Moroccan Division (France)

The Moroccan Division (Division marocaine, 1re D.M) or the 1st Moroccan Division of 1914, initially the Marching Division of Morocco ( « Division de Marche du Maroc »D.M du Maroc) was an infantry division of France's Army of Africa (Armée d'Afrique) which participated in World War I. During the major engagements of the Division, the composition of the latter consisted of, half of Maghrebi soldiers (Algerian and Tunisian Tirailleurs) and the other half made of "European" soldiers (Marsouins ex-Infantry Colonial Troops, Zouaves and Legionnaires), the Moroccan Division illustrated capability in the First Battle of the Marne in September and the Second Battle of Artois of May 1915 where for the first time, a French division pierced the front. The Moroccan Division was one of the most decorated units of the French Army and all its regiments were cited at the orders of the armed forces at the end of the conflict. The Moroccan Division was the only division of all French regimental colours to be decorated with the légion d’honneur throughout the course of World War I. The four principal units which composed formation of the Moroccan Division between 1914 and 1918 were the Marching Regiment of the Foreign Legion RMLE, the 4th Marching Tirailleurs Regiment 4e RTT, the 7th Marching Tirailleurs Regiment 7e RTA and 8th Marching Zouaves Regiment 8e RZ, all awarded the French fourragere with colours of the légion d’honneur at the end of the conflict. On the eve of mobilisation on August 2, 1914, the troops which were at the disposition of the French Army in Morocco constituted: 1st Colonial Infantry Battalion (1er Bataillon d'Infanterie Colonial, 1er B.I.C. du Maroc) of Morocco at Fez 6 Mixed Colonial Infantry Regiments of Morocco composed each of 1 colonial battalion (« marsouins ») and 2 Senegalese Tirailleurs (« Tirailleurs Sénégalais ») at Rabat, La-Chaouïa, Meknés, Fez et Marrakech.