Army of Africa ( France ) The Army of Africa ( ) was an unofficial but commonly used term for those portions of the French Army recruited from or normally stationed in French North Africa ( Morocco , Algeria and Tunisia ) from 1830 until the end of the Algerian War in 1962 . Composition . The Army of Africa included indigenous Arab or Berber volunteers , Spahis , Goumier s and Tirailleurs ; regiments largely made up of French settlers doing their military service ( Zouaves and Chasseurs d ' Afrique ) ; and non - French volunteers ( French Foreign Legion ) . The divisions were not absolute and ( for example ) volunteers or conscripts from mainland France might choose to serve with the Muslim rank and file of the Spahis and Tirailleurs , while Arab volunteers might appear amongst the ranks of the Zouaves . Prior to World War I one battalion of each of the four Zouave regiments then in existence , was recruited in France to provide a link between the African and Metropolitan armies . In May 1913 a limited form of selective conscription was applied to the Muslim population of Algeria . Only 2 , 000 conscripts a year were obtained by this method out of approximately 45 , 000 possible candidates and Muslim enlistment remained predominately voluntary in peacetime . As in France itself , military service was an obligation of citizenship and all physically fit male settlers of French origin were required to undertake two years of compulsory service ( three years from 1913 ) . Officers of all branches of the Army of Africa were predominantly French , though a certain number of commissioned positions up to and including the rank of captain were reserved for Muslim personnel in the spahis and tirailleurs . In 1956 , in the course of the Algerian War , a new policy of greater racial integration was adopted in the remaining units of the old Army of Africa . Algerian Tirailleur regiments were to be made up of roughly 50 % " Frenchmen of North African stock " ( i . e . Arab and Berber Muslims ) and an equivalent number of French volunteers and conscripts , largely drawn from the European settler community . At the same time additional Muslim soldiers were be incorporated into previously mostly European units such as the Zouaves , until they made up to 25 % of the total . Growing tensions within mixed units as the war continued , plus the threat of rebel FLN reprisals against Muslim volunteers , largely nullified this attempted reform Formal status . The Armée d ’ Afrique was formally part of the French metropolitan army comprising a separate army corps . The designation of 19th Army Corps ( 19e Corps d ' Armée ) was allocated to the Armée d ' Afrique in 1873 . As such it was separate from the French Colonial Forces which came under the Ministry of Marine and comprised both French and indigenous units serving in Sub - Saharan Africa and elsewhere in the French colonial empire . African Light Infantry . The " Infanterie Légère d ' Afrique " ( African Light Infantry ) was made up of convicted military criminals from all branches of the French Army , who had finished their sentences in military prisons but still had time to serve before their terms of engagement were completed . The preference was not to return them to their original units where they might undermine discipline or brutalise their fellow soldiers . The first two battalions of the " Infanterie Legere d ' Afrique " were raised in 1832 for service in Algeria . Ironically known as " les Joyeux " ( the merry ones ) these units were generally used for road and other construction work under harsh discipline . They were however used for combat service when circumstances demanded in Africa , Indochina and in France itself during World War I . Three battalions sent to France at the outbreak of World War II to work on fortifications , were rearmed in April 1940 and saw active service prior to the Fall of France . Officers of the African Light Infantry were seconded from other regiments as were some non - commissioned officers . Many NCOs were however former " Joyeux " who chose to remain with these unusual units and exercise authority , after they had completed their original terms of service . Desert troops . Camel mounted Mehariste s plus Compagnies Sahariennes ( desert infantry and later mechanised troops ) were maintained in the Sahara . The Foreign Legion provided mule mounted detachments for service in southern Algeria and , from 1940 to 1962 , four of the Compagnies Sahariennes . In addition to the above , units or individuals from the mainland French Army were sometimes posted to service in North Africa , as were detachments of the Gendarmerie and the Tirailleurs Senegalais . World War I . At the outbreak of war in August 1914 , the Army of Africa in Algeria and Tunisia comprised nine regiments of Algerian Tirailleurs , four of Zouaves , six of Chasseurs d ' Afrique , four of Spahis and two of the Foreign Legion . In Morocco nineteen battalions of Tirailleurs and nine of Zouaves were on active service , along with elements of the Foreign Legion and the African Light Infantry . Large numbers of these troops were sent immediately to serve in France , mainly drawn from the peacetime garrisons of Algeria and Tunisia . In 1914 33 , 000 Muslim Algerians were already serving with the Spahis , Tirailleurs and other units of the Army of Africa . In the course of the war a further 137 , 000 enlisted either as volunteers ( 57 , 000 ) or as wartime conscripts ( 80 , 000 ) . Of the total of 170 , 000 , 36 , 000 were killed . World War II . As had been the case in 1914 , substantial numbers of the Army of Africa were moved to mainland France on the outbreak of World War II . In May 1940 14 regiments of zouaves , 42 regiments of Algerian , Tunisian and Moroccan tirailleurs , 12 regiments and demi - brigades of the Foreign Legion and 13 battalions of African Light Infantry were serving on all fronts . Following the fall of France , the Army of Africa was reduced to a level of 120 , 000 under Axis direction . General Maxime Weygand was however able to maintain and train a further 60 , 000 men in French North Africa disguised as auxiliary police , " provisional conscripts " and " unarmed workers " . From the end of 1942 , the Army of Africa was headed by French general Henri Giraud and fought in the Tunisia Campaign before its merger with General Charles de Gaulle ' s Free French Forces . North African units subsequently played a major role in the liberation of Corsica ( September - October 1943 ) and the Italian Campaign ( 1943 – 44 ) in the French Expeditionary Corps . During the French and German campaigns of 1944 - 45 the Army of Africa was expanded to 260 , 000 men ( including 50 % Maghrebis ) , including the 1st Motorised Infantry Division ( Zouaves and Foreign Legion ) , the 1st Armoured Division ( Chasseurs d ' Afrique and Foreign Legion ) , the 2nd and 4th Moroccan Infantry Divisions ( Moroccan Tirailleurs ) , and the 3rd Algerian Infantry Division ( Algerian and Tunisian Tirailleurs ) . In addition three " groupements de tabors " of Goumiers served as independent units while artillery , engineer , commando , reconnaissance ( mechanised Spahis ) and tank destroyer units were drawn from the French and indigenous populations of French North African . Post - Algerian War . With the exception of a reduced Foreign Legion and one regiment of Spahis , all units of the Armée d ’ Afrique were disbanded or lost their former identity between 1960 and 1965 . A small unit of the " Infanterie Légère d ' Afrique " was maintained in French Somaliland until that Territory became independent in 1977 . However , one regiment each of Chasseurs d ' Afrique , Tirailleurs and artillery ( " 68e Régiment d ' Artillerie d ' Afrique " ) have been re - established to maintain the traditions of their respective branches . Uniforms . The uniforms of the various branches making up the Army of Africa ranged from the spectacular " tenue orientale " of the Spahis , Tirailleurs and Zouaves to the ordinary French military dress of the Chasseurs d ' Afrique , Foreign Legion , Artillerie d ' Afrique and Infanterie Légère d ' Afrique . Even the latter units were distinguished by details such as sash es , white kepi covers and ( for the Chasseurs ) fez s which made them stand out from the remainder of the French Army . Some of these features have survived as parade dress to the present day ; notably the white cloaks and red sashes worn by the 1st Spahis , and the white kepis and blue sashes of the Foreign Legion . The " fanfare - nouba " ( regimental band ) of the 1st Regiment of Tirailleurs still wears the full traditional " tenue orientale " ; comprising white turbans , light blue zouave style jackets braided in yellow , red sashes and wide light blue or white Moorish trousers .