Somewhere on what would soon be referred to as the Western Front, we see this impressive period Tournassoud autochrome Lumiere showing soldiers of 3e régiment de Zouaves (3e RZ), 37e division d’Afrique, moving to the line in late August 1914 in Belgium, around the time of the Battle of Charleroi.
Soldats du 3e régiment de zouaves (RZ) de la division de Constantine. Réf. : AUL 69 La Divion de Marche Marocaine de l’armée d’Afrique Jean-Baptiste Tournassoud/ECPAD/Défense
1914 – Unknown location A Zouave stops in the countryside and has his meal. Ref.: AUL 77. Jean-Baptiste Tournassoud/ECPAD/Défense
The unit’s flashy full-color “La tenue garance” uniforms were little changed from the 1840s and they would only adopt a more contemporary khaki-yellow field uniform in 1916.
July 20, 1870 – The 3rd Zouave Regiment passes through Place Gutenberg. National and University Library of Strasbourg.
Zouave, circa 1888.
3e régiment de zouaves with their flag. They wore white trousers until after the Boxer Rebellion, turning to red in 1902
3rd Zouaves in 1916. Note the khaki-yellow uniforms, complete with fez.
A Zouave in 1917 marching order. note they still have a fez. “1er-24 juillet 1917 – Vincennes (Val-de-Marne) Un zouave pose avec son équipement militaire habitual. Réf. : SPA 16 W 988. Jacques Ridel/ECPAD/Défense”
Formed in 1842 from volunteers drawn from 23 line regiments and 11 of light infantry, the 3rd Zouaves were a renowned fire-eating unit and spent almost their entire history shouldering rifles for the Empire and Republic.
This included the conquest of Algeria, the Crimean War, the 1859 Italian campaign, the ill-fated Mexican Expedition (earning a Légion d’Honneur in 1863 for their flag), the terrible 1870 war, Hanoi, Tonkin, the Boxer Rebellion Tunisia, Morocco, the list goes on.
By 1914, the regiment was made up of six active battalions (2nd & 4th in Morocco, 1st/3rd/6th in Algeria, 5th in France) and two reserve battalions (11th and 12th, with reservists all over France and North Africa).
Assembled at Sathonay-Camp outside of Lyon just after the Great War began, the 3e RZ marched to war on 16 August with the 1st (which had just been rushed from Algeria via Marseille), the “local” 5th and the hurriedly activated 11th battalion. Arriving at Rimogne in the Ardennes on 16 August, they linked up with the recently-arrived 3e régiment de marche de tirailleurs algériens (3e RMTA), another North African regiment, to form the 37th African Division’s 74th Brigade.
Crossing the border into Belgium with the French Fifth Army (General Charles Lanrezac) on 17 August, the very colorful brigade was at Saint-Gérard on 21 August, fought hard over the next two days in the Battle of Charleroi, advancing as far as Fosses, then retreated to Mettet and Wagnée in the general recoil back towards France which began on the 24th. Tasked to provide a covering force for the division, the Zouaves protected the withdrawal, falling slowly back to Chambry by 31 August.
Picked up and transported to Vauxaillon, the Zouaves were soon deep in the battle for the Marine, where they captured the flag of a Bavarian battalion at Tracy-le-Val on 19 September. In subsequent action on 25 September, they charged and seized a mile of German positions, cataloging 11 artillery pieces, 9 machine guns, and 400 prisoners– not a bad day’s work!
They would finish the war with campaign honors on their flag for Champaign (1915), Verdun (1916), and Moreuil-Noyon (1918), along with a fourragère, a Croix de guerre with 6 palms, and the Legion of Honor, going on to occupy the Rhineland.
Fighting again in WWII, the 3rd Zouaves won additional honors for Le Faid (1943) and on the Danube (1945) for the city of Ulm, then once again occupying Germany– stationed in Berlin, where they would remain until October 1945. Their final honor was added for the 1952-62 fight against AFN in Algeria although it was “Elle ne sera jamais portée sur les soies” (never to be worn on silks).
The 3rd Zouaves were disbanded on 1 November 1962, and its banner was placed in storage on the 14th.