M1 Garands In Indochina?

[jms]

youtu.be/Pl5zM0X7MlU
In the first few seconds of this video there is what looks to be a stack of M1 Garands.

[lew]

No mistaking those. That was really cool footage.

The only numbers I have for US MAP deliveries to France prior to 1955 are the roughly 35k M1 Carbines. I've never come across mention of Garands in that time period, but there they are.

[Kenneth]

Militaria Magazine No. 184, November 2000, had an article on the Chasseurs of the 6th BCA in Kabylie, 1955-1962. It was a mountain unit and the article was illustrated with illustrations of uniforms and equipment and impressions of a soldier in both field and parade uniforms. He was armed with an M1 rifle.

Interesting details were mentioned. Both a veste TTA mle 47 and 47/52 were shown and the text pointed out how there was a special mountain version, although the differences are not great and barely noticeable. The mountain troops' version took a hood, although the hood was not shown. There was also a special version of the rucksack, again differing only slightly from the standard issue version. It does appear to be larger, though. Concerning the M1 rifle, it stated in one of the photo captions that it was "very appreciated for its shooting power, despite its heavy weight."

As you no doubt know, French alpine troops, the chasseurs alpins, were the first troops anywhere to wear a beret (as far as I know) and they continue to wear it in exactly the same style as the original version. We were in Paris a few years ago and the area around the Eiffel Tower was being patrolled by French soldiers, who were chasseurs, all wearing their distinctive berets.

Although M1 rifles were supplied to other armies during and after WWII, the M1 was still being manufactured well into the 1950s, as was the Lee-Enfield No. 4 rifle. They're one of those things there are never quite enough of, apparently.

[lew]

Kenneth, very interesting tidbits. Those Chasseurs sure go out of the way to distinguish themselves. I posted a couple pictures of their rucksack in the Algeria subforum.

M1 Rifles in Algeria, the Metropole, and Germany is no mystery, but, as they turn up everywhere, I'm not surprised to see them in Indo.

[Kenneth]

According to the article, the 6th BCA was sent to Algeria in November 1954 and became part of the 27th Mountain Infantry Division, which now appears to be a brigade-sized unit. The 6th BCA has apparently been disbanded, probably in the 1990s. In Algeria, they were stationed in the Atlas mountain region, appropriately. They returned to Grenoble in November 1962. There were no original period photos in the article.

I don't know how the French draft system worked at the time, so I don't know if the 6th BCA was mainly composed of draftees or not. American units during that period would have been mostly draftees. The Foreign Legion was exclusively volunteers and presumably all airborne units as well.

[lew]

Typically, conscripts would be pooled at a regional induction center and distributed wherever needed. Ted Morgan- in his Battle of Algiers book- describes representatives from airborne units making presentations, and draftees could volunteer for those units. Don't quote me on this, but I believe one could go straight to whatever unit they so chose and volunteer directly, subsequent to manpower requirements, of course. Then there's the Legion...

[Kenneth]

I think it's possible that at one time, it may have worked the same way in the U.S. Army, although the differences may be greater than the similarities. Don't know about the USMC. I also wonder now and then how the US Navy in WWII got their personnel and likewise, the French Navy post-war. All armies of course have their similarities--who else whitewashes trees--but they still have their own ways of doing things.