Official Journal of the French Republic, Saturday, September 15, 1928

By decree of August 15, 1928, and in consideration of the declaration of the Council of the Order of the Legion of Honor stating that the awards granted under this decree comply with the laws, decrees, and regulations in force, the Military Medal was awarded posthumously to the servicemen listed below (see the Official Journal).

6th Algerian Tirailleurs Regiment

Regimental insignia of the 6th Algerian Tirailleurs Regiment

A total of 138 servicemen were killed by the enemy or at their combat posts between January and August 1920 in the following locations: Ain-Tab, Urfa, Tarsus, Bozanti, Mersin, Baleramli, Adana, Shayir-Godin, Elis-Oluk, Doglar, Marash, Shayit-Gedik, Kadir-Kan, Toprak-Kale, Antioch, Fadeul, Ertchel, Merdjin, Jihan, Yaka-Kenil, Bazayik, Cherkit, Arablar, Kara-Issalu, Cherkik, Yenice, Bazardjih, in Cilicia, as well as Pasha, Yesheli, Baalbek, and Merj-Ayun in Syria.

One French serviceman from the Autonomous Unit of Colonial Military Medical Personnel of the Levant was killed in Damascus, Syria.

Levant–Cilicia Campaign

October 1919 – December 1921

The 18th Algerian Tirailleurs Regiment was established on July 1, 1919, in Hungary, near Budapest, from battalions of the 6th Algerian Tirailleurs Regiment that had fought in France during the First World War as part of the 3rd Mixed Zouaves and Tirailleurs Regiment. That regiment had been formed in June 1915 and became the 6th Marching Algerian Tirailleurs Regiment in May 1918.

After crossing the Sea of Marmara and the Dardanelles and passing around Asia Minor (Armenia), the regiment began arriving on October 27, 1919, at the port of Mersin on the Cilician coast, in southern Asia Minor, bordering Syria, in the southern region of Armenia.

Tent camps were established there.

Marabout tents at Camp Dufieux, Mersin, 1919

The 18th Algerian Tirailleurs Regiment, attached to the 156th Infantry Division—the Cilicia Division—under the command of General Dufieux, was among the first units to land and join the troops already deployed under Colonel de Piépape.

France had become involved in Cilicia particularly as a result of Allied agreements signed in 1916. These included, on the one hand, the Sykes–Picot Agreement between France and Great Britain, which provided for the division of the Ottoman Empire into spheres of influence after the war, and, on the other hand, agreements with the Armenians aimed at creating an Armenian force under the auspices of the French Army.

The first French troops landed at Mersin in November 1918, with a force of approximately 15,000 servicemen, the majority of whom were volunteers of the Armenian Legion, accompanied by 150 French officers.

The first objectives of this force were to seize the ports and dismantle the Ottoman administration.

Tarsus was occupied in preparation for securing the surrounding territories and establishing headquarters in Adana.

By the end of November 1918, Cilicia had been liberated.

French troops then occupied the Ottoman provinces of Aintab, Marash, and Urfa in Cilicia, which had been transferred by British forces at the end of 1919.

The city of Mardin, located east of the occupation zone, was briefly occupied in November 1919.

In 1917 and 1918, the British forces of General Allenby, operating alongside Lawrence of Arabia and his Arab volunteers, as well as the French contingent commanded by Colonel de Piépape, captured Syria from the Ottomans—France’s adversaries—taking Gaza and Jerusalem in December 1917 and Damascus in October 1918.

Following the Armistice of Mudros on October 30, 1918, Allied forces occupied the coastal region, while Emir Faisal established an Arab administration in Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, and Hama.

In October 1919, General Gouraud was appointed High Commissioner of the French Republic and Commander-in-Chief of Syria–Cilicia. The French were to replace the British in the zone allocated to France under the Sykes–Picot Agreement and prepare for the implementation of the future mandate over Syria and Lebanon, which was to be entrusted to France at the San Remo Conference in April 1920.

The Cilicia Campaign, the first postwar campaign, was conducted with extremely limited troop numbers and entirely inadequate material resources.

Despite the sacrifices made, its results did not remain with France, as under international agreements the province was transferred to Turkey in October 1921 through the Agreement of Ankara (the former name of Ankara being Angora).

Landing at Mersin and Deployment in Cilicia

October–December 1919

On October 27, 1919, the steamship Tsar Ferdinand was the first to anchor in the port of Mersin, two miles off the coast of Cilicia.

The troops were transported ashore that evening. On October 30, after the remainder of the regiment had also landed, the three battalions were deployed in temporary camps:

• Regimental headquarters and two battalions in Tarsus;
• One battalion in Adana;
• One company in Mersin as the base company.

The first battalion to land was to proceed toward Adana, leaving one company in Mersin.

The orders from Beirut had been confirmed by General Dufieux.

War Diary (JMO) of the 18th RTA, SHD 34N275.

The sector under the division’s responsibility included all of Cilicia, the “Eastern Territories”—the region east of the Amanus Mountains occupied after the withdrawal of British forces—as far as Urfa, as well as the Sanjak of Alexandretta.

The regiment was rapidly deployed throughout its extensive occupation zone alongside the Armenians.

Together with the Armenian Legion, the 18th RTA formed the 311th Brigade of the 156th Division, whose command post was located in Beirut.

It was tasked with reinforcing the Cilician garrisons from Adana to the Euphrates region, passing through Tarsus, Aintab, and Urfa.

General Gouraud arrived in Beirut on November 21, while General Dufieux arrived in Mersin on December 2.

The tirailleurs were generally stationed some distance from the regiment’s central sector, isolated in small settlements in the countryside.

By December 1919, the replacement of British troops had been completed.

At the end of December, the regiment was deployed as follows:

• Aintab: Colonel, C.H.R., 1st, 9th, and 11th Companies, and C.M.3;
• Bozanti: 2nd Company;
• Osmaniye: 3rd Company and C.M.1;
• Marash: 10th Company;
• Jarabulus: 5th Company and C.M.2;
• Urfa: 6th and 7th Companies.

Armenian Legion

The Armenian Legion was established in 1917–1918 on the basis of Armenian companies of the Foreign Legion (2nd RMLE Company), together with volunteers of Armenian origin recruited from various armies and countries, including the United States, Russia, Greece, and others.

The Armenian Legion’s campaigns included Palestine, Israel, Syria, Iraq, Lesser Armenia (Cilicia, the former Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia), and other regions.

Its training centers were located in Cyprus and Egypt.

The Armenian Legion was dissolved in 1921.

Its legionnaires subsequently entered service in the Foreign Legion and participated in all subsequent campaigns in the East.

Clearing the Adana–Mersin Road and Railway

January 27–28, 1920

Cilicia, which was temporarily under French protection, soon became troubled by the insurgent movement of Mustafa Kemal’s Turkish nationalists.

During the Cilicia Campaign, French positions and columns were continuously attacked by numerically superior and well-armed forces, while French troops were few and their material resources inadequate.

One battalion of the 18th RTA was attached to the Garcy Column, together with one battalion of the 21st RTA, one battalion of the 17th RTS, one battalion of the 412th RI, and other units.

There is no mention of this in the war diary.

The column departed Adana westward on January 27 and entered combat at Yenice.

On the 28th, the villages of Takfur and Hamun-Kulpri were captured, and the road and railway were reopened.

The column continued toward Tarsus.

The column lost 24 killed and 63 wounded, while the Turks lost 300 killed, 250 captured, and 700 rifles.

The Marash Incident

January–February 1920

Immediately after the French occupation of Marash (Maraş) on November 1, 1919, the majority of the city’s Turkish population rose against the Franco-Armenian occupation forces.

In January 1920, part of the Turkish population besieged the Armenian quarter.

The small French garrison under Commander de Ordoni, unable to restore order, took refuge in the citadel.

General Dufieux dispatched the detachments of Thibault and Marty (18th RTA) and Corneloup (17th RTS) to break through the encirclement and open a route. They lost several men.

On January 18, these forces joined in the city under the command of General Querette, who had arrived from Aintab.

After twenty-two days of urban fighting, on February 11, 1920, the French occupation forces were forced to abandon Marash. The city’s Armenian community followed them amid continuing attacks by Turkish revolutionaries.

The retreat, conducted in snowstorms and temperatures of −20°C, was extremely difficult.

In addition to 700 killed and wounded, the number of sick soldiers was very high, while the tirailleurs suffered severe losses from frostbite to their feet.

In March 1920, the III Battalion of the 18th RTA was replaced by the XI Battalion of the 7th RTA, which became the III Battalion of the 18th RTA.

The “Marash Incident,” which ended with the withdrawal of French forces, caused the unrest to spread.

The following months were marked by numerous battles.

French units holding several positions were very frequently surrounded.

Relief columns constantly had to be dispatched.

Siege of Urfa

February 9 – April 11, 1920

A garrison of 475 servicemen, consisting of the 6th and 7th Companies of the 18th RTA and two platoons of Machine-Gun Company No. 2, remained under siege for two months with only one month’s supply of food.

By April 10, the Urfa garrison, completely exhausted and lacking sufficient food, had been reduced to 460 men. It had no artillery, was surrounded by 4,000 Turkish, Kurdish, and other armed fighters, and was under artillery fire.

It was no longer possible to carry out the mission of protecting the Armenian population and foreign missions.

On April 10, Commander Hauger of the 18th RTA received a guarantee from a local Turkish representative that the garrison would not be attacked during its withdrawal.

Some of the wounded had to be left in the care of the American Red Cross.

On April 11, only a few hours after leaving Urfa, the column was attacked in the Feris Pasha Gorge.

The soldiers, including the wounded, were massacred.

Only a few isolated servicemen managed to reach Arab-Punar.

There were only 31 survivors.

Losses amounted to 11 officers and 300 soldiers.

The II Battalion, which had lost two companies at Urfa, was dissolved.

The III Battalion of the 18th RTA became the II Battalion, while the regiment was reinforced by the II Battalion of the 6th RTA, which became the III Battalion of the 18th RTA.

Siege of Byzantium

April 11 – May 25, 1920

The Byzantium garrison, located near the eastern gateway of Cilicia in the Taurus Mountains, 80 km north of Mersin, was also besieged in April–May 1920.

One company of the 18th RTA, incorporated into the II Battalion of the 412th RI, was destroyed.

This once again highlighted the very small number of French troops and the inadequacy of material resources during this first postwar campaign.

The first general armistice was concluded in May 1920.

However, beginning in July, even when active combat operations were no longer underway, Kemal’s forces surrounded the French expeditionary force.

Mersin, Tarsus, Adana, and Osmaniye were surrounded by large and well-armed forces, while the Adana–Mersin railway was cut.

The struggle around Aintab continued without resolution.

On July 23, under unbearable heat, Garcy’s column routed the Kemalists at Yenice, where the main railway line toward Bozanti and Konya branched toward Mersin.

In July 1920, the regiment became the 18th Native Tirailleurs Regiment.

Turkish insurgents forced the French to withdraw gradually, city by city.

In an effort to end the Cilicia Campaign, the first Franco-Turkish agreement was signed in London on March 11, 1921, followed by a second agreement on October 20, 1921, in Angora (the former name of Ankara).

At that time, it was decided to extend the term of service for native servicemen in the Levant to two years.

The regiment was informed of this decision on September 20, 1921. According to the war diary, the tirailleurs received the news with resignation and acceptance.

The Franco-Turkish agreement signed in Angora was read to the regiment on November 4, 1921.

The 1st Levant Division was to be dissolved in December, and the 18th RTA was to return to France.

On the same day, the II Battalion was dissolved, and its servicemen were distributed between the I and III Battalions.

On November 8, the II Knall-Demars Battalion was transferred to the 19th RTA.

Awards by Order of the Army

III Battalion
Order of October 20, 1920

“An elite battalion which, following the example of its commander, Battalion Commander Knall-Demars, demonstrated the highest qualities of endurance, courage, and fighting spirit throughout the column’s operation.

In particular, during the Battle of Yenice on July 28, after close combat in which some of its units carried out ten bayonet charges, it captured the enemy position after fierce fighting, leaving 400 enemy dead on the battlefield, taking 250 servicemen prisoner, and capturing four machine guns and more than 600 rifles.”

2/6 Battalion of the 18th RTA
General Order No. 59 of February 19, 1921

“The 2/6 Battalion of the 18th RTA, under Commander Boikler, participated in the operations in Cilicia as part of General Goubeau’s column.

The battalion, excellently trained and operating with great enthusiasm, particularly distinguished itself on November 3 [1920].

That day, while serving as the column’s advance guard, it forced the crossing at Kesme Burnu (on the Jihun River) through exceptionally courageous action under very heavy enemy fire.

Through its bravery, it captured the heights dominating the right bank of the river and secured the passage of the column.”

Note: As of November 3, 1920, the 2/6 RTA had not yet belonged to the 18th RTA. It joined the regiment and became its III Battalion only on November 6, according to the regiment’s war diary:

“Boikler’s battalion arrives by rail from Osmaniye and on the 7th replaces the Knall-Demars Battalion in the northwestern sector.”

2nd Company
Order of December 1920

“An excellent unit which, under Captain Bertrand, resisted and repelled for two months at Bozanti the continuous attacks of an enemy equipped with artillery and vastly superior in numbers.

While maintaining the integrity of the northern front entrusted to its defense, it demonstrated at the highest level the glorious traditions of the tirailleur units, participating in numerous counterattacks and carrying out many successful sorties that forced the enemy to loosen its encirclement.”

The 1st Levant Division was awarded a citation by order of the Army on December 18, 1921.

156th Infantry Division / Cilicia Division / 1st Levant Division

Commander: General Dufieux
Headquarters: Adana

1st Brigade
General Bordeaux

• 17th RTA
• 17th RTS, followed by the 14th RTS from June 12, 1920

2nd Brigade
General Martz

• 18th RTA
• 412th RI

Cavalry

• 2nd Levant Cavalry Regiment

Artillery

• 274th Tunisian Artillery Regiment, with three 75-mm groups
• Divisional Artillery Park (P.A.D.1)

Engineers

• 52nd Company of the 33rd Engineer Battalion

Communications

• Telegraph Detachment of ST/52 Company, 43rd Battalion

Military Aviation

• 56th and 458th Squadrons of the 35th Observation Aviation Regiment

Transport

• 4th and 5th Transport Squadrons

Services

• 135th Motor Transport Squadron
• T.M. 1319 Section
• 905th Truck-Van Section
• 33rd C.O.A. Section
• 33rd Colonial Military Medical Personnel Section
• 5/L Ambulance Unit
• 35th T.E.M.
• 9th B.D.1
• 135th T.E.M.
• 42nd Sanitary Section

Three additional divisions—the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Levant Divisions—were formed in early 1920, primarily from Algerian and Senegalese tirailleur regiments.

Source: Historical Service of the French Land Forces – Vincennes

In December 1921, the regiment boarded a train at Adana station for Alexandretta, from where it was to return to France by ship.

The Batavia departed on January 5 for Beirut, arrived there on January 6, and departed for Marseille on January 8.

It arrived in Marseille on January 17.

The troops then proceeded to Metz.

Lieutenant Colonel Augustin-Paul Parfait

Augustin-Paul Parfait (born in 1873), who served as Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army of the Levant, assumed command of the 18th RTA in May 1921 and command of the 5th RTA in July 1922.

Ministry of Defense and National Security of Western Armenia
contact@western-armenia.eu

Armenag Aprahamian Paid Tribute to the 138 Algerian Tirailleurs Killed in 1920 for the Liberation of Cilicia

Armenag Aprahamian, President of the National Council of Western Armenia, attended an event in Marseille on Saturday, April 20, 2019, at the invitation of Nagib Azergui, President of the UDMF.

He was accompanied by Bassam Tahhan and Vrezh Armenag Aprahamian, both members of the Parliament of Western Armenia.

The delegation headed by Armenag Aprahamian decided to formally present the President of the UDMF with the history of the 6th Algerian Tirailleurs Regiment and the list of the 138 tirailleurs who were killed on the battlefield in 1920 during the liberation of Cilicia.

Armenag Aprahamian’s speech gave those attending the meeting an opportunity to pay tribute to these fighters and, on the eve of the National Day of Remembrance for the victims of the genocide committed against Armenians, to recall the commitment undertaken and subsequently abandoned by Aristide Briand’s French government toward the civilian population of Cilicia, within its responsibilities as the official mandatory and protecting power following the signing of the Treaty of Sèvres.

As a sign of gratitude, President Armenag Aprahamian presented the flag of Western Armenia to President Azergui.

For the first time in the history of commemorating the participation of the Algerian tirailleurs, Bassam Tahhan proposed observing a minute of silence in honor of their dedication and then delivered a speech on the historical principles of Islam in European society.