Zouaves September 1914

Two more finds on Facebook.

The first shows men from 4me Zouaves fighting outside Lassigny in Picardie, early September 1914, during the Race to the Sea.

The second is a magazine picture depicting the death of the Kaiser's nephew during the Battle of Charleroi, August 1914.

To me, these demonstrate the great contribution of African regiments during the opening weeks of the Great War. Zouaves and Tirailleurs (and the Colonial Infantry) were successfully used to blunt the German offencive, the Schlieffen knock-out blow, and gave to France and the Allies a breathing space needed to field their forces.

Another Facebook find - Fort de Villey Le Sec - near Toul, Lorraine.

Coupole Tourelle155c Batterie Cuirassée (A 155mm howitzer in a domed turret, armoured battery)

Another place to add to my list of places to visit soon.

Generals into politicians

This portrait photograph is of General George Ernest Boulanger (20 April 1837 - 30 September 1891). He joined the French Army in 1857 and fought in Italy, Cochin China and the Franco-Prussian War. He also took part in the crushing of the Paris Commune in 1871. In the 1880's he joined the Government as Minister of War, almost lead a coup in 1889, fled France and committed suicide in Brussels in 1891.

The second portrait photograph is of General Charles de Gaulle (22 November 1890 - 9 November 1970). He became a professional soldier and joined the French Army before the Great War, joining the staff of Colonel Petain. He was wounded and taken prisoner in March 1916, during the Battle of Verdun. After the War he remained in the Army. He commanded the 4th Armoured Division in June 1940, then escaped to London at the defeat of France. He became President of the French Republic in 1959 at the founding of the 5th Republic.

Poilu Painting

A painting of a WW1 poilu found on the web, unknown artist. He looks relieved to be out of the line, possibly.

Soldier Painting

A French soldier in Canada in the mid-1750's, probably from Compagnie Franche de la Marine. Painted by Ron Embleton, found on Flintlockandtomahawk blogspot. Lovely painting, for the man's general lived-in feeling, moccasins, leggings, pack. Love it.

Zouaves

I found this very nice picture of a zouave as they were apparelled at the start of WW1, carrying his M1886 Lebel rifle. I cannot credit the artist.


The picture has reminded me of a discussion I have had on several occasions, that Zouaves were native troops recruited in Algeria and Tunisia. My interest in the French military started in 1991 when I found a Britains French infantryman on an antiques stall in Islington. The toy soldier had been repainted. It is part of a half-dozen different sets in the Britains catalogue, first introduced in 1905, this figure is date stamped 9.5.1905 and "deposé". This purchase led to others and soon I came across the zouaves.

An early Zouave figure, also date stamped 9.5.1905

A later production Zouave, probably from 1950's

As you can see, these two zouaves were made 50 years apart, they have very different flesh colours. The older figure has North African colouring, the newer figure has European colouring. Why are they different? I wanted to know, so I did some research.

France started its colonisation of Algiera in 1830. One of the local tribes, the Zouaouas were pro-French and some of them volunteered to fight with the incoming power. The name was converted to Zouaves. Immediately the units had more French than local soldiers, to such an extent that in 1841 the locals were moved into their own formations of tirailleurs.

Two figures from Quality Model Soldiers, a Zouave and a Tirailleur

The Zouave regiments recruited amongst the European emigrés to Algeria and in Paris, Lyon, Lille and Northern France. I have seen preserved recruitment posters from Paris and Lille. As they were volunteers, they were professional soldiers and became elite units. So the later, light skin tone is the correct one, but I think that in the early years of the 20th century, Algeria was seen as an exotic, mysterious place and Britains chose the darker tones to reflect that.

Finally, two more pictures found on the Internet, this time from a set of 1889 lithographs.

Cuisine Roulante

Someone posted this photo on a Facebook page. It is of a "roulante", a large, horse-drawn, mobile cooker with a limber, full title Cuisine Roulante avec Avant-Train. The roulante was issued to all branches of the French Army and was designed to cook  meals for a company of soldiers or the equivalent, approx 150 - 200 men.

I found some more photos.

There were a number of different manufacturers, each producing slightly different designs. Thousands were made and then taken into storage in 1919.

During the 1920's and 30's, one model was chosen and kept. In 1939, they were taken out of storage and 8822 were issued to regiments. Orders were issued for the manufacture of 440 new models per month, but this figure was never achieved.

In the early 30's, a roulante for motorised units was developed as a trailer. This was the Cuisine Roulante-Remorque mle 1916-1936 M.38. Around 3000 were available in September 1939, with orders for a total of 250 per month, not reached, were given to several manufacturers.