French Marines
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
The Marine Troops (Troupes de Marines) is a subset of the French Army dedicated to external operations.
Originally called troupes coloniale or Colonial Troops, the marine troops were meant for being stationed overseas (thus the name) in the various French colonies. At their height in 1940, the troupes de Marines consisted of nine divisions and several demi-brigades who manned machine gun emplacements on the Maginot Line. They recruited both in France and overseas and were administered by the Ministry of Marine. Their name was changed in the 1960's to remove the imperialistic reference.
The symbol of the marine troops is the anchor, which is worn as a badge on uniforms. French Marines are known in French as marsouins.
The marine troops comprise:
- Marine infantry
- marine infantry
- marine paratroop infantry
- light armored troops
- Marine artillery
See also
External links
- Official site (http://www.defense.gouv.fr/sites/terre/decouverte/missions/mission_des_armes_et_composantes/troupes_de_marine/copy_of_copy_of_copy_of_copy_of_copy_of_copy_of_copy_of_copy_of_copy_of_copy_of_copy_of_arme_blindee_cavalerie)
- Unofficial site (http://www.troupesdemarine.org) (managed by the national federation of veterans of oversea and marine troops)
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