Bordels Mobiles de Campagne or Bordel Militaire de Campagne (both abbreviated to BMC) were mobile

brothel A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub p ...

s used during

World War I 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, ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and the

First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...

to supply

prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

services to

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a Conscription, conscripted or volunteer Enlisted rank, enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an Officer (armed forces), officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' deri ...

s fighting in areas where brothels were unusual, such as at the

front line A front line (alternatively front-line or frontline) in military terminology is the position(s) closest to the area of conflict of an armed force's personnel and equipment, usually referring to land forces. When a front (an intentional or unin ...

or in isolated

garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mili ...

s.''The Last Valley''

Martin Windrow Martin C. Windrow (born 1944) is a British historian, editor and author of several hundredWindrow, Martin ''The Last Valley'', preface books, articles and monographs, particularly those on organizational or physical details of military history, an ...

, 2004 The BMCs were major drivers towards the creation of prostitution regulations within the French army. These mobile brothels were in some cases officially organised by the army. They consisted of large trailer trucks in which up to ten women would work.''The International Encyclopaedia of Sexuality: Vietnam'', retrieved on March 10, 2007 The first references to these BMCs were in World War I, and they are noted particularly in the Indochina War and the

Algerian War The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...

. Almost absent in France after World War II, there were many during the Indochina War and the war in Algeria. Subsequently, only the Foreign Legion still used them but closed the last BMC on French soil, in Guyana, in 1995. The BMC in

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 ...

was still operating until 2003.

History

The tradition of bringing "brothels to soldiers" was started during the

Third Crusade The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt by three European monarchs of Western Christianity ( Philip II of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor) to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by ...

Philip II of France Philip II (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223), byname Philip Augustus (french: Philippe Auguste), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks, but from 1190 onward, Philip became the first French m ...

. He was so shocked by the extent of sodomy and rapes committed by the Crusaders that he arranged for a full boat of "girls of joy" to be sent from France. The first BMCs probably appeared during the period of military control of Algeria (1830-1870), following its conquest by the French army. The BMCs remained limited to the army in Africa until 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, ...

. They then arrived in France with the arrival of indigenous units from the colonies. The military command did not want indigenous soldiers to have sex with local women for racist and classist reasons, but also to prevent the troops getting infected by

venereal diseases Sexually transmitted infections (STIs), also referred to as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and the older term venereal diseases, are infections that are spread by sexual activity, especially vaginal intercourse, anal sex, and oral ...

, such as

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium '' Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, a ...

, which was not curable at the time (

penicillin Penicillins (P, PCN or PEN) are a group of β-lactam antibiotics originally obtained from '' Penicillium'' moulds, principally '' P. chrysogenum'' and '' P. rubens''. Most penicillins in clinical use are synthesised by P. chrysogenum usin ...

was only available from 1944). Despite this, four years of war saw the infection of 400,000 men. Initially, no official designation was given to the BMCs. The acronym first appeared in the 1920s with the regulation of signs in the French army, and from then BMCs were mentioned in military documents. Military officials actively provided prostitutes for their troops. The "association des maitres et maitresses d'hôtels meublés de France et des colonies" played an almost official co-ordinating role. It was governed by a law of 1 July 1901, and located at 73 rue de Nazareth,

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. The prostitutes were volunteers. The military brothels multiplied during the interwar period, as almost every town with a garrison or a regiment had a BMC. During the colonial wars, the organisation and attendance of BMC was public knowledge and encouraged by the army, especially in

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

and

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

("the candy box"). In France, brothels were prohibited by "Loi Marthe Richard" in 1946. However, in 1947, the Ministry of the Armed Forces authorised the continued use of BMCs for North African units while stationed in Metropolitan France, the prostitutes for these BMCs coming from Algeria. BMCs, were generally mobile and temporary and should be distinguished from "reserved areas" close to permanent garrisons, such as Bousbir de Casablanca. French literature has several times mentioned the "Buffalo Park", a BMC in

Saigon , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

. In the Indochina War, the French used women from the Ouled Naïl tribe of the highlands of

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

. BMCs were known to have a significant role in the spread of

sexually transmitted disease Sexually transmitted infections (STIs), also referred to as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and the older term venereal diseases, are infections that are spread by sexual activity, especially vaginal intercourse, anal sex, and or ...

s and were an avenue of attack by female

Viet Minh The Việt Minh (; abbreviated from , chữ Nôm and Hán tự: ; french: Ligue pour l'indépendance du Viêt Nam, ) was a national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1941. Also known as the Việt Minh Fro ...

sympathizers. There was a vast BMC in

known as "the park of the buffaloes", and in January 1954, a BMC containing

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...

ese and Algerian prostitutesIH
article
retrieved on March 10, 2007 was flown to Dien Bien Phu. Here, the prostitutes became

nursing assistant Unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP) are paraprofessionals who assist individuals with physical disabilities, mental impairments, and other health care needs with their activities of daily living (ADLs). UAPs also provide bedside care—includ ...

s for the French garrison during the

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characteriz ...

, though they were sent for re-education by the Viet Minh after the garrison fell.

Closure

The last BMC in France, that of the Foreign Legion

2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment The 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (french: 2e Régiment étranger de parachutistes, 2e REP) is the only airborne regiment of the Foreign Legion in the French Army. It is one of the four infantry regiments of the 11th Parachute Brigade and part o ...

in Calvi,

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

was closed in 1978. The last BMC on

French territory Overseas France (french: France d'outre-mer) consists of 13 French-administered territories outside Europe, mostly the remains of the French colonial empire that chose to remain a part of the French state under various statuses after decolo ...

, that of the Legion in

Kourou Kourou () is a commune in French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France in South America. Kourou is famous for being the location of the Guiana Space Centre, the main spaceport of France and the European Space Agency (ESA). It i ...

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label= French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic coast of South America in the Guianas ...

closed in 1995, following a complaint by a

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian

pimp Procuring or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute or other sex worker in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. A procurer, colloquially called a pimp (if male) or a madam (if female, though the term pimp has still ...

for unfair competition. Outside of the French territories, the Foreign Legion still had a BMC in the Republic of Djibouti until 2003.

In film

* In the film ''RAS'' (1973), directed by

Yves Boisset Yves may refer to: * Yves, Charente-Maritime, a commune of the Charente-Maritime department in France * Yves (given name), including a list of people with the name * ''Yves'' (single album), a single album by Loona * ''Yves'' (film), a 2019 Fre ...

, about the war in Algeria, a sequence shows the arrival of a BMC and its use by the soldiers. * Stéphane Benhamou's 2013 documentary film, ''Putains de guerre'', contains many sequences and testimonials on BMC, especially in Indochina.

References

Bibliography

External links