French Expeditionary Corps (1943–44) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids French Expeditionary Corps
Corps Expéditionnaire Français
Shoulder sleeve insignia
Active	1943 (1943)–1944 (1944)
Country	France French Colonial Empire
Allegiance	Free France
Type	Army
Size	4 Divisions (112,000 men)
Engagements	World War II Italian campaign
Commanders
Notable commanders	General Alphonse Juin

The French Expeditionary Corps (French: Corps Expéditionnaire Français, CEF), also known as the French Expeditionary Corps in Italy (French: Corps Expéditionaire Français en Italie, CEFI), was an expeditionary force of the French Liberation Army. Created in 1943, the corps fought in the Italian Campaign of World War II, under the command of General Alphonse Juin. Consisting of 112,000 men divided into four divisions, all but one of the divisions were colonial units, mostly Moroccans and Algerians drawn from the Army of Africa and led by French officers. Overall the Expeditionary Corps was composed of approximately 60 % of colonial troops.

..... In August 1944 the corps was withdrawn and absorbed into the French First Army under General de Lattre de Tassigny for the invasion of Southern France.

Background and Formation

After the Americans landed in Algiers in 1942 during Operation Torch, the colonial troops of the French Army of Africa, until then under the orders of the pro-Nazi republic of Vichy, surrendered without firing a shot. General Charles De Gaulle, head of the French government in exile, drew on this military personnel to create the CEF (Corp Expeditionnaire Français). The CEF was made up of two-thirds native Africans (Moroccans, Algerians and Senegalese) and one-third French settlers for a total of 112,000 men divided into four divisions. Most of the African troops of the French Expeditionary Corps had grown up in the Atlas Mountains of North Africa, they were the Allies’ only units skilled and equipped for mountain warfare. There were some exclusively Moroccan units of goumiers (from the Arabic qaum) whose soldiers came from the Riff mountains and were grouped in units called "tabor" with tribal or direct family ties, there were 7,833 Moroccan Goumiers in total. French North African units consisted of indigenous, volunteer or conscripted soldiers (tirailleurs) recruited by tribe, ethnicity, or region, as well as some non-French mercenary soldiers from the Foreign Legion. The CEF was equipped with allied weapons (Thompson submachine gun cal. 45 mm and Browning machine gun 12.7 mm) as well as, for the Moroccans, a traditional curved dagger called a koumia.

Order of battle

The campaign was under the command of Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark of the U.S. Fifth Army. The commander of the corps was General Alphonse Juin, future Maréchal de France, Juin was himself a pied-noir from Bone in Algeria who had commanded Arabs and Berbers much of his life. He was assisted by General Marcel Carpentier.

Other notable officers were General Joseph de Goislard de Monsabert (3rd DIA), General François Sevez, General André-Marie-François Dody and General Diego Brosset. General Augustin Guillaume was in command of the three Moroccan tabors (similar in size to a large battalion).

1st Free French Division

Also known as: 1st Motorized Infantry Division.

(General Diego Brosset), arrived in Italy in April 1944

• 1st Brigade (13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade and 22nd Bataillon de marche Nord Africain
• 2nd Brigade (4th, 5th and 11th Bataillon de Marche)
• 4th Brigade (21st, 24th Bataillon de Marche and Bataillon d'Infanterie de Marine du Pacifique(BIMP))
• 1st Regiment d'Artillerie Coloniale(RAC)
• 1st Regiment de Fusiliers Marins (RFM)

2nd Moroccan Infantry Division

(General André Dody), arrived in Italy end of November 1943

• 4th Regiment de Tirailleurs Marocains (RTM)
• 5th Regiment de Tirailleurs Marocains (RTM)
• 8th Regiment de Tirailleurs Marocains (RTM)
• 3rd Regiment de Spahis Marocains (RSM)
• 63rd Regiment d'Artillerie d'Afrique (RAA)

3rd Algerian Infantry Division

(General Joseph de Goislard de Monsabert), arrived in Italy in December 1943

• 3rd Regiment de Tirailleurs Algériens (RTA)
• 4th Regiment de Tirailleurs Tunisiens (RTT)
• 7th Regiment de Tirailleurs Algériens (RTA)
• 3rd Regiment de Spahis Algériens de Reconnaissance (RSAR)
• 67th Regiment d'Artillerie d'Afrique (RAA)

4th Moroccan Mountain Division

(General François Sevez), arrived in Italy in February 1944

• 1st Regiment de Tirailleurs Marocains (RTM)
• 2nd Regiment de Tirailleurs Marocains (RTM)
• 6th Regiment de Tirailleurs Marocains (RTM)
• 4th Regiment de Spahis Marocains (RSM)
• 69th Regiment d'Artillerie de Montagne (RAM)

General Reserves

• Command of Moroccan Goumiers (General Augustin Guillaume)
  • 1st Groupe de Tabors Marocains (GTM)
  • 3rd Groupe de Tabors Marocains (GTM)
  • 4th Groupe de Tabors Marocains (GTM)
• 7th Régiment de Chasseurs d'Afrique (RCA)
• 8th Régiment de Chasseurs d'Afrique (RCA)
• 64th Regiment d'Artillerie d'Afrique (RAA)

Anti-Aircraft Artillery Troops

(Brigadier general Aaron Bradshaw Jr., U.S.A.)

First and fourth battle of Monte Cassino

Gustav Line at Cassino, early 1944

The first of the FEC troops at the front was the 2nd Moroccan Division with the 4th GTM attached, in January the 3rd Algerian Division joined the Moroccans. It was positioned in the high mountains at the extreme right of the U.S. Fifth Army. Used to mountain fighting, the FEC pushed back the German 5th Mountain Division taking Monte Belvedere and Colle Abate but stopped before being able to take Monte Cifalco after suffering heavy casualties and lacking reinforcements. The Allied command decided to settle down to reinforce and reorganise for a spring campaign code-named ‘‘Diadem’’ set for May 11. New units were added: The 1st French Motorized Division, the 4th Moroccan Mountain Division, as well as another group of Tabors, the 1st GTM.

In the next two battles, much smaller affairs on a narrow front around Cassino town, the corps was not involved. For the fourth and final battle the Fifth Army's front had been compressed towards the coast to allow the British Eighth Army's XIII Corps and II Polish Corps to join the line. During this battle, launched 11 May 1944, the Corps attacked into the inhospitable Aurunci Mountains which the Germans had considered impassable by modern infantry. The progress made by the corps and in particular the lightly loaded goumiers, capturing Monte Maio and pushing deep into the Aurunci, threatened the flanks of the German forces on their right in the Liri valley fighting against XIII Corps. The Germans were consequently forced to withdraw allowing XIII Corps to advance up the Liri valley and the Polish Corps on the right to occupy on 18 May the heights of Monte Cassino and the abbey reduced to rubble on top of it.

Breaking of the Gustav Line

Moroccan goumiers at Monte Cassino

In his autobiography, Mark W. Clark describes how the FEC broke through the Gustav Line in May 1944.

The battle for the Gustav Line had been difficult for the FEC. It had been involved in violent combat in the mountains. Then, while Clark entered Rome, the FEC attacked the east of the city securing the road to Siena and capturing it. After the campaign, the soldiers were withdrawn to Africa to join the Army B that had landed in southern France after Operation Dragoon.

Casualties

The casualties for the campaign were approximately 6,500 killed in action, 2,000 missing and 23,000 wounded. The combatants of the C.E.F. rest in the French military cemeteries of Monte Mario (Rome) and Venafro.

See also

• Army of Africa
• Liberation of France
• Marocchinate
• Moroccan Goumier