French army tirailleurs indochinois/annamites

I would like to know something with detail about the uniforms of "tirailleurs indochinois", both in Europe and Asia. Also about the NCO ranking.

Thanks in advance

Pedro

Hi Pedro,
Are these the guys you are looking for information on, the 'Tirailluers Tonkinese'
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https://i.servimg.com/u/f28/13/98/25/75/tonkin10.jpg
This photo was apparently taken in 1884, listed as Cadets training.
I have more pictures and photos of members of this Regiment in the French Colonial Army.

Best Regards,
Les

Hi Les

Thanks for the reply.

It´ll be great for me to see more nice photos. It´s a difficult subject to search.

Regards

Pedro

Hi Pedro,
This photo is the same regiment taken around 1898, or possibly later.
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https://i.servimg.com/u/f28/13/98/25/75/tirail10.jpg
Of note here is the French Colonial Sergeant on the right, presumably in charge of the unit, and his helper standing to the left , wearing a medal and rank chevrons on both lower arms. I would expect that the lower ranks would conform with the French Army regulations of the time.

These guys look to be dressed in Khaki and in the previous photo they were in a Dark Blue uniform.

More to come,
Best Regards,
Les

Another photo,
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https://i.servimg.com/u/f28/13/98/25/75/tirail11.jpg
This time listed as Tirailleurs Saigonese et Annamite the photo was taken during the Boxer Rebellion by a western Allied military officer to document the uniforms.
The man on the left is obviously from the Tonkinese Regiment. However I have noticed several titles seem to be changed as western viewers didn't really understand the different 'foriegn' names.
Note the other man's hat in the traditional chinese paesant style.

Since this photo is from 1900 and the uniform is Dark Blue, then I would suspect that photo number two is actually taken after thus one as theyt are wearing a smarter Khaki uniform.

Les

This one is from the cover of a French magazine depicting 'French Colonial Army of 1900'

https://i.servimg.com/u/f28/13/98/25/75/french10.jpg
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This is the first colour image, with your Tokinese soldier shown to the left. Interestingly he seems to be wearing the same uniform from photo 2 but in Dark Blue.
Perhaps someone else on the forum will know the timeline of when each uniform was used.

More to follow shortly. Hope these are of some interest.

Best Regards,
Les

Check out this link for a basic history of the Regiment
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonkinese_Rifles

Les

Born to the tropics, this man seems to me to be carefully dressed to meet the cold season in Shanghai.

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Hi Les - re your enquiry about the timeline of the blue and khaki uniforms of the Indochinese tirailleur regiments. I have a French book Les Linh Tap which provides an illustrated history of the militaires indochinois au service de la France
from 1859 to 1960. Although the French left Indochina following their defeat at Dien Bien Phu, they took with them a few hundred of their faithful colonial troops who subsequently served in Algeria in a special commando unit until finally disbanded in 1960.

Thank you for giving the link to the Wikepedia article on the Tirailleurs Tonkinese. I wrote (modest cough) the section dealing with these regiments after 1890 - which just goes to confirm that any idiot can contribute to that particular website. I took most of the details from Les Linh Tap - which helpfully includes colour photographs of models wearing surviving examples of both the loose blue (actually near black) and khaki cotton uniforms. Both types of uniform were worn until 1914, with the khaki being adopted for field dress about 1900. Both Tirailleurs Tonkinese (recruited in northern Vietnam and considered much the more warlike) and Tirailleurs Annamite (recruited in the south) wore the same uniform, distinguished only by the letters "TA" in red letters on the collar of the blue/black uniform (the more numerous Tirailleurs Tonkinese wore regimental numbers instead). Tirailleurs Annamite, serving in a hotter climate, also had a white loose fitting uniform which,like the blue one was modeled on the Vietnamese civilian dress of the period. The white uniform was replaced by khaki in 1905.

The curious flat salacco headdresses are probably worth a thread of their own. Made of vanished bamboo they were held on by a red head-scarf. They were replaced by a more conical version with a small spike on top in 1912. The salaccos must have been a popular souvenir for returning French officers to bring home since Les Linh Tap displays no fewer than 22 of them in colour, each of a slightly different pattern, period or belonging to a different unit.

After World War I the Tirailleurs gradually lost their distinctive indigenous dress, which was replaced during 1920s by the standard khaki drill of the French Colonial Infantry, of which they formed part. The new model of salacco was finally replaced by a sun helmet in 1931. Only the red sash survived (since it was also a feature of the African tirailleur regiments) but was now worn in conventional French Army style around the waist, without falling to the front.

Hi BuistR,
All good info but wasn't really asking for myself but more to get the info for Pedro, knew someone would be able to provide more detailed information.
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https://i.servimg.com/u/f28/13/98/25/75/pc_ton10.jpg
Here is a PC dated 1907 of them in a more traditional peasant looking uniform, is this the White one you mentioned.
Interesting that you contributed to Wikipedia, was it easy to sign up ? There are loads of corrections needed on lots of subjects that I would like to have a go at.
Regards,
Les

Hi Les - the photo is an interesting one but it is of a special corps of Chinese mercenaries recruited by the French in 1899, initially by rough and ready conscription amongst coolies working on various projects within Indochina. Officially established as le Bataillon de Tirailleurs Chinois in 1902 they were later renamed as Tirailleurs de Frontieres both to reflect their role as frontier guards along the border with China and perhaps because the French preferred not to publicise their employment of mercenaries (justifying the Foreign Legion was enough to be going on with). The unit was disbanded in 1907.

The white uniform shown only roughly resembled that of the Tirailleurs Annamite. It was in fact meant to be based on actual Chinese military dress of the early 1900s. The ideograms shown in a circular patch on their chests apparently translated as "soldier in the service of great France".

Re Wikipedia - contributing anonymously is effortless (perhaps too much so). However I would urge you to register as an editor - it is a straight forward process and the "free encyclopedia" needs input from people like you who know their subjects.

Regards

Very imformative, thanks.
When I purchased Thompsons book ‘Uniforms of the Indo China and Vietnam Wars I was surprised, although I shouldn’t have been, that only pages 7 to 23 were devoted to the French, while page 24 to 104 were given over to the US and pages 105 to 158 to everyone else, including a whole sixteen pages on the Communist Forces.
Considering the amount of time the French army had spent in Indo China and the variety of units they had deployed there I couldn’t help feeling a little cheated, considering what the title promised.
Title should have been US forces and some other folk,
Although I do agree that the US did have quite a commitment in Vietnam and they do warrant many books on the US forces involved, but titled US forces...
Sorry ranting,
WF

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Galot quotes no regulations. He just has these drawings and coloring notes.

From a 1977 issue of a Japanese history magazine
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