Guest LRR Mountford Posted 31 January , 2006 Share Posted 31 January , 2006 Dear All Can anyone give me any info on a French Regiment. They are the 54th Colonial Infantry Regiment. They may have come from Senegal. Regards LRRM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Dunlop Posted 31 January , 2006 Share Posted 31 January , 2006 What sort of information are you after, LRRM? Presumably you have seen the brief summary on the Historiques du Régiments web site (http://perso.wanadoo.fr/chtimiste/): "56ème Régiment d'Infanterie Coloniale Casernement en 1914 : 1917 Armée d'Orient : Attaque de la boucle de la Cerna : Rapech (avril-mai) 1918 Le Sokol, le Dobropolje, Kravitza, Vetrenik (15-18 septembre), Gradsko (23-24 septembre)" Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LRR Mountford Posted 1 February , 2006 Share Posted 1 February , 2006 What sort of information are you after, LRRM? Presumably you have seen the brief summary on the Historiques du Régiments web site (http://perso.wanadoo.fr/chtimiste/): "56ème Régiment d'Infanterie Coloniale Casernement en 1914 : 1917 Armée d'Orient : Attaque de la boucle de la Cerna : Rapech (avril-mai) 1918 Le Sokol, le Dobropolje, Kravitza, Vetrenik (15-18 septembre), Gradsko (23-24 septembre)" Robert Hi Robert Many thanks for the reply. I know nothing at all. It is the 54th not 56th regiment. I don't know if this makes a difference. I am looking for a 2nd Lt in that regiment who won a British Military Cross. Regards LRRM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoplophile Posted 1 February , 2006 Share Posted 1 February , 2006 The 4th and 6th Provisional Mixed Colonial Infantry Regiments (Regiments Mixtes de Marche d'Infanterie Coloniale) were formed in the winter of 1915 by combining battalions of Senegalese Rifles (Tirailleurs Senegalais) with battalions of European colonial infantry. They were assigned to the 2nd Mixte Colonial Infantry Brigade (2e Brigade Mixte d'Infanterie Coloniale) of the 1st Infantry Division of the Dardanelles Expeditionary Corps (1e Division d'Infanterie du CED) and, as might be expected, took part in the Gallipoli campaign. When that ended, they joined the polyglot expeditionary force at Salonika. In the course of the first two years of the war, the names of the regiments changed, first to the 4th and 6th Mixed Colonial Infantry Regiments and then to the 54th and 56th Colonial Infantry Regiments. (The final transformation may have involved the replacement of Senegalese battalions with European ones.) An overview of the division to which these regiments were assigned can be found on http://toaw.free.fr/afgg/divisions/17dic/17DIC-pp992-993.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Dunlop Posted 1 February , 2006 Share Posted 1 February , 2006 Apologies, LRRM. I copied the line below the intended. As Bruce pointed out, the 54th and 56th Colonial Infantry Regiments essentially operated together. Are you looking for the name of the 2nd Lt? Do you know when he won the MC? Are you looking to know how he won the MC, under what circumstances? Thanks. Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Dunlop Posted 1 February , 2006 Share Posted 1 February , 2006 The 54ème régiment d'infanterie coloniale took part in the Drobopolje offensive in September 1918. They were involved in the attacks on the first day of the offensive, 14th September, along with two other colonial infantry regiments (1er et 3ème) as well as the 95ème bataillon de tirailleurs sénégalais. The attack resulted in the capture of Kravitsa, and the successful repulse of 5 counterattacks. The total number of French casualties was 63 officers and 1957 men. This information has been obtained from the aforementioned web site. If you want to understand the experiences of the Senegalese soldiers in the First World War, there is an excellent book called 'Memoirs of the Maelstrom: A Senegalese oral history of the First World War'. It was written by Joe Lunn (ISBN 0852556381). His interviews included soldiers who served in Gallipoli and Salonika. There are anecdotal accounts of the attacks. These are set in a very detailed history of the recruitment, training, battle and other experiences, and repatriation of the Senegalese soldiers and their families. Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LRR Mountford Posted 1 February , 2006 Share Posted 1 February , 2006 Apologies, LRRM. I copied the line below the intended. As Bruce pointed out, the 54th and 56th Colonial Infantry Regiments essentially operated together. Are you looking for the name of the 2nd Lt? Do you know when he won the MC? Are you looking to know how he won the MC, under what circumstances? Thanks. Robert Hi Robert Many thanks for the information. I know the gentlemans name was Parvillers and thats about all. Any infor would be gratefully received. Regards LRRM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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