« In Honour and by Victory », seventh episode : the Marching Regiment of Chad

On 26 August 1940, the French colony of Chad and the Senegalese Light Infantry Regiment of Chad (RTST) rallied by the side of Free France.

Composed of African “Tirailleurs” (riflemen), the regiment quickly became one of the most important units of Colonel Leclerc’s armoured troops and provided the soldiers who captured the Kufra Oasis in Italian Libya on March 1941. Composed of two companies acting as reconnaissance and combat units, as of February-March 1942 and December 1942-February 1943, the RTST took an active part in the campaigns which led to the total control of the Fezzan by the French. The regiment went on to fight in Tunisia until the Axis forces in North Africa surrendered.

In July 1943, the regiment was organised into the Marching Regiment of Chad (RMT) to operate as a mechanised infantry support unit of General Leclerc 2nd Armoured Division (2e DB). The Marching Regiment of Chad (RMT) was composed of three battalions and entirely equipped with American war material. In April 1944, the RMT was sent to Great-Britain for intensive training. In August 1944, it took an active part in the Normandy Battle, the Liberation of Paris and in the Vosges and Alsace regions, prior to entering Germany.

106 Companions of the Liberation served in the Senegalese Light Infantry Regiment of Chad and the Marching Regiment of Chad.

Credits: 
© Yves de Daruvar
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