The 1st Tirailleur Regiment () is a

mechanized infantry Mechanized infantry are infantry units equipped with armored personnel carriers (APCs) or infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) for transport and combat (see also mechanized force). As defined by the United States Army, mechanized infantry is di ...

unit of the

French Army History Early history The first permanent army, paid with regular wages, instead of feudal levies, was established under Charles VII of France, Charles VII in the 1420 to 1430s. The Kings of France needed reliable troops during and after the ...

, created in 1994 under the command of the 7th Armoured Brigade. It is mainly composed of active soldiers but also reservists, deployed both overseas and in internal security tasks such as Operation Vigipirate. It is currently only tirailleur regiment in the French army.

History

It was formed on 1 May 1994 from the 170th infantry regiment. The ceremony was held in Golbey, in the presence of the heirs of the Army of Africa, legionnaires, Spahis,

Zouaves The Zouaves were a class of light infantry regiments of the French Army serving between 1830 and 1962 and linked to French North Africa; as well as some units of other countries modelled upon them. The zouaves were among the most decorated unit ...

and the 170th Infantry Regiment, who kept the flag of the 7th Algerian Tirailleurs Regiment, became the 1er Régiment de Tirailleurs. It is officially recreated under the command of

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

Jean-Guy Gendras and in the presence of François Léotard, the French Minister of Defence. It was created in tribute to North African Tirailleurs who took part in all the battles of France on the occasion of the

golden jubilee A golden jubilee marks a 50th anniversary. It variously is applied to people, events, and nations. Bangladesh In Bangladesh, golden jubilee refers the 50th anniversary year of the separation from Pakistan and is called in Bengali ''"সু� ...

of the

Liberation of France The liberation of France in the Second World War was accomplished through diplomacy, politics and the combined military efforts of the Allied Powers, Free French forces in London and Africa, as well as the French Resistance. Nazi Germany inv ...

. The regiment formerly was stationed at the Haxo Golbey neighborhood and the neighborhood Varaigne in Epinal. Since 2005, the entire regiment has been grouped in Varaigne neighborhood abandoning Haxo.

Traditions

Regimental Nouba

The regimental

military band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the ti ...

of the regiment is known as the "Nouba". The traditional uniform is generally derived from those in use in the 19th century. The earliest evidence of music in these African regiments dates back to the centenary of

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

in 1860, and the painter Edouard Detaille in 1884 represented the nouba of the 2nd Infantry. The band, which is a small size ensemble, has had a turkish crescent used for ceremonial dutues since the end of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

Mascot

Around 1930, some regiments most often had a

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as ...

, a bighorn sheep or a

ram Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to: Animals * A male sheep * Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish People * Ram (given name) * Ram (surname) * Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director * RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch * ...

. The mascot of the 1st Regiment is called Messaoud, which in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

means "fortune".

Uniform

A characteristic of La Nouba is its

oriental The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of '' Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the ...

dress, which recalls the uniform of the old Algerian tirailleurs created around 1840. The origin of these troops goes back to the Arab and Turkish units formed by the French after the Invasion of Algiers in 1830, with volunteers, contingents provided by different local chiefs, or with organized troops from the various beys defeated by the French. This uniform consists of baggy pants called "

saroual Sirwal, also sherwal, saroual, seroual, sarouel or serouelSmith, Robin (199''American Civil War Zouaves'', p. 52. Osprey PublishingAt Google Books. Retrieved 23 August 2013. ( ar, سِرْوَال (''sirwāl''), (''šalvâr'') ku, شه‌واڵ ...

", which sky blue or white depending on the season, tightened at the waist by a wide red woolen belt. Its function was to keep the abdomen of soldiers and non-commissioned officers warm to prevent them from suffering from intestinal ailments. The short, blue jacket, with yellow facings drawing beautiful scrolls, is worn over a sleeveless vest: the "sedria". On the head, the skirmishers wear the "chèche", that is to say a strip of white rolled up fabric, or the "chéchia" in crimson felt with a pompom with sky blue fringes. Only this regiment is authorized to wear the golden half-moon on a clear sky-blue background, crowned with three

chevron Chevron (often relating to V-shaped patterns) may refer to: Science and technology * Chevron (aerospace), sawtooth patterns on some jet engines * Chevron (anatomy), a bone * '' Eulithis testata'', a moth * Chevron (geology), a fold in rock la ...

s of the African arm.

Commanders

* Colonel Jean-Guy Gendras (1993-1995) * Colonel Éric de Fleurian (1995-1997) * Colonel Jean-Jacques Poch (1997-1999) * Lieutenant Colonel François-Xavier Yves (1999-2001) * Colonel Bruno Dran (2001-2003) * Colonel Thierry Lion (2003-2005) * Colonel Pierre Esnault (2005-2007) * Colonel Emmanuel Gaulin (2007-2009) * Colonel Rémy Cadapeaud (2009-2011) * Colonel Cédric du Gardin (2011-2013) * Colonel Marc Espitalier (2013-2015) * Colonel Franck Boudet (2015-2017) * Colonel Cyril Leprêtre (2017-2010) * Colonel Jean-Baptiste Vouilloux (2019-2021)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tirailleur Regiment, 1st Épinal Military units and formations established in 1994 1994 establishments in France Infantry regiments of France