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Author Topic: French Foreign Legion uniform options?  (Read 4367 times)

Offline italwars

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Re: French Foreign Legion uniform options?
« Reply #15 on: December 12, 2018, 11:31:16 PM »
Well, I think if you knock out earlier colors you are pretty much knocking out most of your options.  Earlier gives you the madder (red) trousers, light infantry, penal units at least.  Might not all be perfectly accurate but at least those give you painting options.  Matter of tastes, of course.

Very interesting, at least for me, new info..i research French Armee d Afrique from years and didn t know that les joyeux could wear madder red trousers..from the few available picts of the Moroccan Campaign the Infanterie Legere d Afrique penal btgs were undistinguishable from Legionaires..blue coat and white trousers or bourgeron and sash..do you have any evidence of red trousers?..it could be interesting , even in wargame therms, to distinguish them from Legion..not only because they saw action, as the only european troops, during the Oasis conquest Tikildet battles..that are well documented even with battle maps and fun to reproduce in tabletop as i m planning to do

Offline FifteensAway

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Re: French Foreign Legion uniform options?
« Reply #16 on: December 14, 2018, 06:14:21 AM »
A bit late tonight and busy tomorrow but I'll try and find an old publication that lists the varied uniforms - I believe written by Peter Dennis but I could be wrong.  Stay tuned...for a few days.

edit: Okay, a little earlier than expected.

Here are some uniform options:
- dark blue jacket with either white or madder trousers, green epaulettes on jacket, dark blue collar patches. (your basic legion)
- light infantry as above except blue collar on jacket, facings (?), red epaulettes with green fringe.

The light infantry, or Bat d'Af, were the penal troops.

So, really, those are your three core options.  If you need more color then time for zouaves and tirallleurs - but Very different uniforms, of course.
« Last Edit: December 16, 2018, 07:03:25 AM by FifteensAway »

Offline Golgotha

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    • BMC Miniatures - All things wargame related.
Re: French Foreign Legion uniform options?
« Reply #17 on: December 15, 2018, 08:35:42 PM »
For anything French Foreign Legion related do see: https://monlegionnaire.wordpress.com/

Offline italwars

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Re: French Foreign Legion uniform options?
« Reply #18 on: December 15, 2018, 09:48:57 PM »
thanks for the infos FifteensAway... :)

Offline Lord Raglan

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Re: French Foreign Legion uniform options?
« Reply #19 on: December 15, 2018, 10:01:38 PM »
For anything French Foreign Legion related do see: https://monlegionnaire.wordpress.com/

nice one bud

Offline pacofeanor

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Re: French Foreign Legion uniform options?
« Reply #20 on: December 22, 2018, 04:26:10 PM »
FFL wore dark blue coats from ...1831 to 1910. in africa they used to wear white jacket with or without coat . White pants for summer red for winter . kepi with white cover and back flaps from 1873 to 1905. In 1905 a new patern of cover arrived , without flap.

from 1910 to 1918 the main battle dress in africa (and turkey) is the sand color coton dress1901 (jacket with one buton row, long  pants inside the black "gaiters" until 1915, inside dark blue  or horizon blue putties  from 1915 to 1917 inside mustard khaki putties  from 1917 to ...1940
with pith helmet (white or with a sand color cover) .

The dark blue coat was worn by FFL for the last time in gallipoli february 1915 during the landing ( and at the start of these campaign, as blue horizon / mustard khkai arrived before the end of the year 1915 in dardanelles)

If you want to paint  bataillon d'afrique, in algeria 1890/1914, they wore the same dress as FFL, the main difference in miniatures are buttons wich are silver instead of gold  as well as laces on officers kepi and arms. Privates, had yellow laces (-one for first class, two for corporals silver for sergents and sergents major) In tunique, the collar is dark blue with yellow number. Epaulettes are green with red tournantes, with silver tournante for NCO.

the khaki wool coat didn't arrived in africa before 1917_18.

I hope i'am a bit clear ...it is not very simple ....

best regards
paco


Offline italwars

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Re: French Foreign Legion uniform options?
« Reply #21 on: December 29, 2018, 07:45:54 AM »
Thanks for the infos...
Anyway I think that if we plan to buy and paint the most iconic unit of colonial warfare which is the FFL .it s more enjoyable to field a uniform distinguishable from normal French Line Infantry..so covered kepi with flap and white trousers are a must..and as Infanterie Legere d Afrique penal btgs will not appear in every wargame battle we can use the same Legion to represent it..maybe along another French unit as the native Turcos..Or Zouaves even if less employed in offensive columns..