The 1st Marine Infantry Regiment (french: 1^er Régiment d'Infanterie de Marine, 1^er RIMa) is a French regiment heir of the colonial infantry. The regiment is one of the « quatre vieux » regiments of the

Troupes de Marine The (TDM, ) is a corps of the French Army that includes several specialities: infantry, artillery, armoured, airborne, engineering, and transmissions (Signals). Despite its name, it forms part of the Army, not the Navy. Intended for amphibi ...

, with the

2nd Marine Infantry Regiment The 2nd Marine Infantry Regiment (french: 2e Régiment d'Infanterie de Marine, 2e RIMa) is an infantry regiment of the Troupes de marine in the French Army, the only regiment to bear 16 battle honours inscriptions of the regimental colors. The re ...

2^e RIMa, the

3rd Marine Infantry Regiment The 3rd Marine Infantry Regiment (french: 3e Régiment d'Infanterie de Marine, 3e RIMa) is a unit of the French Army in the French Forces. The 3e RIMa is one of the oldest of the troupes de marine. This regiment is one of the "Quatre Grands" of ...

3^e RIMa, as well the

4th Marine Infantry Regiment The 4th Marine Infantry Regiment (french: 4e Régiment d'Infanterie de Marine, 4e RIMa) was a French marine regiment of the troupes de marine within the French Army. This regiment was part of the « Quatre Grands » of the Marine Infantry along ...

4^e RIMa (dissolved in 1998). Along with the

1st Marine Artillery Regiment The 1st Marine Artillery Regiment (french: 1er Régiment d'Artillerie de Marine, 1er RAMa) is one of the oldest marine artillery units in the military of France, as part of the troupes de marine within the French Army . History With two infantr ...

1^e RAMa and the 2nd Marine Artillery Regiment 2^e RAMa, the 1st Marine formed the

Blue Division The Blue Division ( es, División Azul, german: Blaue Division) was a unit of volunteers from Francoist Spain within the German Army (''Wehrmacht'') on the Eastern Front during World War II. It was officially designated the Spanish Volunteer ...

. The 1^e RIMa is a light armoured unit, since 1986, alike with the

régiment d'infanterie-chars de marine The Régiment d'infanterie chars de marine RICM in French, (R.I.C.M, or Marine Infantry Tank Regiment) is a light cavalry regiment of the French Army, successor to the Régiment d'infanterie coloniale du Maroc RICM (R.I.C.M, or Colonial Infantry R ...

RICM.

Creating and different nominations

Heir to the Compagnie Ordinaire de la Mer created in 1622 by Richelieu, the 1^e RIMa was created by a Royal Decree in 1822 at the corps of the French Naval Ministry (french: Ministère de la Marine). This regiment was part of the « Quatre Grands » of the marine infantry which held garrison in the military ports ready to embark : the « Grand Un », le « Grand Deux », the « Grand Trois » and the « Grand Quatre ». Designated as the 1st Colonial Infantry Regiment 1^e RIC in 1900 at the creation of the colonial infantry at the corps of the Ministry of War (french: Ministère de la guerre), the regiment was redesignated as RIMa in 1958, when the colonial infantry was redesignated as marine infantry. The evolution nomination of the corps: * 1822–1827 : 1st Marine Infantry Regiment (french: 1^er régiment d'infanterie de la Marine) * 1854 : 1st Marine Infantry Regiment, 2nd formation * 1870 : 1st Marching Marine Infantry Regiment * 1900–1940 : Designated as the 1st Colonial Infantry Regiment 1^e RIC at the creation of colonial infantry at the corps of the Ministry of War. * 1941–1945 : 4th Demi-Brigade DFL * 1945–1947 : 1st Colonial Infantry Regiment * 1947–1948 : 1st Colonial Infantry Battalion * 1948 : 1st Colonial Infantry Regiment * 1958 : redesignated as RIMa, when the colonial infantry rebecame marine infantry. The regiment is heir to the 1st Free French Division and the battalion of the Pacific which combat engaged at Bir Hakeim. The Marine Infantry and Pacific Battalion (french: bataillon d'infanterie de marine et du Pacifique) was issued from the merger, in July 1942, of the 1st Marine Infantry Battalion (french: 1^er Bataillon d'Infanterie de Marine) and the Pacific Battalion (french: Bataillon du Pacifique).

History

Ancien Régime

Wars of the Revolution & Empire

* 1813 :

German Campaign of 1813 The German campaign (german: Befreiungskriege , lit=Wars of Liberation ) was fought in 1813. Members of the Sixth Coalition, including the German states of Austria and Prussia, plus Russia and Sweden, fought a series of battles in Germany ag ...

** October 16–19 : Battle of Leipzig * 1814 : Campaign of France ** February 14, 1814 :

Battle of Vauchamps The Battle of Vauchamps (14 February 1814) was the final major engagement of the Six Days Campaign of the War of the Sixth Coalition. It resulted in a part of the Grande Armée under Napoleon I defeating a superior Prussian and Russian force ...

1815 to 1848

In 1846, elements of the 1^er RIMa were at Tahiti. The regiment was present in the battle of Fatahua (inscribed on the regimental colors of the 2^e RIMa) of December 17, 1846 (3rd Company, Captain Masset).

Second Empire

;

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

, Franco-British campaign in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...

* 1854 –

Battle of Bomarsund The Battle of Bomarsund, in August 1854, took place during the Åland War, which was part of the Crimean War, when an Anglo-French expeditionary force attacked a Russian fortress. It was the only major action of the war to take place at Bom ...

; Second Opium War, Franco-British campaign * 1860 – Forts du Pei-Ho ; Cochinchina Campaign * 1861 - Ki-Hao ; French intervention in Mexico * 1863 – Puebla ; War of 1870–1871 On August 17, 1870, the 1st Marching Marine Infantry Regiment was part of the Armée de Châlons (1870) (french: Armée de Châlons (1870)) of Marshal de MacMahon. * With the 4th Marching Marine Infantry Regiment of colonel d'Arbaud, the 1^er formed the first brigade under the orders of général Reboul. This 1^re brigade, with the 2^e brigade of général Martin des Pallières, three batteries of canons de 4, and one engineer company, constituted the 3rd Infantry Division commanded by division

général is the French word for general. There are two main categories of generals: the general officers (), which are the highest-ranking commanding officers in the armed forces, and the specialist officers with flag rank (), which are high-level office ...

Élie de Vassoigne. This infantry division evolved at the corps of 12th Army Corps with commander-in-chief Lebrun. * August 23 to August 26 – March towards the east * August 31, 1870 –

Battle of Bazeilles The Battle of Bazeilles was fought on 1 September 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War as a portion of the larger Battle of Sedan and was one of the first battles to feature modern urban warfare tactics. It took place in Bazeilles, France, a ...

1870 to 1914

During the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defended ...

in 1871, the regiment participated with the Armée Versaillaise. * 1878: Saint-Louis, Senegal * 1883: Tonkin Expedition **

Sơn Tây Campaign ''Toxicodendron succedaneum'', the wax tree, Japanese Hazenoki tree (Sumac or wax tree), sơn in Vietnam or charão in Portuguese, is a flowering plant species in the genus ''Toxicodendron'' found in Asia, although it has been planted elsewhere, ...

World War I

Attachments

; August 1914 – February 1916 : 3rd Colonial Infantry Division 3^e DIC In 1914, at the eve of the great war: the 2^e, 3^e, 7^e and 1^e RIC, were part of the 1st brigade under the orders of général Montignault, the 3rd colonial infantry division under the orders of

Raffanel. The 3^e DIC :

Generals A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED O ...

Raffanel, Leblond, Goulet (1914), Gadel (1915), Puypéroux (1916–1918). Engaged in the same sectors as the 2nd Colonial Infantry Division 2^e DIC ( 4^e, 8^e, 24^e R.I.C), to the first battle of Champagne (Ville-sur-Tourbe) and the second battle of Champaign (Ville-sur-Tourbe and Massiges). ; February 1916 – November 1918 :

17th Colonial Infantry Division (France) 17th Colonial Infantry Division was an infantry division of the French Army during the First World War. It was deployed overseas, seeing action during the Gallipoli campaign, and thereafter on the Salonika front, fighting alongside British troop ...

, 17^e D.I.C

1914

* August 22 :

Battle of Rossignol The Battle of Rossignol (22 August 1914) one of the first battles of the First World War, was part of the Battle of the Frontiers on the Western Front between the German and French armies. To counter the German invasion of Belgium, the French com ...

* August 24 : Saint-Vincent * September 6–7 : Battle of the Marne: Écriennes, Vauclerc

1915

* July to August 1915: Operations in Argonne * September 25 – October 6 :

Second Battle of Champagne The Second Battle of Champagne ( or Autumn Battle) in World War I was a French offensive against the German army at Champagne that coincided with an Anglo-French assault at north-east Artois and ended with French retreat. Battle On 25 Septemb ...

, Souin, September 28 Somme-Py

1916

* Macedonian front ** Disembarkation at Salonika in February 1916 ** With the 17^e D.I.C.,

Battle of Monastir The Battle of Monastir took place near the town of Bitola, Macedonia (then known as Monastir) during the First Balkan War, between Serbian and Ottoman forces from 16 to 19 November 1912. It resulted in a Serbian victory after heavy fighting ...

1917

* April to May :

Battle of the Crna Bend (1917) The Battle of the Crna Bend was a major military engagement fought between the forces of the Central Powers and the Entente in May 1917. It was part of the Allied Spring Offensive of the same year that was designed to break the stalemate on t ...

1918

* 1918 : Sokol,

Battle of Dobro Pole The Battle of Dobro Pole ( sr, Битка код Доброг Поља, Bitka kod Dobrog Polja; gr, Μάχη του Ντόμπρο Πόλε, Máchi tou Dóbro Póle), also known as the Breakthrough at Dobro Pole ( bg, Пробив при До� ...

, Kravitza * September 15–18 : Vetrenik * September 23–24 : Gradsko

Interwar period

World War II

Mobilization of coloniales troupes in 1939–1940

On May 10, 1940, the 1st Colonial Infantry Regiment was under the command of colonel Fauchon and part of the 3rd Colonial Infantry Division which reinforced the sector of Montmédy. The 3rd Colonial Division,

Falvy, consisted of the 1st, 21^e, 23^e R.I.C and 3^e and 203^e R.A.C. The 3rd Colonial Division disappeared. The division immediately engaged the theatre, in the sector of Sun-sur-Meuse, Stenay, Martincourt, Aviot, Breux north of Verdun, at the level of cote 304 and

Mort Homme The heights of ''Le Mort Homme'' or Dead Man's Hill (german: Toter Mann) lie within the French municipality of Cumières-le-Mort-Homme around north-west of the city of Verdun in France. The hill became known during the Battle of Verdun during th ...

, lieu of harsh combats in 1916–1917, where combats concentrated. On June 14, the 1^er and 23^e RIC were engaged in the ravine which separated cote 304 from Mort Homme. At 0630, the cote was crowned, despite a relentless resistance, the armoured contingents crossed the bridge of Bethoncout in direction of Esnes. The bridge was blown-up in the evening and redressed in the same night. The 1st company of the 1^e RIC of captain Bertrand counter-attacked. At 17 hours, attacks were ceased. At 19 hours, the French Marines (french: Marsouis) gave their part to other engagements.

Combats of free France

The regiment was made

compagnon de la Libération The Order of Liberation (french: Ordre de la Libération) is a French Order which was awarded to heroes of the Liberation of France during World War II. It is a very high honour, second only after the ''Légion d’Honneur'' (Legion of Honour) ...

, June 28, 1945.

1945 to present

The regiment was found in A.F.N from 1952 to 1962. Garrisoned in several places, the regiment was part of the 9th Brigade, then 9^e DIMa, then 9^e BLBMa. The regiment was deployed to

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

at the corps of the

Multinational Force in Lebanon The Multinational Force in Lebanon (MNF) was an international peacekeeping force created in August 1982 following a 1981 U.S.-brokered ceasefire between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel to end their involvement in the confl ...

in 1983, then

United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon ( ar, قوة الأمم المتحدة المؤقتة في لبنان, he, כוח האו"ם הזמני בלבנון), or UNIFIL ( ar, يونيفيل, he, יוניפי״ל), is a UN peacekeeping m ...

UNIFIL in 1984. In July 2009, the regiment joined the 3rd Mechanised Brigade which became designated in March 2014 as 3rd Light Armoured Brigade. The regiment has participated in all major operations of the French Army (Lebanon, Bosnia, Kosovo, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Central African Republic, Afghanistan). In 2010 members of the regiment were deployed in Guadeloupe and

Djibouti Djibouti, ar, جيبوتي ', french: link=no, Djibouti, so, Jabuuti officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red ...

or in operations in

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

Organisation

* Structure ** Escadron de commandement et de logistique - Command and Logistics squadron ** 1er Escadron - 1st Armored Squadron ** 2e Escadron - 2nd Armored Squadron ** 3e Escadron - 3rd Armored Squadron ** 4e Escadron - 4th Reconnaissance and Response Squadron ** 5e Escadron - 5th Reserve Armored Squadron ** 6e Escadron - 6th Reconnaissance and Response Squadron

Traditions

The anniversary is celebrated for combats in Bazeilles, the village which was apprehended and abandoned four consecutive times under orders, respectively on August 31 and September 1, 1870. ;''Et au Nom de Dieu, vive la coloniale !'' '' In the Name of God, vive la coloniale !'' The Marsouins and the Bigors have for Saint, God. This war calling concludes intimate ceremonies which part life in the regiments. Often also at origin as an act of grace to

Charles de Foucauld Charles Eugène de Foucauld de Pontbriand, Viscount of Foucauld (15 September 1858 – 1 December 1916) was a French soldier, explorer, geographer, ethnographer, Catholic priest and hermit who lived among the Tuareg people in the Sahara in Alg ...

Motto

Insignia of the 1^er RIMa

File:Insigne régimentaire du 1er Régiment d’Infanterie Coloniale, 1822 1936.jpg, File:Description 1rima.jpg, File:1rima_insigne.png,

Regimental Colors

Decorations

The regimental colors are decorated with: *

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 Croix (French for "cross") may refer to: Belgium * Croix-lez-Rouveroy, a village in municipality of Estinnes in the province of Hainaut France * Croix, Nord, in the Nord department * Croix, Territoire de Belfort, in the Territoire de Belfort depa ...

with: ** 2 palms * Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 with: ** 1 palm *

croix de la Valeur militaire The Cross for Military Valour (french: Croix de la Valeur Militaire) is a military decoration of France. It recognises an individual bestowed a Mention in Dispatches earned for showing valour in presence of an enemy, in theatres of operations wh ...

with: ** 1 silver star with 1 palm

Fourragère The ''fourragère'' () is a military award, distinguishing military units as a whole, in the form of a braided cord. The award was first adopted by France, followed by other nations such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, and Luxembourg. Fou ...

: * The regiment is entitled to wear the fourragère bearing the colors of the croix de guerre 1914–1918.

Honours

Battle Honours

* Bomarsund 1854 * Forts du Pei-Ho 1860 * Ki-Hoa 1861 * Puebla 1863 * Bazeilles 1870 * Sontay 1883 * La Marne 1914 * Champagne 1915 * Dobropolje 1918 * Tobrouk 1941 * Bir-Hakeim 1942 * Garigliano 1944 * Belfort 1944 * Authion 1945 * Afn 1952–1962

Regimental Commanders

1^er RIMa (1822–1900)

* 1854 : Colonel de Vassoigne. * ... * 1870 : Colonel Brière de l'Isle. * ... * 01/10/1884–1885 : Général Duchemin. * ... * 1893 : Colonel Boilève.

1^er RIC (1900–1958)

* 1903 : colonel Lalubin * 23/09/1913 – 12/09/1914 : Général Guérin

1^er RIMa (1958 – present)

Notable Officers & Marines

Joseph Gaudérique Aymerich Joseph Gaudérique Aymerich (20 February 1858 – 11 June 1937) was a French military officer in its colonial empire. Biography Aymerich was born in Estagel, in the Pyrénées-Orientales, the eldest of three sons of Férréol-Vincent Aymerich ...

, captain in the 1^er RIMa in 1889.

References

Sources and bibliography

* * Erwan Bergot, ''La coloniale du

Rif The Rif or Riff (, ), also called Rif Mountains, is a geographic region in northern Morocco. This mountainous and fertile area is bordered by Cape Spartel and Tangier to the west, by Berkane and the Moulouya River to the east, by the Mediterrane ...

Tchad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republ ...

1925–1980'', imprimé en France : décembre 1982, n° d'éditeur 7576, n° d'imprimeur 31129, sur les presses de l'imprimerie Hérissey. {{DEFAULTSORT:Marine Infantry Regiment, 1st Marines regiments of France Armoured regiments of France 20th-century regiments of France 21st-century regiments of France Angoulême Military units and formations established in 1822