The 4th Tunisian Tirailleurs Regiment () was an infantry regiment of the Army of Africa, part of the French Army.
Active between 1884 and 1956, the regiment was one of the most decorated of the French Army. The regiment had a distinguished record during World War I, being cited six times. It was decorated with the Légion d'honneur during World War II, as part of the 3rd Algerian Infantry Division (3e DIA). During the Italian campaign, it served with the French Expeditionary Corps under General Alphonse Juin, and was cited four times at the orders of the armed forces.
History
From their establishment, the Algerian and Tunisian tirailleurs regiments were given sequential numbering (1st Tirailleurs, 2nd etc.). This possibly reflected the fact that the areas of recruitment had formerly been part of territories under Ottoman guardianship administered by the Dey of Algiers and the Bey of Tunis. Frequently these regiments drew from serving soldiers already employed by the Ottoman Empire. The popular nickname "Turcos" bestowed on these units may owe its origin to this. According to other sources, the tirailleurs gained that designation during the Crimean War when Algerian infantry in the French expeditionary force were sometimes mistaken for their Turkish allies.
Created on December 14, 1884, under the name of 4th Tirailleurs, the unit was constituted of Tunisian soldiers and French officers . Non-commissioned officers were both Tunisian and French. With the addition of some French volunteers as soldats, the non-Tunisian element in the regiment was eventually to comprise between 20% and 30% of the total strength. In 1899 the unit had six battalions of 600 men each.
In October 1900, the first battalion was sent to Tonkin, and in 1907 and 1908, the 2nd and 4th battalions were engaged in the campaign of Morocco with the 3rd battalion rejoining Chaouia-Ourdigha by the 4th battalion. From October 1911 to September 1912, six of the twelve battalions of the 4e RTT were engaged in combat in the French protectorate. In a message addressed to the Bey of Tunisia, on April 22, 1911, the French ambassador to Morocco underlined their "valor, discipline and commitment […] above all".
World War I
In the course of World War I, France mobilized 62,461 Muslim tirailleurs and spahis in Tunisia, together with 9,000 French soldiers and 24,442 indigenous colonial workers, numbering in total 86,903 men. Engaged for the first time on August 23, 1914 at in Belgium, these Tunisian soldiers experienced extensive service in WW1 trench warfare.
1914
On August 2, 1914, the 4th Marching Regiment (4e RMT) was formed in Tunisia. The marching regiment was initially composed of the 6th and 1st battalions of the 4e RTT.
On October 29, 1914, the 4e RMT received the 5th battalion of the 4e RTT from the marching tirailleurs regiment of the Moroccan Division. Initially attached to the 38th Infantry Division (), the 4e passed to the Moroccan Division on November 24, 1914, alongside the Marching Regiment of the Foreign Legion (RMLE), the 7th Algerian Tirailleurs Regiment (7e RTA) as well the 8th Zouaves Regiment (8e RZ). On August 4, 1918, the regiment joined the 2nd Moroccan Division ().
1915
September 25 - October 6 : Second Battle of Champagne
1917
The performance of the Tunisian tirailleurs at the Chemin des Dames in Verdun 1917, earned the regiment the Croix de guerre and the Légion d'honneur. In addition six citations were awarded collectively to the regiment and seven to individual battalions. A detachment of the 4th RTT participated in the victory parade of July 14, 1919.
A total of 16,509 Tunisian soldiers in French service were killed in World War I out of a total Algerian, Moroccan and Tunisian death toll of between 28,000 and 36,000. Another source puts Tunisian losses at 10,500 out of 63,000.
1918
Following the armistice of 1918, the Tunisian battalions were redeployed to other theatres of operations: Morocco, South Tunisia, the Dardanelles, and the Levant campaigns, between 1925 -1926.
World War II
Battle of France (1939-1940) On June 16, 1940, while the regiment was known as the 4e RTT of the 84th African Infantry Division (), 63 soldiers were killed in Ablis. A commemorative plaque honors the 4e Tunisian Tirailleurs Regiment. Among the deceased was soldier Mohamed Amar Hedhili Ben Salem Ben Hadj, whose body was transferred in November 1945 to the Mémorial de la France combattante at Mont Valérien.
Tunisian campaign (1943) During the Tunisia Campaign, equipped with material from whatever sources were available, the regiment fought alongside French, American and British units.