By Leïla Slimani, translation by Olivier Milland
Thanks to a remarkable research, historian Julien Fargettas retraces the day-to-day life of colonial forces during World War II.
PHOTO/ COLLECTION ERIC DEROO
"We are the Africans who come from a far, We come from the colonies to save the motherland" (C'est nous les Africains/ Qui venons de loin/ nous venons des colonies/ pour sauver la Patrie/).
These are lines from Le Chant des Africains (The Africans' song), sung by Sub-Saharan colonial troops during the Second World War. Now they are popularly known in Africa and France.
Today, nobody can deny the considerable role played by the colonial troops during the 1939-45 war.
France has paid homage to them on several occasions.
But what do we really know of these tirailleurs sénégalais* (infantrymen), who although under-qualified were recruited throughout the whole empire?
How were they considered by their French peers and German enemies?
What did they eat? How did they dress? How did they fight and what were their conditions once in captivity?
In "Les tirailleurs Sénégalais" the 37-year-old historian Julien Fargettas, immerses us right into the day-to-day life of this "Black people forces/ unit".
Fargettas' exceptional research of the archives, uncovering correspondence, military reports, and testimonies, exposes a side of the war hereto undiscovered.
Even though these stories may seem anecdotal, they are nevertheless as much part of history as the military performances of the infantrymen.
Just like our memory, this part history is filled with holes, of things left unsaid, gray areas and surprises.
Instead of studying the big picture or the political context the young historian has chosen to focus specifically on the African soldiers in the context of war and to see the world through their eyes.
Fargetta spent almost 10 years criss-crossing Senegal, Burkina Faso, Mali and Mauritania, collecting testimonies to present a mundane but still exhaustive picture of these men.
Eat, get dressed, have fun
Already at the outset Fargetta explains that the "Black people's forces" held the French flag differently to the French and Maghreb soldiers.
These "Black peoples forces", who were not full-fledged citizens, had special uniforms made up of white breeches and the famous red cap or "chechia", also known from the now infamous Banania commercial.
When the war started these black soldiers wore the uniform with pride. "By the end of the war, they associated the chechia and scarlet belt as signs of inferiority and they wanted to dress like the others.
"Hence, it is through dress codes that we see a fight for equality emerge," writes Fargetta.
Food and culture were also central elements.
The Senegalese infantrymen were fed conveniently, or at least better than in their home villages, but supply shortages and decreased food rations caused violent uprisings among the troops.
For instance, the operating manuals given to officers who commanded the "indigènes" (indigenous people or natives), insisted on distributing kola nuts, believed to have almost magical powers in some traditional societies.
Cautious about the moral health of the African soldiers, the military authorities organised parties with traditional dances.
"The military command combined benevolence, paternalism and a certain degree of mistrust towards the colonised," Fargetta explains.
Sympathy leverage
We are used to hearing about the racism or discomfort experienced by the soldiers, but we rarely speak of the sympathy that many in France had for them.
"Many local incumbents, civil servants or retirees were very helpful, providing testimonies or funeral statements, and they have all expressed great gratitude towards the former French combatants," the book's author reveals.
He further reminds us that the war allowed for many wonderful encounters between people.
Several moving photographs testify of the love stories between White French and Black Africans.
During their time of captivity in Nazi occupied France, the tirailleurs sénégalais received food parcels.
Those who were convicted to compulsory work were fed by French families, who also taught them to read and write.
After the German massacre of hundreds of African soldiers in north-west Lyon, First World War veteran Jean Marchiani, commanded a search for all bodies.
He then went on to buy a piece of land, where he built a cemetery for them, with a French and Sudanese-inspired traditional architecture.
The "black shame"
Besides falling victim to racist and violent propaganda against them by the Nazis, the tirailleurs sénégalais were massacred and used for horrific scientific experiments.
But hardly any investigation has been carried out on that topic.
What do we really know of the Saint-Médard Hospital where the Germans researched on tuberculosis?
The historian reopens a dark and unknown chapter of the Second World War.
Without fear of clashing with the "politically correct" he evokes the massacres committed by the soldiers themselves, armed with machetes and sometimes wearing collars made out of human ears.
The relation with North Africa
Between 1944-1945 several regiments of tirailleurs sénégalais were stationed in Tunisia and Morocco, but the local populations received them with mistrust.
In November 1945 civil unrest broke out in Tunis, and the soldiers were attacked violently.
One French officer notes that the Senegalese were bullied and mobbed.
Besides a certain cultural racism and the clinging memory of the North African slave trade up until 1906, the attitude towards the Senegalese can to a great extent be explained by their ambiguous mission in the region.
While their main mission was to free Europe, they were also a link between the colonial power and its subjects.
They were ordered to squash nationalistic movements in Fés 1944, and in 1945 they fought the uprisings in Constantine, Algeria.
Moreover, their part in the Algerian war has left enduring scars among Algerians, who accuse the soldiers of pillaging, and mass-rapes.
Africans in the French Resistance movement
Fargetta also reminds us that the African infantrymen were not only thrown to the frontline, but that some also associate them with the French resistance movement.
One of the first Resistance maquis (underground meeting spots for the French Resistance movement) was actually created by Addi Ba, a former soldier from Guinea.
After escaping German captivity, he went on to create the first maquis in the Vosges district, in north-east France.
However, the historian tells us, "after meeting with several Resistance veterans I realised that very few had any memory of these Africans, even though they fought side by side.
Some even appear together on photographs from that time."
The painful return
During the war many of the African soldiers tried to keep contact with the continent, which is evident by the vast body of correspondence that these soldiers maintained with their families, although most letters never reached their recipients.
The main reasons for that were mainly because of bad connections by air and sea, but also because of addresses written sloppily since many of the combatants were illiterate.
Furthermore, the return to the continent became a very painful experience for many of them.
After having spent several years, sometimes as much as 10 years, away from home many soldiers would experience cultural clashes and a sense of alienation and uprooting, once they returned.
The soldiers had to reintegrate their home villages and life as civilians.
They had to abandon a living standard that they couldn't always find in their home villages.
Indeed, during the years abroad the soldiers had got accustomed to different eating habits and dress codes [...] they had traveled and seen other civilisations, and their traditional conceptions had been tilted.
Today, Julien Fargettas is astonished that no real "hero" or great character has come out of the Senegalese soldiers, considering the great bravery many of them had demonstrated.
On the one hand, French history has in a way covered them up.
On the other hand, many of the African war veterans kept a great degree of humility and modesty, which has impeded them from having their rightful place in the history books.
*Tirailleurs sénégalais was another name given to the French troops recruited in French Sub-Saharan colonies. But not all were Senegalese. They are referred to as Senegalese because the first regiment was created in Sénégal, in 1857 by Louis Fadherbe, governor of French West Africa.
COVER OF JULIEN FARGETTAS, LES TIRALILLEURS SÉNÉGALAIS/ TALLANDIER
Title: Les Tirailleurs Sénégalais
Author: Julien Fargettas
Publisher: Editions Tallandier
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