Algerian War uniforms- a primer for those getting started
Jan 26, 2015 13:09:30 GMT -5
craigtx and Étienne like this
Post by lew on Jan 26, 2015 13:09:30 GMT -5
*I cross-posted this from the "French, French Union, Foreign Legion and Vietnamese Uniformity" subforum for easier reference. I have also added some information.*
Sources for equipment:
ebay.com
ebay.fr
trancheemilitaire.com
doursoux.com
theswatshop.com
to name a few.
Uniforms:
Most units saw considerable change in uniforms and headgear throughout the course of the war. French industry caught up during the latter years of the Indochina War and the effects continued to filter in through the Algerian War.
Doursoux has a reproduction Mle. 47/56 TAP (Troupes Aéroportées= Airborne troops) uniform. This is the lizard camo uniform most commonly seen during the war. The repros are expensive but the details are spot on and compare favorably with my original 47/56 jacket. The Mle. 47/54 uniform was commonly seen during the first few years of the war, but was rapidly replaced by the 47/56 pattern. Earlier airborne uniforms- (Mles. 47/51, 47/52, and 47/53- were also seen. There are no reproductions currently offered for any of those except the aforementioned Mle. 47/56 uniform.
The standard French uniform was the olive drab Mle. 47/54 and 47/52 TTA (Toutes Armes- "all arms") were the standard uniforms for non-airborne troops. They are essentially an improved version of the US Model 43 uniform. These are much easier to find. Ebay.fr, ebay.com, and La Tranchée Militaire are your best bets. Doursoux may have some.
The Denison Smock was also seen in small quantity (mostly amongst colonial parachute units), and the British Windproof jacket was a fairly common sight. eBay member combat1984 offers a Denison Smock and member panzerfaust1943 offers British Windproof sets in both the brown-dominant Type 1 pattern and the green-dominant Type 2. The Type 2 was more common in Algeria. Both members are small Chinese workshops and I can attest that the craftsmanship of both is superb.
Undershirts:
The Mle. 48 chemise was the standard duty shirt. Tank tops/"wife beaters"/A-shirts were alsp issued and purchased privately in beige, white, and OD green, the latter being the most common. White T-shirts were worn in garrison. This clothing scheme applied to all units, airborne and otherwise.
Footwear:
Chausseures de brousse (bush shoe), also called Pataugas. These are lightweight canvas and rubber shoes, much like Converse's All Stars. Official issue was OD green, and private-purchase mustard-colored Pataugas were around. Palladium Boots currently offers a shoe that is almost identical to the one they made back then (Palladium Hi Pampa OTAN) and will work splendidly for an impression. I've been wearing mine for almost four years now. Converse's were worn in garrison and were frequently seen on the feet of fellaghas (rebels).
The standard issue boot was the Chaussure Mle. 52 "Rangers". These can easily be found on ebay.com (invariably overpriced), ebay.fr (usually reasonable) and La Tranchée (the best deal going, though shipping to the US is steep). There are three types of this boot: Type 1- single closing strap and buckle above the ankle (introduced in 1952); Type 2- two straps affixed with rivets (appeared in early 1955); Type 3- straps integral with the piece of leather above the ankle (appeared in 1960). The latter is the most common available. These are thick leather boots and will require oil- I use neatsfoot- and a lengthy break-in. Replace the laces as they break easily after all these years in storage. The boots were issued as-is, with the troops expected to oil them. Most units did not blacken them (3rd RPC/RPIMa being a notable exception) and the brown, oiled appearance will work for the entire war.
Belts:
The standard waist belt was a direct copy of the US WW2 web belt options- one with a brass roller buckle (typically, but not always, for officers) and an open-buckle claw type for enlisted. OD green or beige.
Hats:
The Mle. 49 Chapeau de Brousse (bush hat) was issued to everyone. OD green was more common than beige, but both are acceptable. Any of those sources will have this hat.
The peaked casquette Bigeard ("Bigeard" cap) was originally designed by Marcel Bigeard in Indochina in the British Windproof pattern in 1952 while he commanded the 6th BPC. Later, this hat was made in the lizard camo fabric, carried over to Algeria when he commanded the 3rd RPC there, spread to the airborne units in 1955, standardized amongst the TAP units in April 1958,and was standardized in 1959 for all-arms use as the casquette Mle. 59. Any of the sites above will have them, and Doursoux's offering is a quality piece and reasonably priced. There was quite a bit of variation with this cap, and their model is good to go.
Most non-airborne (TTA) units wore garrison caps (calots) until they went to the beret in 1958. Foreign Legion Units and TTA officers (frequently) wore képis. The Fusiliers Marins had their own naval cap. Officers in the branch units and certainly those of the General Staff wore kepis heavily.
2e RPC had a locally-made bush hat which was painted by the soldiers. Be very careful of camouflage bush hats in lizard camo if they are not backed up with provenance.
Berets:
TTA: navy blue (bleu foncé) with their service insignia after 1958. Some units wore a canvas sand-colored beret before that. Saharan companies and some TTA units wore theirs throughout the war.
Metropolitan TAP (mainland France airborne units)- Royal blue 1952-Sept. 1957 with the winged dagger insignia. Red after 9/52
1e Régiment de Hussars Parachutistes- Same beret color as the Metro TAP, but with an embroidered loop (l'hongroise) underneatht the insignia
Foreign Legion TAP: dark green with winged dagger
Foreign Legion non-TAP: The green beret was made standard in 1959, with the units having their own insignia- usually the number incorporated into the flaming bomb of the Legion. 1e REC and 13e DBLE wore the canvas sand-colored beret prior to that.
Colonial TAP: Red with winged dagger insignia from 1952. Insignia changed in July 1958 to winged dagger overlaid on the fouled anchor of the colonial troops to distinguish from Metro airborne units.
Air Force Commandos: black with distinctive insignia.
*note that all the previously mentioned berets fold to the left with the insignia above the right eye, as opposed to British, American, and German berets that have the insignia above the left eye.
Commandos de Marine: dark green with distinctive insignia. Due to their creation under- and close cooperation with the Royal Marines in WW2, the beret of the Commandos de Marines was the only one in the French military that has the fold to the right and the insignia above the left eye.
Fusiliers Marins: They currently wear a dark blue (bleu foncé) beret with the fold to the right. I am not sure when they initiated that. In Algeria, they were much more commonly encountered wearing a "bachi" (sailor's cap) with a pompon for enlisted troops. Officers wore a peaked cap. In the field, the Mle. 49 chapeau de brousse was the standard, although the bachis were regularly worn.
Early berets were constructed out of three pieces with a very noticeable seam around the "crown". The Mle. 52 béret introduced the single piece that is common to this day. Either construction method is fine for Algeria, although the single piece was by far dominant after the first couple years of the war. Doursoux.com offers excellent red and green three-piece berets. Note that berets back then were usually much "baggier" and typically not the skin-tight ones seen today.
Camouflage beret: 1e RCP (Régiment de Chasseurs Parachutiste) contracted with a local tailor to make berets of "lizard camo" tent quarters or old uniforms. These were worn until headgear was standardized throughout the TAP forces in April 1958 with the options of the beret, chapeau de brousse, or casquette Bigeard.
This should get the beginner started with the standard templates for the various unit types. There were some variations (not nearly as much Indochina) and some locally-made pieces, both private purchase and government contractors.
Some resources for equipment and uniforms:
The French Foreign Legion in Indochina 1946-1956 by Raymond Guyader
The French Foreign Legion in Algeria 1954-1962 by Raymond Guyader
Les Paras Français en Indochine 1945-1954 and Les Paras Français en Algérie 1954-1962 by Éric Adam and Patrice Pavetta (in French only- easy to follow with the illustrations. Don't worry.)
Those books are, collectively, basically the Bible for anyone interested interested in Indochina and Algerian War militaria.
Alistaire Horne's A Savage War of Peace is widely regarded as the best English Language overview of the war.
Sources for equipment:
ebay.com
ebay.fr
trancheemilitaire.com
doursoux.com
theswatshop.com
to name a few.
Uniforms:
Most units saw considerable change in uniforms and headgear throughout the course of the war. French industry caught up during the latter years of the Indochina War and the effects continued to filter in through the Algerian War.
Doursoux has a reproduction Mle. 47/56 TAP (Troupes Aéroportées= Airborne troops) uniform. This is the lizard camo uniform most commonly seen during the war. The repros are expensive but the details are spot on and compare favorably with my original 47/56 jacket. The Mle. 47/54 uniform was commonly seen during the first few years of the war, but was rapidly replaced by the 47/56 pattern. Earlier airborne uniforms- (Mles. 47/51, 47/52, and 47/53- were also seen. There are no reproductions currently offered for any of those except the aforementioned Mle. 47/56 uniform.
The standard French uniform was the olive drab Mle. 47/54 and 47/52 TTA (Toutes Armes- "all arms") were the standard uniforms for non-airborne troops. They are essentially an improved version of the US Model 43 uniform. These are much easier to find. Ebay.fr, ebay.com, and La Tranchée Militaire are your best bets. Doursoux may have some.
The Denison Smock was also seen in small quantity (mostly amongst colonial parachute units), and the British Windproof jacket was a fairly common sight. eBay member combat1984 offers a Denison Smock and member panzerfaust1943 offers British Windproof sets in both the brown-dominant Type 1 pattern and the green-dominant Type 2. The Type 2 was more common in Algeria. Both members are small Chinese workshops and I can attest that the craftsmanship of both is superb.
Undershirts:
The Mle. 48 chemise was the standard duty shirt. Tank tops/"wife beaters"/A-shirts were alsp issued and purchased privately in beige, white, and OD green, the latter being the most common. White T-shirts were worn in garrison. This clothing scheme applied to all units, airborne and otherwise.
Footwear:
Chausseures de brousse (bush shoe), also called Pataugas. These are lightweight canvas and rubber shoes, much like Converse's All Stars. Official issue was OD green, and private-purchase mustard-colored Pataugas were around. Palladium Boots currently offers a shoe that is almost identical to the one they made back then (Palladium Hi Pampa OTAN) and will work splendidly for an impression. I've been wearing mine for almost four years now. Converse's were worn in garrison and were frequently seen on the feet of fellaghas (rebels).
The standard issue boot was the Chaussure Mle. 52 "Rangers". These can easily be found on ebay.com (invariably overpriced), ebay.fr (usually reasonable) and La Tranchée (the best deal going, though shipping to the US is steep). There are three types of this boot: Type 1- single closing strap and buckle above the ankle (introduced in 1952); Type 2- two straps affixed with rivets (appeared in early 1955); Type 3- straps integral with the piece of leather above the ankle (appeared in 1960). The latter is the most common available. These are thick leather boots and will require oil- I use neatsfoot- and a lengthy break-in. Replace the laces as they break easily after all these years in storage. The boots were issued as-is, with the troops expected to oil them. Most units did not blacken them (3rd RPC/RPIMa being a notable exception) and the brown, oiled appearance will work for the entire war.
Belts:
The standard waist belt was a direct copy of the US WW2 web belt options- one with a brass roller buckle (typically, but not always, for officers) and an open-buckle claw type for enlisted. OD green or beige.
Hats:
The Mle. 49 Chapeau de Brousse (bush hat) was issued to everyone. OD green was more common than beige, but both are acceptable. Any of those sources will have this hat.
The peaked casquette Bigeard ("Bigeard" cap) was originally designed by Marcel Bigeard in Indochina in the British Windproof pattern in 1952 while he commanded the 6th BPC. Later, this hat was made in the lizard camo fabric, carried over to Algeria when he commanded the 3rd RPC there, spread to the airborne units in 1955, standardized amongst the TAP units in April 1958,and was standardized in 1959 for all-arms use as the casquette Mle. 59. Any of the sites above will have them, and Doursoux's offering is a quality piece and reasonably priced. There was quite a bit of variation with this cap, and their model is good to go.
Most non-airborne (TTA) units wore garrison caps (calots) until they went to the beret in 1958. Foreign Legion Units and TTA officers (frequently) wore képis. The Fusiliers Marins had their own naval cap. Officers in the branch units and certainly those of the General Staff wore kepis heavily.
2e RPC had a locally-made bush hat which was painted by the soldiers. Be very careful of camouflage bush hats in lizard camo if they are not backed up with provenance.
Berets:
TTA: navy blue (bleu foncé) with their service insignia after 1958. Some units wore a canvas sand-colored beret before that. Saharan companies and some TTA units wore theirs throughout the war.
Metropolitan TAP (mainland France airborne units)- Royal blue 1952-Sept. 1957 with the winged dagger insignia. Red after 9/52
1e Régiment de Hussars Parachutistes- Same beret color as the Metro TAP, but with an embroidered loop (l'hongroise) underneatht the insignia
Foreign Legion TAP: dark green with winged dagger
Foreign Legion non-TAP: The green beret was made standard in 1959, with the units having their own insignia- usually the number incorporated into the flaming bomb of the Legion. 1e REC and 13e DBLE wore the canvas sand-colored beret prior to that.
Colonial TAP: Red with winged dagger insignia from 1952. Insignia changed in July 1958 to winged dagger overlaid on the fouled anchor of the colonial troops to distinguish from Metro airborne units.
Air Force Commandos: black with distinctive insignia.
*note that all the previously mentioned berets fold to the left with the insignia above the right eye, as opposed to British, American, and German berets that have the insignia above the left eye.
Commandos de Marine: dark green with distinctive insignia. Due to their creation under- and close cooperation with the Royal Marines in WW2, the beret of the Commandos de Marines was the only one in the French military that has the fold to the right and the insignia above the left eye.
Fusiliers Marins: They currently wear a dark blue (bleu foncé) beret with the fold to the right. I am not sure when they initiated that. In Algeria, they were much more commonly encountered wearing a "bachi" (sailor's cap) with a pompon for enlisted troops. Officers wore a peaked cap. In the field, the Mle. 49 chapeau de brousse was the standard, although the bachis were regularly worn.
Early berets were constructed out of three pieces with a very noticeable seam around the "crown". The Mle. 52 béret introduced the single piece that is common to this day. Either construction method is fine for Algeria, although the single piece was by far dominant after the first couple years of the war. Doursoux.com offers excellent red and green three-piece berets. Note that berets back then were usually much "baggier" and typically not the skin-tight ones seen today.
Camouflage beret: 1e RCP (Régiment de Chasseurs Parachutiste) contracted with a local tailor to make berets of "lizard camo" tent quarters or old uniforms. These were worn until headgear was standardized throughout the TAP forces in April 1958 with the options of the beret, chapeau de brousse, or casquette Bigeard.
This should get the beginner started with the standard templates for the various unit types. There were some variations (not nearly as much Indochina) and some locally-made pieces, both private purchase and government contractors.
Some resources for equipment and uniforms:
The French Foreign Legion in Indochina 1946-1956 by Raymond Guyader
The French Foreign Legion in Algeria 1954-1962 by Raymond Guyader
Les Paras Français en Indochine 1945-1954 and Les Paras Français en Algérie 1954-1962 by Éric Adam and Patrice Pavetta (in French only- easy to follow with the illustrations. Don't worry.)
Those books are, collectively, basically the Bible for anyone interested interested in Indochina and Algerian War militaria.
Alistaire Horne's A Savage War of Peace is widely regarded as the best English Language overview of the war.