Chris Boonzaier

OK, maybe not North Africa... and maybe earlier than Dien Bien P. but how about for a commander of the 3eme REI?

All about the dead and wounded today..... Some great additions to the Hartmannsweilerkopf KIA page, and to the page about Lt. W. Owen, if not South Africas first casualty of the war, at least the first officer casualty.... http://www.kaiserscross.com/152301.html Best Chris

Thanks, that is indeed and interesting fate. I shall try and add a write up along those lines to the site. Best Chris

A wonderful gift from Tony Neal to moi.... a dog tag to a French soldier who was killed in 1918. Ok, he was older, 42 years old...mentions the 42nd R.I. Died of wound in hospital..... But at the top it says "Victime Civile" Can abyone help with some brainstorming here?

They actually had a pretty good marching song... At this link you can hear a choir sing it... not a bad job.... http://www.esnips.com/doc/bd0b3ae0-d5b1-43...---Les-Bats-dAf Les Bats d'AF Il est sur la terre africaine Un bataillon dont les soldats, (bis) Sont tous des gars qu'ont pas eu de veine. C'est les bats d'af et nous voil?, (bis) Pour ?tre ? joyeux ?, chose sp?ciale, Il faut sortir de Biribi, (bis) Ou bien alors d'une centrale, C'est d'ailleurs l? qu'on nous choisit (bis) Refrain Et apr?s tout, qu'est-ce que ?a fout ? Et l'on s'en fout ! Lalala En marchant sur la grand route, Souviens-toi, oui souviens-toi (bis) Les anciens l'ont fait sans doute Avant toi, oui avant toi, lalala De Gab?s ? Tataouine, De Gafsa ? Medenine, lalala Sac au dos dans la poussi?re, Marchons bataillonnaires. J'ai vu mourir un pauvre gosse, Un pauvre gosse de 18 ans (bis) Frapp? par le destin f?roce. Il est mort en criant maman. (bis) C'est moi qu'ai ferm? ses paupi?res, Recueilli son dernier soupir, (bis) Qu'ai ?crit ? sa pauvre m?re Un vrai soldat vient de mourir, (bis) Et comme on a jamais eu de veine, Bien s?r qu'un jour on y cr?vera, (bis) Sur cette putain de terre africaine. Dans le sable on nous enterrera, (bis) Avec pour croix un ba?onnette, A l'endroit o? l'on est tomb?, (bis) Qui voulez-vous qui nous regrette, Puisque nous sommes des r?prouv?s.

A document with a great citation... Read here for a description of the action... http://www.kaiserscross.com/40029/180901.html

A gruesome task for a trench raider... http://www.kaiserscross.com/152301.html

Technically there were three decrees (1906, 1908 and 1912) that allowed legionnaires to be thrown out of the Legion. Astoundingly not possible before that time. According to Porch it was possible to apply these to Legionnaires who had chronic discipline problems. It was apparently a very bureaucratic process and even if you kicked someone out.... he could just join up under another name, as noone in 1906 had to present ID. best Chris

There is a crossing of the two though. According to Porch, "The left wing Waldeck-Rousseau government of 1899, and its reforming war minister General Louis Andre, sought to end criticism of the penal Bat d'af by retaining only the most hardened criminals. Those whose records suggested a glimmer of rehabilitation were often deposited into the legion. General Trumelet-Faber was of the opinion that the legion had been corrupted by these men "... today it has become the refuge of all the outcasts of the Bataillons d'Afrique, of the Armee Coloniale and of the tirailleurs Algerians who, because of their deplorable records were refused reenlistment in their original corps. " But the legion goes through recruiting cycles....

Hi, I read in a French history that they were used as "nettoyeur"..... a pretty grim and brutal task. The nettoyeur advanced just behind the point of an offensive and "cleaned up" any dangers, including burning/Bombing out enemy caught in dugouts and who refused to surrender, basically finishing off whoever was still posed a potential danger. I cannot remember which division they were attached to... one of the colonial ones I think.

From the little I have read, the men of the Bat D'af were hard cases. Inside the sections prison hierarchy was order of the day. The harder the criminal, the better his status. The men were in the most desolate outposts in North Africa, and were not really given that much leave. Life was violent and brutal... And if you were a young guy who had landed there because he had passed bad checks and stolen his Employee's diamond necklace.... you knew your day was off to a bad start when a scarfaced veteran who had been pardoned for a manslaughter charge called you "Sweet-cheeks"

What do you think of this one ? ;-)

more

The BILA were made up of ex convicts who still had their service to do. Draconian discipline from above and harsh rules from the convict hierarchy within the ranks.... The "Biribi" or "Les Joyeux" (The joyful ones) or the "Zephyrs" were not the unit a middle class boy wanted to land in. Within the units a classic "Prison system" was in place. The other ranks were famous for their prison tattoos many done within the unit...

Arrived today.... a Medaille coloniale document to one of the most infamous units to set foot in Africa. The document is to Capitaine Lucien Hilarion Marie Victor Lannes, serving in the 1st Bataillon d' Infanterie Legere d'Afrique One of the famous/Infamous BILA or the "Bat d'af".....

Hi, he was a regular, so thats whats difficult to understand with him. Apparently in early 1918 a number were actually repatriated to Germany on parole !!!

At the risk of jinxing my parcel... Would anyone find the 1er Bataillon d' infanterie l?g?re d' Afrique interesting :-))))

The Austrian division most interesting to me as they are closest to my beloved Alpenkorps... I know nothing about Austrian awards.... I assume this is a 1st class silver bravery medal? Thanks Chris

Superb site!!!!! Fantastic site!!!! I take my hat off to you for the efforts you put into research!

application of the Kuban patch above is pretty interesting :-)

332

3333

33

Some rare foreign volunteer stuff in there.... really nice!

I know Prosper has some interesting stuff for this subject....