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Remembered Today:

French 3rd Alpine Chasseurs


Doc2

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I'm looking for documentation on the actions participated in by the French 3rd Alpine Chasseurs in the Dolomites. Does anyone have any information or references they can recommend? Thanks. Doc2

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Agree with Robert, they are BCP, not BCA... There are different sources giving a slightly different information:

3ème Bataillon de Chasseurs à Pieds

Casernement  en 1914 : St Dié

86e Brigade d'infanterie; 43e Division d'infanterie; 21e Corps d'Armée

A la 43e DI d?août 1914 à déc.1916, puis à la 170e DI jusqu?en nov. 1918

1914: Opérations des 3e et 4e Armées : Rossignol  (22 août)

Opérations des 1e et 2e Armées: Diespach ,Vallée de la Bruche

Course à la mer  Suippes, Souain: (15-21 sept)

Bataille des Flandres en Belgique: Hollebecke, Zonnebecke (fin oct.)

1915: Artois; Notre Dame De Lorette, Bois en H, Givenchy en Gohelle (sept)

1916: Bataille de Verdun (février), batterie de Damloup, Douaumont

Bataille de la Somme (4-18 septembre et 7 novembre)

1918: Parly, Soissons, Amblény, Champagne; Auberive, St Hilaire (juillet)     Somme-Py (25 septembre - 5 octobre)

from Historique de Régiments.

___________________________________________________________

Garnison en 1914: Saint Die ?1914-1915: Lorraine (Provenchères, Saint Blaise, Vallerysthal, La Chipotte) , Marne (Souain), Artois ( Alblain St. Nazaire), Belgique (Kemmel), Artois (Lorette) ?1916: Verdun (Vaux), Champagne (Mesnil les Hurlus), Somme ?1917: Aisne, Vosges ?1918: Oise, Aisne (Soissons), Champagne, Ligne Hunding.

from Pages 14-18.

___________________________________________________________

3ème Bataillon de Chasseurs

1914 Opérations des 1e et 2e Armées: Saint-Blaise, la Chipotte

Course à la mer: Suippes, Souain

Bataille des Flandres: Hollebecke, Zonnebecke

1915 Offensives d'Artois(mai-juin et septembre): Notre-Dame-de-Lorette,Bois en Hache, Givenchy

1916 Bataille de Verdun: Douaumont, Batterie de Damloup

Bataille de la Somme (4-18 septembre ; 7 novembre)

1918 Parly, Soissons, Amblény

Auberive, Saint-Hilaire (15 juillet)

Somme-Py (25 septembre - 5 octobre)

from Régiments et Combats.

Do you know WHEN this unit you are looking for was in the Dolomites?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for the responses, but I think the 3rd BCA must be different from the 3rd BCP. Nothing I can find about the 3rd BCP says that they served in the Dolomites, but several sources reference the 3rd BCA. I have a photo of a person in a uniform which is supposed to be the 3rd BCA-- it certainly looks like an alpine uniform to me rather than a BCP one. I would assume the unit was in the Dolomites after late 1917, but that is exactly what I am trying to find out. Were there perhaps any other BCA serving in the Dolomites during the war? If so, which ones, where, and when? Maybe the unit number has been reported wrong. Thanks for any assistance. Doc2

post-2-1109146082.jpg

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Hello

This soldier isn't a French chasseur, he is an Alpini (Italian).

Regards

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Aha! That may explain the confusion. The book I was working for implied that this was a French unit, though on careful re-reading I note that this is not clearly stated. In relooking some references, I find another reference to service with the 3rd Battalion des Chasseurs Alpines (I am working from a French text, so they may have used French rather than Italian terminology). Was there a 3rd Alpine Battalion of the Italian Army? Was it operationally associated with French operations in the Dolomites toward the end of the war? If so, can anyone point me toward some detailed operational reports of its operations in the Dolomites? Thanks. Doc2

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The only BCA units that i can find in italy in the french order of battle are those in the 47th Infantry division ( a BCA division) which was part of the 12 Army Corps, which deployed to italy in late 1917.

The 3rd BCA are not numbered amongst them, although they did include in 1916 the 3rd brigade of Chasseurs Alpins.

If you have a larger unit than the battalion, I ought to be able to track it down for you.

The chap with the black feather is certainly Alpini.

Regards

Adam

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