THE SPAHIS AND TURCOS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2310, 18 November 1914, Page 6

THE SPAHIS AND TURCOS

FRANCE'S BLACK TROOPS. The French forces contain a - number of black troops which were brought over from Africa in the course of the first fortnight after the declaration of war, and which have already done well. They are excellent soldiers, and-will materially contribute to the outcome of'the war. They were first used in the Franco-Prussian War. At-that' time, three regiments of Algerian infantry (Turcos) and cavalry (Spahis) were employed at Weissenburg and Worth; and though they were' partly ' annihilated and partly taken prisoners by the Prussians, their; performance was exceedingly creditable. Quite recently Lieutenant General von Wrbsohen, writing on this very question in one of the leading German papers, said:' "I myself fought in 1870 these Turcos, and I can say that the smashing up of one 'Turco 1 regiment demanded on our part more effort and sacrifice than the defeat of three French regiments." Two yeajs ago Franco had in Algeria four Fusilier'regiments, consisting of 31 battalions, and four Spahi regiments, con-sisting-of 20 squadrons. This gava a peace strength of 18,600 infantrymen and 1800 cavalry, and allowed for a war footing of 35,650 of: infantry alone. The Algerian natives are Arabs and Berbers, but in 1884 the first attempt was made by the French to create" a regiment of Senegalese sharpshooters (Tirailleurs de Senegal). The experiment proved a'success. The Senegalese possess a very accurate eye, are natural adepts in■ taking'advantage of cover, are free from all nervousness, cool in attack, and highly amenable to discipline in battle. Three years ago Franco already possessed in Equatorial Africa 35 battalions of these sharpshooters, aggregating 32(000' men. These two classes of nativo troops thus form together a force of nearly. 70,000 men, which is equal to two army corps.

.But during the last few years con-, siderable augmentation must have been effected in these troops, thanks chiefly to the efforts of Lieutenant Colonel de Mangin, whose book, "La Forco Noire," has exercised great influence in military circles. Colonel Mangin is an old colonial officer, who saw a great deal of military work under Marchand, of Fashoda famo. He knew more than, anybody else in France tho value of these native troops, and his book was devoted to showing that an important part they could play in compensating France for the decrease of her population. He succeeded in gaining the Ministries of War and of Colonies over to his views, and made, in company of several high officials of these Departments and the vicepresident of the Army Commission, an extensive tour in West Africa in 1910 with a view to verifying his theory. His report was accepted, and in that year began the systematicrealisation of his plan, which consisted in raising annually from the Senegalese a force of 5000 men by voluntary recruitment, so as to form in ten years an army of 50,(100 men, which, together with tho 32,000 already existing, would give more than two army corps of black sharpshooters alone. At-the same time compulsory military service was to be introduced in Algeria, which- would considerably increase the Turco and Spain forces. What progress has since then been actually made with this scheme wo have no means of judging, but it will not be too bold to assume that at ono point or another the Germans will find themselves confronted with three army -corps of blacks.