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Concept
Moroccan Goumier
Summary
The Moroccan Goumiers (Les Goumiers Marocains) were indigenous Moroccan soldiers who served in auxiliary units attached to the French Army of Africa, between 1908 and 1956. While nominally in the service of the Sultan of Morocco, they served under French officers, including a period as part of the Free French Forces.
Employed initially as tribal irregulars, then in regular contingents, the goumiers were employed extensively during the French occupation of Morocco from 1908 to the early 1930s. They then served in North Africa, Italy, and France during World War II between 1942 and 1945. During this period four Moroccan Tabors Groupments (GTM) were created, each comprising three Tabors (battalions), and each Tabor comprising three or four Goums (companies). Goumiers subsequently served in Indochina from 1946 to 1954.
The term Goum designated a company of Goumiers. It originates from the Arab Maghreb gūm and the Classical Arabic qawm, designating ”tribe” or ”people”. The term also refers to mounted contingents of Arab or Berber horsemen employed by tribal leaders during North African campaigns.
The term tabor is originally a Turkish designation of tabur making reference to a battalion or by the intermediary Arab ṭābūr, also originally a Turkish designation.
The word originated in the Maghrebi Arabic word Koum (قوم), which means "people". The non-specific designation "Goumi" (French version "Goumier") was used to circumvent tribal distinctions and enable volunteers from different regions to serve together in mixed units for a "common" cause. It is known that the president of Egypt Jamal Abdel Nasser also used the same designation (Koum or Koumia) to build the new United Arab Republic.
In French military terminology, a goum was a unit of 200 auxiliaries. Three or four goums made up a tabor. An engine or groupe was composed of three tabors. A goum in this case was the equivalent of a company in regular military units and a tabor would thereby be equivalent to a battalion. A tabor was the largest permanent goumier unit.
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