions generally had to waituntil one third of their effectives had become casual­ties before being relieved. Having marched out of theline, 'rest camps' provided no reaJ rest at all. The bestaccommodation was usually already taken by reararea troops, and the men were expected to make theirown sanitary, sleeping and messing arrangements.Frequently, the rest areas turned out to be shelled­out villages still within range of the German artillery.The only person who welcomed the influx of troopswas the local cafe proprietor, who eould guarantee tosell a lot of wine. Leave was not an entitlement, but afavour, which was only grudgingly granted. A manon leave had to make his own way to the railwaystation, where there might, or might not, be a train totake him where he wanted to go, and all too fre-

quently men found themselves unable to get anyfurther than Paris, where they were harassed frompillar to post by the police and provosts.

Discipline

The historian Alistair Horne comments on the extentof the gulf which he finds existed between officersand men, yet some contemporary British and Cana­dian observers disagreed, and noted how friendlyrelations were between the two. One must assumethat the situation differed between units, but therecertainly seems to have been less of a caste spirit inthe Freneh Army than in its German and Britishcounterparts.

Yet the fact remains that the French Armymutinied on a large scale, whilst the British Army didnot. A rising tide of indiscipline affected the Armythroughout 1916, when virtually every infantry regi­ment spent time at Verdun; but the final straw wasthe Nivelle Offensive of March 1917. Poor rest andleave facilities, poor and monotonous food (thestringy ration meat was mordantly nicknamed singe­monkey), and the feeling that their lives were beingwasted in futile assaults by a callous General Staff

Or~anisationof an artillcr~ Rc~imcnt,

19H

Regiment

Gr~up Gr~up Gro~p - - G~P~,----I i (Corps regiments only)

Battery Battery BaueryEach offour guns

A /ine of75 rom field gunsdrawn up in pre-warmanoeuvres. The caissonis by the gun's left wheel;the horses and limbers aredrawn up some yardsbehind.

I: General de dhision. Frana:, 19142: Corporal, SOe Repmenl d·lnfanl~ri~.

Franc:c',19143: louan. Rqimenl de ,\larche du 2e Rcpment

de loua\"cs, Franc:c'. 1914

1

A

1: Chasscur qdist, 19c Bat:aillon de ChasKun i Pied, France, 19142: Bripdier, 2e Rqiment de Chasscun i Che\'a1, France. 19143: Trooper. 16c Re,uncnt de DnJOOllS, France. 1914

B

•

c-

21: Pilot, Avialion Service, Frante', 19142; Mailt"e poinleur, '4e Groupe. 54e Rcpmenl d'Artillerie, Fnlnce, 19113: MarkhaJ de lops, 1ge EKadron du Train, Fraoce, 1914

3

D

1: Printe, lie Rerimenl d'infanterie, France, 19152: Printe, 1er Rerimenl Etranger, France, 19153: Fusilier-marin, France, 1915

2

•

3

I: Corporal. lJie Ripment d'infanterie, \'erdun, 19162: Printe, ler Ri,unent de M&r'('he de lirailleun A1Jiriens. France, 19163: Captain, 5e Repment de Cuirassiel'5 i Pied, France, 1916

E

F

I: Lieutenant, 1i6c Rqimcnld'infanterie, Salonib, 1916

2: Trumpeler, ler Rqimcnl de Chasscursd'Mrique, Salonika, 1911

1

3: Trooper, 4c Ilqimcnt de Marc:hede Spahis Marocains, Salonib, 1917

4: Pri'''le, 1irailleun Siniplais,France, 1918

4

3

I: Gc:oeral, France, 1917z: Staff officer, F~, 19163: Driver, Service Automobile,F~, 1916

G

2: Private, Artillerie Speciale,France, 1918

1: Private, 177e Regiment d'Artillerie,France, 1918

J: Priv:lle, Regiment d'lnfanterie Colonia1edu Maroc, France, 1918

Above: A ba ttery of theungainly looking 1877patrern long 155 mmBange heavy artillerypieces. The guns all have aramp behind their wheelsto help absorb the recoil.

A short 155 mm LeRinlaillw.

brought matters to a head. Much was made at thetime, and has been since, of the connections betweenthe mutinies and the coming Russian Revolution;certainly pacifists and socialists from Paris spreadtheir ideals amongst the mutineers, and some muti­neers were genuine believers in that cause. However,many outbreaks of 'collective indiscipline' (as it waslater termed) were protests against the conduct of thewar, not against the war itself - and part of a strongFrench tradition (which continues today) of directaction against perceived injustice. The fact that regi­ments stayed in the trenches to fight off Germanattacks, although they would not attack themselves,is some indication of this. Quieter areas of the Front,such as the Vosges, were unaffected; mutinies oc­curred almost exclusively on the Chemin des Damesfront, and only after the failure of the offensi,·e (therewas also a mutiny in Salonika, which had the sameroots as those on the Western Front).

The reforms of Petain brought a vast improve-

ment to the lot of the poi/u or ordinary soldier. Heordered the immediate construction of rest campswith barrack blocks containing proper beds and bathand laundry facilities. Rest was to be just that; workwas banned for the first four days of each rest periodand then only gradually reintroduced. Further, thesale of wine was controlled to reduce the amount ofdrunkenness. Petain also greatly increased and for­malised the leave entitlement, providing transport toand from the rest camps to the railheads, and estab­lished canteens, cheap lodging and eating facilities atthe stations, both in the Zone of the Armies andoutside. These restorative measures gradually hadtheir effect, and the Army as a whole was better forthem.

The best units recovered in time for the finaladvance to victory in 1918, but many did not, and itwould appear that morale was brittle in many forma­tions right up to the end. Well might Petain have saidthat he was waiting for the Americans.

J3

THE PLATESAI: General de division, France, 1914He is wearing the relatively simple service dress forFrench senior officers, consisting of a tunique withgilt buttons and gilt embroidered epaulette straps,and breeches with leather leggings and ankle boots.His rank is displayed in the stars on his sleeve, and inhis general officers' kepi. The latter bears an addi­tionalline of silver braid indicating that the wearer isa general de division commanding an Army Corps.Some generals preferred the dolman, as seen in thephotograph of de Castelnau on page 3, which fea­tured seven rows of black braid across the chest, andnarrow lines of black braid in an Austrian knot on thesleeves.

General officers of cavalry divisions could wearthe appropriate helmet. The cavalry manteau waspreferred to the greatcoat by many generals, nomatter what their original arm, and the stars of rankwere placed on its collar, rather than the cuffs.

l4

A2: Corporal, SOe Regiment d'Infanterie,France, 1914It is perhaps only details, such as the kepi cover andthe absence of epaulettes, that mark this man outfrom the infantryman of 1870. He is wearing amarksman's badge on the left sleeve.

In theory, officers should have worn a vareuse inthe same cloth as the men's greatcoats, to renderthem less conspicuous. But the effect was nullified bymany officers who wore it in the same black as thetunic it had replaced, with gold wire embroidereddistinctions. It was never universally popular, andother officers worc a black vestc, or a soldier's great­coat. They wore a similar type ofkepi to the men, butwith a black band instead of blue, the number in goldwire, and the lines of dark blue piping replaced bylines of gold braid. Where a kepi cover was worn,then a hole was cut in the front, so that the braidremained visible. In service dress, breeches werepreferred to trousers - both with a 45 mm wide blackstripe on the outside. They were tucked into leatherleggings and ankle boots. Many territorial officershad been issued with the vareuse on its introductionin 1911, but they considered this a blow to theirprestige, and few worc it.

Certain line infantry regiments in the XIV andXV Army Corps areas (namely the 97e, 157e, 158eand 15ge, and their reserve regiments) wereequipped slightly differently from the rest, in afashion more suited to their Alpine garrisons. The97e was dressed exactly like the chasseurs alpins (seebelow), but with ga.rallee trousers instead of grey­blue; rank badges were also in line infantry style, andthe badge on the beret was a garance grenade. Theother regiments had a service dress which consistedof the beret, a blue jersey and cummerbund, putteesand mountain boots, but werc otherwise dressed asline infantry. These regiments formed the 44th In­fantry Division on the outbreak of war.

A3: Zouave, Regiment de Marche du 2eRegiment de Zouaves, France, 1914The uniform, like that of the line infantry, had alsochanged little since the middle of the 19th century.The zouaves abandoned the cotton uniforms nor-

A private ofche 30Ie RA, in horizon bluc, and wearingthe bonner de police.

Or!:anisation of a tank Re!:iment, 191 X

II.Q 'x"Clion Section Section(J gun, I \\ ireless t:ml.) (3 gun lanL.s. 2 ~I.G. lanks each)

Comp:m~

Regiment

Comp'ln~H.Q

Transport $i.."CtionResen"e (3 gun lanl.s, 2 ~t.G. lank)Resupply and breakdo\\n (2 gun tanks, 11\I.G. lank)

B1: Chasseur cyclist, 2ge Bataillon deChasseurs aPied, France, 1914In style at least, the uniform of thc chasseurs apiedwas similar to that of the line infantry, but in darkblue with jonquil distinctions (regimental traditionpre\'ented the use of the word yellow in describingthe colour; likewise, the word red was almost totallybanned, as the distinction of mere line infantry, andthe phrase 'cherry blue' - hlell cerise - had to be usedinstead). Their equipment was the same as that of theline infantry, but all metal parts were of white metalrather than brass. Although they were described aslight infantrymen, this concept was scarce reflected

A staged photo, bur one depicting an. 'CO ofrhcAviation Service on the lefr. He is \I'caring a horizon bluekepi, and corduroy trousers.

mally worn in the orth African summer, andadopted their African winter uniforms for the Euro­pean campaign. The headgear is the chechia, some­times worn with a cover of blue cloth, in a shadesimilar to that of the line infantry's kepi cover, issuedfrom September 19H. The rest of the uniform con­sisted of a short, collarless jacket, with a colouredloop (Iombo) in the braid to distinguish the fourzouave regiments (garance, white, jonquil yellow andlight blue respectively). This was worn over a sleeve­less vest (sidria) in the same colours, and around thewaist was a broad cummerbund. Both white COllon orgarance cloth baggy sarouel trousers were WOfn inFrance; but because of their high visibility, they wereoften replaced in the field by pallerns in dark bluecloth or corduroy, tucked into dark blue pUllees.

All these pieces of clothing were gradually re­placed by khaki items from as early as 1 ovember19H. Ballalions remaining in North Africa retainedthe pre-war uniform for rather longer. Territorialregiments had tombos of the jacket colour, with theregimental number in white. E\'entually these toowent into khaki. Their collar patches then had nosoutaches of braid, and white numbers.

Zouaves had customarily carried a bigger packthan metropolitan troops, since in Africa, they couldnever be sure where the next water or food wascoming from, and so had to carry it with them.Regulations stated that the tent section and pickctsnormally carried in North Africa were not necessaryfor a European campaign. Nevertheless they wereoften included. Equipment was usually black, exceptfor the shoulder straps, which were natural leather.Exceptionally, these were worn under the jacket, aswere the straps for the water-bottle and haversack,even though those of the pack were not. It wascustomary in these regiments for the ammunitionpouches to be worn more towards the centre of thewaist than was the practice in the line infantry. Thewater bottle remained the two litre African issue,rather than the one litre version of metropolitantroops.

The 2e Zouaves formed a regiment de marche in1914, consisting of its 1st and 5th regular Battalionsand a reserve battalion raised on the mainland.

35

;f~~ ;!~~ (~( *.2 J

~ + ~ T ill~t7

V6, 7 9

in the weight of each man's load, since the individualequipment was the same as that of the line infantry.Alpine troops also carried a wooden alpenstock ontheir packs.

The uniform of the chasseurs alpins was a modi­fied version of that of the chasseurs, with a large beretinstead of a kepi. A hunting horn badge (worn abovethe right eye) was cut from yellow cloth (gold wirefor officers). The veste was replaced by a va-rellse­dolman, in heavier cloth, with a wide collar andturned-back cuffs, but otherwise carrying the usualchasseur distinctions. It was produced in bluish irongrey from September 1914 and this pattern was wornfor the rest of the war, except for a brief periodbetween November 1915 and March 1916, when a

B2: Brigadier, 2e Regiment de Chasscurs aCheval, France, 1914The short shako was worn by most regiments, exceptfor the 5e, which was equipped with a new helmet,due for distribution to all regiments in 1914, butdelayed by the waT. The general appearance of thehelmet was similar to that of the cuirassiers anddragoons. It had a steel skull, with a brass crest andfront plate. On the front plate was a white metalhunting horn on a background of rays. The feather

horizon blue version was produced. The strong regi­mental spirit of the chasseurs condemned the newversion to universal unpopularity, and it was quicklywithdrawn.

Cyclist groups were three companies strong, andattached to cavalry divisions. Their equipment wasthe same as for the alpine battalions, except that thevareusc-dolman was modified to store a waterproofcape under the collar at the rear, and the kepi wasworn, with the number of the group's parentbattalion(s). Individual equipment was also similar,except that the water-bottle and haversack were wornover the right and left shoulders respectively. Thecycles were folding types, designed by a LieutenantGerard in 1893, weighing 14.5 kg, and could becarried on the soldier's back if necessary (regulationwhilst in action). They were armed with the infantryrifle. Attached to the group was a section of engin­eers, acting as pioneers, who wore the same uniformwith scarlet instead of jonquil distinctions, and whowere armed with the 1892 artillery carbine.

including guns andlimbers, were painted lightblue grey.

A soldier orehe 20eEscadron du Train posesat (he side orhis DeJahayclorry. AU vehicles,

(both -I and 5 werc in red,red with gold reachers or ingold, according CO rank);6 qualified mechanic;i rigger; 8 eleccrician;9 hangar rigger.

Aviation badges, I ballooncrew collar parch; Zaircraft crew collar badge;J mechanic (with theappropriate number);-I airerew arm badge;5 balloon crew arm badge

36

C1: Pilot, Aviation Service, France, 1914The Aviation and Balloon Services both wore uni­forms based on that of the Engineers, their parentcorps. As a further complication, there were twotypes of personnel- those who had joined the servicedirect, and those who had transferred from anotherarm of service.

yellow beak, black branch,light blue circle IJnd whiresquare); 5 TA-1537 (whiteover green flag wirh yellowIV); 6 TJ\1Ri09 (grey stonewirh black lerrering, buffroad, green landscape andblue sky wirh whiteclouds).

11••• •Z 3

~ ~HtR.--..._.-

4 5 6

Badges ofrransporr unirs,painted on the vehicles. ITMZ7] (red monkey, buffcircle with bhlck edge);Z SSZO (red and blackladybird on white); 3 5517(whire head with red crossand lips, yellow circle);4 TA'I94 (black crow with

cians, who used red and white). Both the brushplume (nicknamed the marmoset) and the cut featherplume have been removed, but the falling tail at therear has been allowed to remain. All is concealedbeneath the helmet cover introduced in 1901.

The dark blue tunic is similar to that worn by thecuirassiers, but retains the colour combination intro­duced for the dragoons just before the Franco-Prus­sian War, and has braid shoulder straps rather thanepaulettes.

Officers were dressed in similar fashion to themen, but wore black tunics instead of blue. Thehelmet had gilded fittings instead of brass; thecolonel of the regiment wore a white egret plume,whilst those in regimental HQwore a tricoloured cutfeather one. They wore breeches rather thantrousers, tucked into black boots and spurs. Officers'holsters were black polished leather.

83: Trooper, 16e Regiment de Dragons,France, 1914The headgear is the 1874 pattern helmet, common tocuirassiers and dragoons, in polished steel with abrass crest and a curved brass plate on the front, andbrass chinscales. In peacetime, it had a short redbrush plume at the front of the crest, and a cutfeather plume on the left (scarlet except for musi-

plume and tail were also the same as in the heavyregiments, but there was no brush plume on thecrest. The chinscales were overlapping brass pieceson a leather backing, tied under the chin.

Officers were dressed in the same style, but thecolour of the tunic was markedly different. Regula­tions called for the sky blue worn by the men, butphotographs show the shade to have been very paleindeed, almost white. On the shako, the black braidwas replaced by silver, whilst the 1914 pattern hel­mets were probably plated. The tunic collar wasdeeper and stifTer than that of the troopers, whilst thebuttons were silver with the hunting horn device.

After the outbreak of the war, the issue of thenew helmets (now with a blue cover) resumed, andthey were supplied, though only slowly, to the ler,13e, 15e and 20e in January 1915. It is unlikely thatmany more regiments received them before theywere replaced by the Adrian helmet in late 1915.From the winter of 1914-15 many units replacedtheir garance trousers with pairs in brown corduroy(theoretically with a line of dark blue piping downthe outside seam).

This corporal wears a line of garance pipingaround each cuff, signifying that he had re-enlistedafter his conscription term was completed.

Hussars were dressed in a similar fashion. Theshako had white wool braid instead of black, andinstead of the horn an Austrian knot in 3 mm widewhite braid. The tunic was all sky blue with garancenumbers on the collars. The buttons also had anAustrian knot on them instead of a horn. The 1914pattern helmet was worn in the 6e Hussars only,bearing a five-pointed star for troopers and an eight­pointed one for officers in place of the horn badge.

Grey horses, still used by trumpeters in all cav­alry regiments, were darkened on active service bycovering their skin with a solution of potassiumpermanganate.

37

A squad ofzouavcs onparrol. The size of the packand associated equipmentis much bulkier than thatof the line infantrydepicted earlier. Thesergeant (on the right)wears [I marksmansllipbadge on his lefr sleeve.

At the outbreak of war, those who had joineddirect wore the uniform of the Engineers, like thisman - with red collar patches and blue numbers forthe Aviation Service. Balloons reversed these col­ours. All those not in possession of a pilot's brevetwore an embroidered badge half way between theright shoulder and elbow. Trade and qualificationbadges were worn on the left sleeve in the normalway.

Those who did have a pilot's licence, or whowere part of a balloon's crew, wore a special collarbadge. The pilot's badge was the number of theAviation Group followed by a winged star; balloonpilots had the Group number and a wingedcog-wheel; aircraft and balloon crew had the numberand a winged disc in the appropriate colours.

When not flying, flying crew could also wear a"areuse-dolman, similar to that of the chasseursalpins - a garment abandoned by 1916 in favour ofthe same "areuse as other arms. Firing kit consistedof a black leather jacket, trousers and helmet, with adark blue brassard around the arm or around thehelmet (both were abandoned in 1916). This wassupplemented by private purchases of fur jackets,gloves, scarves and boots as necessary.

Personnel in the Aviation or Balloon Service whohad been detached from other arms retained their olduniforms, but non-flying personnel replaced theirprevious collar badge with a grenade in red and either

38

gold or sih'er wire, depending on the button colour oftheir uniform. This grenade was also worn on thekepi. Additionally, ther wore the appropriate badgeon their right upper arm .. Those who had qualified asair crew wore their badge at the collar on a patch ofthe colour of the uniform, or of dark blue for officerstransferred from the Spahis. Officers' badges were ingold or silver wire and sequins.

A range of metal brevets was introduced inSeptember 1916, to be worn on the left breast of theuniform jacket; this was often joined (unofficially) bythe squadron badge.

C2: Maitre pointeur, 4e Groupe, 54e Regimentd'ArtilJerie, France, 1914This man is a gun layer for a 75 mm artillery batteryattached to one of the cavalry divisions. This groupwas one of the few that received a metal helmetinstead of the kepi before the outbreak of war (theother units were two batteries of the 13e). Handed inon mobilisation, because it was not part of the war­time service dress regulations, it was re-issued laterin the year. The skull of the helmet was brownedsteel with brass decorations.

His uniform is also unusual in that it includes thetunique. This was normally issued only to senior

ICOS, but had also been distributed to all ranks ofthose units which had received the new helmet. Hehas also been issued with a cavalry greatcoat since, as

a gunner of a unit attached to a cavalry division, hecounted as mounted personnel - it is worn rolled upover one shoulder. Likewise as a mounted man, hewears leggings rather than gaiters, with naturalleather equipment. ( 1.B. NCOs, trumpeters anddrivers of field and heavy artillery, drivers, gunners,craftsmen, medical orderlies and stretcher bearers ofregiments attached to cavalry divisions, and all farri­ers counted as mounted, everyone else as 000­

mounted).The more usual uniform jacket for soldiers was a

dark blue veste, rather shorter than that issued to theinfantry, closed by nine tombak buttons. The collarpatches were scarlet with blue figures, except forworkmen (ouvriers) who worc the reverse.

Non-mounted personnel carried the capote overthe left shoulder (both capote and manteau were indark blue cloth until the outbreak of war, when theywere slowly replaced by the standard iron-grey, grisde fer blel/te) They wore ordinary trousers, infantrygaiters and boots, and their equipment was in blackleather. Collar patches were the sole item that distin­guished between the different branches.

Mounted men wore their water-bottle slung overthe right shoulder, and their haversack over the sameshoulder or hung from the saddle; non-mounted menwore theirs on the left. Mounted men were equippedwith a revolver, WOfn in a holster attached to a strapover the left shoulder, and sometimes with a sabre as

well; the non-mounted with an 1892 pattern carbineand two cartridge pouches on the waistbelt.

The pre-war uniform remained regulation untilthe introduction of horizon blue in 1915 (the doublescarlet stripe on trousers and breeches was abolishedin December 1914), but it is likely that artilleryregiments were given all kinds of clothing to use up,since priority for horizon blue clothing was given tothose in the trenches, to the detriment of thosebehind the lines. Trousers, and even "estes, of blueor brown corduroy may have been issued. A briefissue was made of pre-war steel helmets, with a combtaken ofT the Adrian helmet, painted in horizon bluewith a brass badge and edge to the peak, but theywere soon replaced by the Adrian proper.

The uniform of the Artillery StafT, who wereresponsible for the manufacture of guns and limbers,were those of their parent arm, but with a goldgrenade at the collar.

C3: Marccha/ de /ogis, /ge Escadron du Train,France, 19/4The uniforms of the Train were based on those of theartillery, but in iron grey (actually it was a deepbluish shade, close to the colour of infantry great­coats) and garance, with white metal buttons andbraid. Officers and senior NCOs wore tunics of aneven darker shade than the men, almost black. Trainpersonnel counted as mounted.

Tahlc E: \rm-of~scn icc distinctionson thc horizon hluc/"aha"i unifiltm2 - \frican and Colonial troops

T,ousrr plpmx Collar pa/c4 Sou'adr~J Rl'x,ml'P1taJ numbn

ZoU2\es ,·elJow' L.hal.P garance gar.mceTirailleurs algcriens ~ello .... khal.i' sk~ blue slo.~ blueTirailleurs marocains }e1lo.... ' kh:lkP green green & fi\c-poimed slarR.\I.Z.T. \ellow' khaki sk~ blue/prance' lighl blueInf. Leg. d'Afrique ;ellov. khalj none ,-iolelUglon Etr:&ngere \cllo.... 'cllo....-J green greenChasseurs d'Afrique darL. blue dark blue )e110\.. ..ello\\Spahis duL. bluc darL. blue .. ella.... \ello\\Coloniallnfanl~ .. ello.... u )cllo.... 1 ;W red/anchorTiraillcurs \ello.... l .• khaki )ello.... ..ello\\ anchorColonial artillcT") Searlet' khaki scarlet blue anchor

SOUl

Officers'4bumbcrs .... ere in the button colourR..\I.Z. 1: :: RiKlmmJ mu:u J~ ::.oU(Jt'~J ~t IIr(J"f~urJ

1 )cllow piping ani) on 'Russian breeches'; there was no piping on other patterns2 the sk) blue line was nearest the regimental numberJ rello.... (10 April 1915) or horizon blue on horizon blue uniforms, but khaki on khaki uniforms-1- in lheor~, repl3ccd b) sk) bluc from 30th October 1918

39

was added on either side, fastened with a button. Anumber of variants were produced in Novemberand December 1914, omitting either the left pocketor both. All patterns had the collar patch with theregimental number, often transferred from the oldpattern coats, but were later modified into simplerectangles. The skirts were usually worn buttonedback, though after the first few months of the war,some regiments wore the skirts free, so that they hidthe red trousers. This man has had his red trousersreplaced by a pair in corduroy, and the leathergaiters replaced by puttees (regulation from Octo­ber 1914).

D2: Private, 1er Regiment Etranger,France, 1915The Legion were dressed as the line infantry, but forseveral details. Serving in the European theatre, theLegion was initially re-equipped with the one-litrewater-bottle, in place of the two-litre version used inAfrica. A blue cummerbund was worn around thewaist, but generally under the greatcoat, and so wasrarely seen. Troops in France retained the number oftheir parent regiment on uniform items. These regi­ments were initially treated as metropolitan infantry,and reclothed in the new horizon blue uniforms in1915, but they later converted to khaki. The helmetdevice was the infantr)' grenade. Rank badges andservice chevrons were worn in green, rather thanregulation red.

Legion units on other fronts retained the 1903pattern sand coloured cotton uniform that was u.sedIn orth Africa. This was a simple tunic with sixbrass buttons, a stand collar, with red scallopedpatches and blue numbers, and two pockets withflaps in the skirts. The trousers were of the same cutas that of the line infantry, but again in sandcoloured cotton. They may have been worn withgaiters, although blue or grey puttees seem morelikely. Headgear was the kepi, or the 1905 patterncolonial helmet with a sand coloured cover. Theseunits may have converted to khaki uniforms in1916.

D1: Private, 15e Regiment d'lnfanterie,France, 1915The man illustrated demonstrates the attemptsmade both to simplify pre-war garments for massproduction, and to make them less visible. The kepiis a simplified version, in what was officially calledbluish grey, which covered a number of shades,depending on the cloth's country of origin ­France, Great Britain, Spain or the USA. Theregimental number was cut from similar cloth, andplaced on a red rectangle (or the figures were takenoff an 188-l kepi and re-sewn onto the new type).The original greatcoat was replaced by this simpli­fied pattern, which was single- rather than double­breasted, fastened by six large brass buttons (laterco\'ered in cloth or replaced by patterns made fromhorn or ivory nut wood). The collar was stand-and­fall rather than stiff and upright, and a breast pocket

40

lHarshal Foch presentsa medal co an Algeriant;miJleur at the Victorycelebra rions of 1919(note the crescent on

the fmial of the fanion,and [he hand ofFa rimadevice on the fanionitself).

4

8

3

7

~65

Below: Trade andspecialisation badges.They were generally wornin the same colour as rankbadges in 19J4, with thoseofNCOs in the buttoncolour. On the horizonblue and khaki uniforms,they were embroidered inthe same colour as that ofthe soutaches ofthe collarpatch. but from mid 19l6.in dark blue or dark brownrespectively. 1 37 mm guncrew (infantry); 2 bomber(inf.1ntry) armourer(aviation), aiming prizebadge (artillery);3 Chauchat team; 4 anti~

aircraft artillery (thewinged wheel was a non­regulation addition);5 camouflage troops(artillery); 6 tanks;7 telegraph operatorltelephonist; 8 X-raymachine operator.

A group ofchasseursd'Afrique ofthe 4e. All arewearing the chechia,except the man on theextreme right, who wearsthe taconnet. Note themuch lighter tunic oftheofficer in the centre.

D3: Fusilier-marin, France, 19/5The uniform was the standard Navy issue, with arating's cap, and a cap tally with the appropriatenumber and 'Regiment de Fusiliers-Marins'. Awhite chin strap was worn across the top of the cap infull dress, but was often detached in the trenches.Petty and commissioned officers wore a blue peakedcap, with a gold anchor on the front, and rankindicated by narrow strips of gold braid (flag officershad rows of oak leaf embroidery, and between oneand three silver stars, according to rank, placed overthe cap badge).

Sailors appear to have retained the jumper (atleast for off-duty wear), worn over a striped shirt,and regulation trousers. Initially these were worn inleather gaiters, but the latter were replaced by darkblue puttees. Army infantry greatcoats were worn

(probably without the jumper), with the rating badgeof crossed anchors on the upper right sleeve, and anyother speciality badge on the left. After the change tohorizon blue in the Army, puttees and greatcoats ofthis shade were certainly worn by naval personnel,but they appear to have retained their navy uniformas much as possible throughout the war. There doesnot appear to have been any use of army-style collarpatches on the greatcoat. Infantry equipment wascarried. Adrian helmets, when they were issued, hadan anchor badge.

£1: Corporal, 137e Regiment d'Infanterie,Verdun, 1916This man wears the new horizon blue uniform. Thecollar patches of the capote display the regimentalnumber, and in theory a small disc indicating

41

whether the wearer belonged to the first, second orthird battalion - in dark blue, garance, or jonquilrespectively (often omitted).

The khaki covers introduced to cut down reflec­tion had to be abandoned, because muddy coverswere being carried into head wounds, and a matthorizon blue paint was adopted.

The stripes on the left arm were for service inthe Zone of the Armies (most of northern andeastern France), introduced in April 1916, onestripe for every six months' service. In the back­ground is a stretcher bearer from a territorial regi­ment. They were largely employed on lines ofcommunications duties, at least at first, but increas­ing numbers did serve at the Front, either in Terri­torial Divisions, or attached to regular formations.'They were generally uniformed as the active andreserve regiments, but the figures of the regimentalnumber on the kepi, greatcoat and veste were whiteinstead of garance. He is using a one man trolleyintroduced in 1898 for the evacuation of wounded.Although fine on even surfaces, it was to proveuseless for evacuating wounded over No Man'sLand. To compensate him for the extra load, he isarmed only with a pistol, and not with a rifle. Onecommon feature of the uniforms of these regimentswas the omission of the collar patch from thecapote, possibly because of the high visibility of thewhite numbers.

French medical units were frequently over­whelmed by the sheer quantity ofcasualties - accord-

iog to Horne, this may have cost them the equivalentof an army corps. Prepared only for a short, sharpaseptic war, and medically ill-equipped, they weregrossly inadequate for the scale of the conflict.

£2: Private, ler Regiment de Marche deTiraiIJeurs Algeriens, France, 1916The original uniform of the tirailleurs was similar tothat of the zouaves, but in different colours. Thechechia was red with a light blue tassel, to which waslater added a light blue cloth cover. The jacket waslight blue with yellow braid, with tombos in garance,white, jonquil yellow and light blue respectively. Thesleeveless vest was in the same light blue colour, alsoedged with yellow braid; the cummerbund was red.The sarouels were in white cotton or in heavierweight light blue cloth with yellow piping. Equip­ment was similar to that of the zouaves.

The man here is in the final style of the khakiuniform, and in assault order. The style of thevareusc, here worn for once without the greatcoat,is similar to that of French regiments. The widetrousers have been replaced by culottes russes,piped in yellow. The steel helmets were paintedhorizon blue at first, then khaki. The reducedassault order consists of the waistbelt and ammopouches, gas mask, water bottle, and a blanket overone shoulder.

The Ier RNITA was composed of regular battal­ions from the ler and 8e and a newly-raised battalionfrom the 2e.

42

A group ofNCOs ofColonial lnfiwcry in thesand coloured cottonuniform. Their stripes areheld on by loops ofrhread.

Men ofrhe Se Regimenrd'lnfanrerie Coloniale inearly 19l5. Four wear rhedouble breasted paletor,one is in corduroy. Thegun is the 1907 St Erienne.

£3: Captain, 5e Regiment de Cuirassiers aPied, France, 1916In 1914, cuirassiers wore a uniform basically similarto that of the dragoons. The tunique was providedwith epaulettes in peacetime, but these were aban­doned at mobilisation. Over this was worn the 1860pattern padded waistcoat of uncoloured canvas, withred edges that protruded beyond the edge of thecuirass. The cuirass itself was of the 1854 or 1855pattern, modified in 1891. It was steel, with brassshoulder chains on a leather backing, and a blackleather strap across the front. It was not worn bytrumpeters or musicians.

It was obvious that the highly polished helmetand cuirass were just made for enemy marksmen (anattempt to abolish the cuirass in the 1880s, like somuch else, had foundered on sentiment) and meas­ures were taken in the first few weeks of the war tocounter this. Most regiments ceased to polish them;the colonel of one of the regiments in the Toursgarrison (either the 5e or 8e) had them all placed inthe barracks courtyard, and told the men to relievethemselves on them, in an effort to remove the shinefrom them quickly! A cover, in blue cloth, wasintroduced but not officially until January 1915.Some regiments, from photographic evidence, ap­pear to have abandoned the cuirass altogether (al­though this measure did not become official untilOctober 1915). The brush plume was removed frommost regiments' helmets, and the helmet disappeared

under a blue or pale khaki cover. All pre-war helmetswere withdrawn from these, and other cavalry regi­ments, in favour of the Adrian helmet, in October1915.

Officers, as in the dragoons, were dressed simi­larly to the men, but wore black instead of dark blue,and had plated helmets.

The uniform of the cuirassiers :\ pied was basic­ally the same as that of the mounted branch, but thecuirass was abandoned and the cavalry greatcoatmodified to help marching (when not worn, it wascarried rolled-up, bandolier style, over the shoulder).The leggings were sometimes replaced by puttees. Aspecial helmet was provided from 1916; this con­sisted of the old helmet with the crest removed andreplaced by the comb from an Adrian helmet.

Despite serving on foot in the trenches, thisofficer retains his old helmet, minus the crest, and hiscavalry greatcoat. He still wears his cuirassier collarpatches, but these were to be altered by the additionofa third, yellow, strip of braid in 1917-18. He wearshis M2 gas mask at the ready.

F1: Lieutenant, 176e Regiment d'Infanterie,Sa10nika, 1916The regiments in Salonika were those which hadbeen evacuated from Gallipoli. This officer wears avareuse typical of the transitional uniforms of 1915,but with the unusual feature of the regimentalnumber in separate brass figures, rather than on a

43

sewn patch. He wears the 1886 tropical helmet,issued in the Dardanelles, which continued to beworn for a time in Macedonia.

F2: Trumpeter, 1er Regiment de Chasseursd'Afrique, Sa1onika, 1917The chasseurs d'Afrique wore a European-style uni­form. Their headgear was referred to officially as acap (casqllette), and unofficially as a taCOll/let, after theoriginal manufacturer - unique to this branch, it wassimilar to the shako used by the metropolitan lightcavalry. It was coloured as a kepi, however, with a redbody and a sky blue band, yellow piping, and thehunting horn (above the band for troopers, on theband for officers), cockade and pompon on the front.A white cover was introduced before the war. Theundress item was a red chechia with a tassel insquadron colours.

The uniform jacket was a short sky blue veste,with a jonquil yellow collar and yellow chevron braidon the cuffs, and nine plain tin hemispherical buttonsdown the front. The collar patches were sky bluewith the regimental number cut out of jonquil yellowcloth. On each shoulder was a white braid shoulder

A rirai/leur annamire anda rirai/leur malgache inSalonika, 1917. 'fhey borh

wear rhe corron uni(onnwith rheir own regimentaldistinctions. (IWMj

strap similar to that of the metropolitan regiments,held in place by a sky blue strap. Around the waistwas a wide red cummerbund, often folded up on theright hand side, to show a striped pattern.

The regiments went into khaki in 1915-16. Thisman still wears the taconnet in its cover, a morecommon occurrence in Macedo~ia than in France,where Adrian helmets were the norm. It continues tocarry the squadron pompon on the front, in this casethat of the First Squadron. Musician's braid, whichwent around the collar of the 1914 uniforms, wasreduced to this small strip on the cuffs.

F3: Trooper, 4e Regiment de Marche de SpahisMarocains, Sa1onika, 1917French officers of the spahi regiments were dressedas other regiments of light cavalry, but in reversedcolours of red jacket and light blue breeches, andwith natural leather boots and equipment. Nativeofficers wore a garance short jacket, but a sky bluesedria; their crimson cloak (burnous) was decorated inblack silk braid, and there was a sky blue piece on the

chest.French and native other ranks were dressed in

the same fashion. The jacket was garance with blackbraid, and the sedria and sarouel sky blue with blackbraid. The tombo was garance, white, jonquil yellowand sky blue for the four squadrons respectively.Over this was worn a white burnous, and over that asecond, garance, burnous. Around the waist was acrimson cummerbund. Headgear was a white turbanin white cotton (striped in blue for NCOs), or acrimson chechia with a blue tassel (no tassel fornatives). Instead of a turban, natives wore a moreupright white haick held in place by a brown camelhair cord.

All leather work for natives of all ranks andFrench other ranks was in natural morocco leather,frequently with decorations stamped on. Nativeswore their own pattern of boots, which were made ofsofter leather in the leg than the French pattern.

The gaudy scarlet and blue uniforms were soonabandoned, and replaced by that seen here. Thehaick has been replaced by the undress chechia, thecollarless jacket by a vareuse and a long overshirt(galldOllrah), all in the same cotton material. Theequipment consists of the 1903 pattern equipmentfor Saharan units, with small pouches on belt and

braces, each holding a three-round clip for the 1892carbine. The bayonet is also carried on the braces,rather than on the belt. The leggings and boots,whilst still in natural leather, are the same as for therest of the Army.

F4: Private, TjrailJeurs Senegalais, France,1918Senegalese troops brought over from Morocco at theoutbreak of war were partially re-equipped on land­ing in France. The headgear remained the pre-warred chechia with a light blue tassel (and later with ablue cover). They also received a line infantry great­coat, but with Colonial buttons. Since the Senegalesedid not like upright collars, this was further modifiedin service by turning down the collars, and by thestart of 1915, replacing them with a wide stand-and­fall collar. It was worn over the 1898 pattern darkblue collarless jacket, with a line of yellow braidaround the neck, and in a chevron on the cuffs. It wasfastened with four hemispherical tombak buttons. Atthe front point of the jacket were blue collar patcheswith TS in scarlet. Around the waist of the jacket wasa red cummerbund, worn under the greatcoat. Trou­sers were dark blue with yellow outside piping, wornwith dark blue puttees and black boots. Individualequipment was as per other regiments, but instead ofa pack, all personal effects were carried in the barda

silligalais, a roll of cloth, probably of a tent section,which was carried bandolier-fashion across one

shoulder. An additional item was a machete worn in aleather scabbard on the right hand side of thewaistbelt, at the front.

The battalions in France in 1914 were with­drawn from the line in early 1915, and re-embarkedfor Gallipoli. Here they appear to have reverted totheir sand coloured cotton uniform. This consistedof a jacket and trousers in the same style as the darkblue uniform detailed above, and was worn with darkblue puttees. A sand coloured chechia cover was alsoissued. This was later replaced by the khaki uniformseen here, consisting of a double breasted paletot andtrousers.

Battalions newly arrived in France in 1915 wereat first clothed in horizon blue, but with the vareuseinstead of the paletot. These were superseded by thiskhaki version by spring 1916. Both horizon blue andkhaki versions bore the anchor and braid. The scarifi­cation suggests that this man is a Dahomean.

The tirailleurs malgaches wore a uniform simi­lar to that of the Senegalese, but the collar patches,when worn, read TM instead. The Indochinesetirailleurs annamites and tirailleurs tonkinois wore asimilar style of jacket, but it had a narrow line ofbraid, of the same colour as the uniform, at eachbuttonhole across the chest (No); the headgear wasthe sa/acco, a conical cap made from bamboo cane,usually worn within a khaki cover. All these unitsadopted the same khaki uniform as the Senegaleseas a winter uniform.

An armoured car inaction, supporting Britishtroops, 1918. The branchsleeve badge \Vas thecrossed barrels andgrenade ofall hea vymachine gunners, with thelercers AM. (IIVM)

45

G1: General, France, 1917French general officers continued to wear a plainuniform after the introduction of horizon blue. Thestars on the arms remained the badge of rank; thesewere repeated on the front of the kepi (although thepre-war version continued to be worn), or on thehelmet.

G2: Staffofficer, France, 1916Officers of the General Staff wore the uniform oftheir parent regiment, but with the regimentalnumber replaced b)' a stylised winged thunderbolt intheir button colour. Such officers usually worebrassards in various colours on the left arm to denotetheir posting (in this case, on the staff of an infantrydivision). They were made of silk, and piped on topand bottom with gold thread, and were fastened by aleather or cloth strap with a metal buckle under thearm. The devices were embroidered in metallicthread.

G3: Driver, Service Automobile, France, 1916In 1914, staffcar drivers wore the uniform ofGeneralStaff clerks, whilst truck drivers wore that of theTrain, both with the appropriate brassard.

After the change to horizon blue, all drivers worethe uniform of the Train, but with a garance lettcr Ainstead of the squadron number on the collar patch.Officers, however, initially wore the uniform of thearm from which they were detached. They changedto that of the Train in 1915, but their collar badgewas a grenade in gold wire, with the letter A on theball. In April 1918, they adopted a black kepi withgold braid and grenade. Mechanics had a set of bluecanvas overalls, worn with clogs. Drivers were issuedwith a wide variety of fur coats and gloves duringwinter. \Vomen drivers worc a vareusc, bonnet depolice and skirt with puttees, all in reseda green.

HI: Private, 177e Regiment d'Artillerie,France, 1918Four regiments of artillery - 176e to 17ge - wereconverted into regiments of trench artillery. Theywere distinguished from other regiments of fieldattillery only by the badge on the left sleeve, depict­ing a mortar bomb.

All pre-war soldiers had been issued with a whitecanvas working dress, but this disappeared after the

46

outbreak of hostilities. Gradually, a horizon blueversion was introduced as replacement. It was rarelyseen in the line, although it was considered suitabledress for gunners serving their pieces. Repeatedwashings and the effect of exposure to the elementssaw the colour gradually fade away, until these gar­ments were almost as white as the pre-war version.

H2: Private, Artillerie Speciale, France, 1918The members of tank units wore the basic uniform ofthe artillery, but with their own distinctions, namelythe collar patches and the beret. This was 'pyrenean',that is, quite small, in comparison to the large 'alpine'version. There was no official branch badge untilSeptember 1917. When introduced, this consisted ofcrossed cannon barrels, with a knight's helmet super­imposed in the centre, in white metal. It could befound on the beret or embroidered onto the sleeve ofthe vareuse. Before the adoption of that badge, vari­ous unofficial items were worn. The most popularwas a salamander breathing flames, in metal or em­broidered, again on sleeve or beret. Another item wasan embroidered playing card symbol- a spade for the1st Battery, a heart for the 2nd, a diamond for the 3rdand a club for the 4th. These could be found with orwithout the letters AS. The origin of this device liesin a pun on the abbreviation ofArtillerie Speciale andthe word as for an ace in cards. The leather coat withits cloth collar was adapted from that worn by theService Automobile. Steel helmets, when worn, borethe badge either of the Artillery or that mentionedabove. Some use was also made ofchain mail protect­ing masks ofBritish pattern inside the tank.

H3: Private, Regiment d'Infanterie Colonia Iedu Maroc, France, 1918The peacetime uniform of those Colonial regimentsstationed in France was virtually identical to that ofthe line infantry, except that the uniform jacket was adouble breasted version called a paletot. It had a bluecollar with a red anchor, and red piping around thecuffs, but no flap. There was nothing to indicate theregiment. The buttons were brass, stamped with ananchor. Regiments serving abroad wore a uniform ofsand coloured cotton, with a colonial helmet in awhite or khaki cover, and a brass anchor on the front.European Colonial regiments went into horizon bluefrom 1915; from May 1918, they were authorised to

A group of{usiliers­marins display theirtrophies. They are stillwearing £he cap rallies of£heir ships, the destroyerBranlcbas, and theauxiliary cruiserCalcdonicn.

change to khaki - but few units had received this bythe Armistice.

The man here is wearing a version of assaultorder. His unit having no regimental number, thecollar badge is simply an anchor. The RlCM was themost highly decorated unit in the Army, with tencitations (the RMLE had nine). The red fourragerewas awarded for the recapture of Fort Douaumont atVerdun in 1916. His equipment is that of a VB riflegrenadier; the grenade cup was kept in a belt pouch,and the grenades in the large pouch on the left hip.

The uniform of Colonial artillery regiments wasexactly the same as that of the metropolitan regi­ments, except that the regimental number on thelatter's collar was replaced by an anchor, and on thefront of the kepi was a red grenade.

Colonial supply officers wore the uniform of theColonial infantry, but with a gold five-pointed star onthe collar and on the front of the kepi. This wasencircled by an oak and laurel wreath on the helmet.Colonial medical personnel also wore the same as theColonial infantry, but with their distinctive badge ofa caduceus on the collar only, and the anchor on thekepi. Administrators of the Medical Service wore aten-pointed star as their collar badge, and on the kepiand helmet, the same star within an oak and laurelwreath.

Further reading

There is no balanced account in English of theFrench Army during the whole of the First WorldWar. Of individual studies, Alistair Horne's trilogy

on Franco-German rivalry, particularly The Price ojGlory: Verdllll 1916 (1962), has few equals; on themutinies of 1917, E.M. Watt's Dare Call it Treasoll(1963) remains the best, although it should be read inconjunction with French work, such as G.Pedroncini's Les mlltil/eries de 1917 (1967). The re­marks that both English works make upon the Armyof 1914 need revision in the light of Douglas Porch'sThe March to the Mame (1981), whose account issuperior to both. The memoirs of many leadingparticipants were translated into English during the1920s and 1930s - they can reveal some detail, as longas the essentially self-serving nature of many of themis taken into account. It is advisable not to believeanything aboUl Petain 'written either in the heat ofthe First War or in the heat of the Second' (Horne).Amongst French works, the 95-volume official his­tory Les armies frallfaises dans fa Grallde Guerreremains as the starting point; one might also mentionGeneral Palat's La Gral/de Glle"e sllr Ie Frol/tOccidel/tal (1925), J. Meyer's La vie qllotidienl/e dessoldats pendal/t la Gral/de Gllerre (1966) and J.N.Cru's Temoil/s (1929); and the novel Le Fell (pub­lished in English as UI/der Fire) by Henri Barbusse(1926). The ReVile historiqlle des IIrmees continues topublish valuable articles on the history of all threeservices; as do Neptlll/ia and fellre for naval andaviation history. Those interested in 'the last gaiterbutton' should consult the various volumes of LesIlIIiformes de I'limlee frlll/faise 1872-191-1 by Galot andRobert, and the ever informative French magazineMilitarill.

~7