Porkmann | 19 Mar 2014 4:06 p.m. PST |
Being a complete ignoramus when it comes to the French army, I thought this a good place to ask for help. I assume the officers were mostly European and white but what did they wear on their heads? Did the ranks wear blue at this juncture as suggested on Wikipedia or were they in khaki? Did either uniform retain the yellow distinctions? Was the fez replaced by helmet when they went into action? Did the Africans man MGs and Artillery of their own? A lot of questions I know but those forgotten and glorious head sculpts are wonderful!
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Camcleod | 19 Mar 2014 5:36 p.m. PST |
A couple photos: link link link 1) Kepi on parade in pic 1 & pic 3 Actual colors are hard to tell from period photos, but my guesses 2) ?? Blue in pic 1, khaki in pic 2 3) Pic 2 shows a helmet hanging off the rifle. Pic 2 looks like it might be in Africa. Other pics: link |
enfant perdus | 19 Mar 2014 6:45 p.m. PST |
The TS deployed to the Western Front in 1914 were in dark blue; they were withdrawn in early 1915 to be sent to Gallipoli. The TS that replaced them on the WF in 1915 were equipped with horizon bleu, which was gradually replaced by khaki starting in 1916. Yellow distinctions were retained. Adrian helmets were phased in as they became available. The TS manned MGs and other organic support weapons. I don't know enough about the French Colonial Artillery establishment to say how their regiments were manned. |
Glengarry5 | 19 Mar 2014 8:12 p.m. PST |
Colonial artillery regiments were made up of Europeans. |
Porkmann | 20 Mar 2014 3:21 a.m. PST |
Thank you gentlemen. I assume thew red fez was covered by a less attention grabbing item or covered? |
Eleve de Vauban | 20 Mar 2014 10:52 a.m. PST |
First Horizon bleu, later Khaki covers were issued for fez. A few years ago, in a conversation with a Parisian militaria dealer, I referred to the uniform colour as khaki and was promptly corrected "moutarde, pas khaki" (mustard, not khaki). |
Porkmann | 20 Mar 2014 11:22 a.m. PST |
Thank you again and apologies for my muddled posting – I am very fatigued ATM. So "moutarde" should do the trick! |
tuscaloosa | 23 Mar 2014 5:04 a.m. PST |
Shouldn't the Senegalese skin color be a much darker, almost blue, black? |
SylvainIndiana | 29 Mar 2014 7:58 a.m. PST |
Kaki in French language is more a green color. Close to German field grey. Moutarde is a better definition but is close to English khaki And yes Senegalese have very dark skin. |
BlackWidowPilot | 31 Mar 2014 11:34 p.m. PST |
By 1916 the Tirailleurs Senegalaise on the Western Front were wearing the M1915 Adrian helmet when on frontline deployment. The fez with its mustard cover was still found around this time on other fronts such as Salonika, but by war's end the Adrian helmet was standard in most combat sectors of the French Army including any colonial units on frontline deployment. On skin tone, the Senegalese were/are indeed much darker complected than shown in the photo above. Here's some photos that will hopefully give you a clearer picture of these hardy soldiers of France's Armee de Afrique:
link
I also strongly recommend Andre Jouineau's excellent French Army 1918: 1915 to Victory as a detailed color guide for the French Army including the Armee de Afrique during this period:
Hope all thus helps!
Leland R. Erickson Metal Express metal-express.net
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Porkmann | 01 Apr 2014 11:31 p.m. PST |
Thanks for the pictures and recommendation Leland That book is on the shopping list now. |
WillieB | 02 Apr 2014 4:29 p.m. PST |
I'm afraid it's a bit more complicated. While commonly called Tirailleurs Senegalais some of the component battallions were often not of Senegalese origin at all. For example the 2e regiment mixte colonial that fought at Dismuide and Ypres in 1914 was called 'Senegalais' but the 1st bat was recruited in Algeria as was the 3rd. Later joined in november by the 1st Bat. from Morocco. There is still a 'Quartier Senegalais' in De Panne but the majority of the troops billeted there were ethnically not Senegalese. An excellent site to look up the individual regiments can be found here: link |
Porkmann | 03 Apr 2014 12:11 p.m. PST |
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