World War I The 2nd battalion of the regiment remained in North Africa. It was part of the
Moroccan Division and fought alongside the
Marching Regiment of the Foreign Legion, the
4th Tunisian Tirailleurs Regiment and the
8th Zouaves Regiment.
1914 • Deployment of the
IIIrd and
IVth Army on the
Marne • 5–13 September:
First Battle of the Marne •
First Battle of Ypres: • Bois Triangulaire • 12 November: North of
Ypres 1915 • 28 January: Flanders: Grande Dune near
Nieuport •
Second Battle of Artois: • Cote 140 • 9 May:
Vimy Ridge • 25 September – 6 October:
Second Battle of Champagne •
Butte de Souains • 25 September: Bois Sabot
1916 • 4 July:
Battle of the Somme:
Belloy-en-Santerre 1917 • 17 April:
Mont-sans-Nom,
Auberive •
Verdun 1918 • 26 April:
Villers-Bretonneux, Bois du Hangard • 29 May – 1 June: ,
Missy-aux-Bois,
Chaudun • 12 June: Amblémy •
Saint-Pierre-Aigle, Daumiers • July 1918: Chaudun • 28 August – 17 September: Tunnel of
Vauxaillon, Neuville-sous-Marginal
Casualties From 1914 to 1918, losses for the 7th Marching Tirailleurs Regiment were: 2326 killed or missing (97 officers, 232 junior officers, 260 corporals and 1737 soldiers). Throughout this war, the 7th Regiment collectively obtained 31 citations and 464 medals.
Interwar period In 1928, the 7e RTA adopted the designation of 11e RTA then went back to 7e RTA. In 1936, the 7e RTA was garrisoned at
Constantine, Algeria.
World War II Composition of the regiment During the
Second World War, one North-African
tirailleur regiment consisted of a little more than 3000 men (of which 500 officers and junior officers) and 200 vehicles. The proportion of
Maghrebis reached 69% for the regiment, 74% for the battalion, 79% for the company of fusiliers-voltigeurs, 52% for the anti-tank company and 36% for the cannon infantry company.
Campaigns • 1939: part of the 83e DIA () • 1943: belonged to the
3rd Algerian Infantry Division • January to May 1944:
Battle of Monte Cassino • August 1944: disembarkation at Provence, liberation of
Toulon and Marseille • Fall – winter 1944: Alps,
Jura,
Alsace, Vosges, capture of
Mulhouse and the defense of
Strasbourg Collective citations Throughout the course of the Second World War, the 7e RTA obtained ten collective citations at the orders of the armed forces (three for the regiment, four for battalions, and three for companies).
Casualties The
3rd Algerian Infantry Division 3e DIA recorded 809 killed in action in the 7th RTA from November 1942 to May 1945, of whom 614 were Maghrebis (75%) and 195 Europeans (25%).
Indochina War Four marching battalions were constituted successively to fight in the
First Indochina War, which included the heavy usage of
colonial forces. The 5th Marching Battalion (V/7e RTA), under chief of battalion
Roland de Mecquenem, was at the
Battle of Dien Bien Phu during the
Gabrielle resistance. After a heavy artillery bombardment they retreated from the
Viet Minh's
308th Infantry Division. Algerian War The 7e RTA fought in the
Algerian War, in the corps of the
21st Infantry Division, in the sector of Aurès
Nemencha. At the cease-fire on 19 March 1962, the regiment constituted along with 91 other regiments, a local unit force of the Algerian order of battle, the 427 UFL-UFO composed of 10% of metropolitan military and 90% of Muslim military personnel at
Barika, during the transition period, while being at the service of the executive provisionary power of Algeria until the independence of Algeria (
Evian Accords, 18 March 1962). Following that, the regiment was back in France in 1962, and garrisoned until 1964, when the unit was dissolved to form the 170th Infantry Regiment. == Traditions ==