Belgium The
Belgian Army has no specific regiment called fusiliers, but the general denomination for infantry soldiers is
storm fusilier (; ). The
Belgian Navy used to have a regiment of marine infantry composed of in charge of the protection of the naval bases. However this unit was disbanded in the 1990s reforms.
Brazil Adopting a number of practices from the Portuguese military in the 19th century, the
Brazilian Army uses the term (fusiliers) to designate the regular line infantry, as opposed to the
grenadiers () and the light infantry ( and ). In addition, the
Brazilian Marine Corps is called (Naval Fusiliers).
Canada There are five fusilier regiments, patterned on the British tradition, in the
Canadian Army. The
Royal 22nd Regiment, although not fusiliers, wears fusilier ceremonial uniform with scarlet plumes, because of its alliance with the Royal Welch Fusiliers. The five current Canadian fusilier regiments are: •
The Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada (which wears Highland uniform, but with white fusilier hackles on
balmoral bonnets) • , white plume • , white plume •
The Princess Louise Fusiliers (which wear a grey hackle as a token of their alliance with the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, now part of the Royal Irish Regiment) • , white plume Former Canadian Army fusilier regiments include the following: •
The Irish Fusiliers of Canada (The Vancouver Regiment) existed in
Vancouver, British Columbia, and served in the Canadian Army from 1913 until 1965 when it was reduced to nil strength and placed on the
Supplementary Order of Battle. In 2002, it was taken off the Supplementary Order of Battle and amalgamated with the
British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own). •
The Canadian Grenadier Guards in
Montreal were known as the 1st Regiment "Prince of Wales' Fusiliers" before 1911. •
The Canadian Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) existed in
London, Ontario, from 1866 until 1954 when they were amalgamated with
The Oxford Rifles and became the London and Oxford Fusiliers (3rd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment) – now the 4th Battalion,
The Royal Canadian Regiment. •
The Essex Scottish Regiment of
Windsor, Ontario were first known as the Essex Fusiliers from 1887 until 1927. In 1954, they were amalgamated with
The Kent Regiment to form
The Essex and Kent Scottish. •
The Northern Pioneers when first raised in
Parry Sound, Ontario in 1903 were first known as the 23rd Regiment "Northern Fusiliers" until they were renamed a year later. They now form part of
The Algonquin Regiment (Northern Pioneers). •
The Saint John Fusiliers existed in
Saint John, New Brunswick, from 1872 until 1946 when they were amalgamated with
The New Brunswick Rangers to become
The New Brunswick Scottish. They now form part of
The Royal New Brunswick Regiment. • The
88th Regiment (Victoria Fusiliers) existed in
Victoria, British Columbia, from 1912 until 1920 when they amalgamated with the 50th Regiment (Gordon Highlanders of Canada) to become
The Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary's). • The
105th Regiment (Saskatoon Fusiliers) existed in
Saskatoon from 1912 until 1920 when they were amalgamated with the
52nd Regiment Prince Albert Volunteers to form
The North Saskatchewan Regiment (1920–1924). In 1924, The North Saskatchewan Regiment was later reorganised into four separate regiments:
The Yorkton Regiment (now the
64th Field Battery, RCA),
The Saskatoon Light Infantry,
The Prince Albert Volunteers and The Battleford Light Infantry. They now form part of
The North Saskatchewan Regiment. • The
Scots Fusiliers of Canada existed in
Kitchener, Ontario, from 1914 until 1965 when they amalgamated with the
Highland Light Infantry of Canada to form The Highland Fusiliers of Canada – later renamed as the Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada (see above).
France at the 2008
Bastille Day Military Parade By the mid-18th century, the
French Army used the term
fusiliers to designate ordinary
line infantry, as opposed to specialist or élite infantry, such as
grenadiers, , or . The modern French Army no longer uses the term
fusiliers, although a number of its infantry regiments descend from fusilier regiments. The term
fusiliers is still used in the navy and air force. They provide protection detachments, performing security and policing duties on land bases and installations as well as on ships. The commandos are selected from their ranks. The commandos are special forces units. They are: •
French Navy: (
FORFUSCO) •
French Air Force:
Germany Prussia made early use of the title for various types of infantry. In 1705, the Foot Guards () were designated as Fusilier Guards. By 1837, low-quality infantry raised from
garrison companies also were named fusiliers. These latter units were dressed in blue with low
mitre caps. Between 1740 and 1743
Frederick the Great raised 14 separate Fusilier Regiments (numbers 33–40, 41–43 and 45–48). Except for the mitre caps, these new regiments were identical in appearance, training and role to the existing line infantry (
musketeers). Subsequently,
Prussia and several other German states used the designation to denote a type of
light infantry, usually dressed in green and acting as
skirmishers. In the
Prussian Army, they had been formed in 1787 as independent battalions, with many of the officers having had experience in the American Revolutionary War. The Prussian reforms of 1808 absorbed the fusiliers into the third battalion of each
line infantry regiment. Now wearing the same
Prussian blue uniforms as standard musketeers, they were distinguished by black leather belts, and a slightly different arrangement of cartridge pouches. In the
Prussian Army of 1870, Infantry Regiments 33 to 40 plus Regiments 73 (
Hanover), 80 (
Hesse-Kassel) and 86 (
Schleswig-Holstein) were all designated as fusiliers, as was the
Guard Fusilier Regiment. In addition, the third battalions of all guard,
grenadier and line infantry regiments retained the designation 'Fusilier Battalion'. They were armed with a slightly shorter version of the
Dreyse rifle (), that took a
sword bayonet () rather than the standard socket
bayonet. Although still theoretically skirmishers, in practice they differed little from their compatriots, as all Prussian infantry fought in a style that formed a dense 'firing' or 'skirmish' line. By the 1880s, the title was honorific and, while implying 'specialist' or 'elite', did not have any tactical significance. In a sense, all infantry were becoming fusiliers, as weapons, tactics and equipment took on the fusilier characteristics – that is: skirmish line, shorter rifles, sword bayonets, black leather equipment, and the use of bugles (rather than drums) to relay commands. Nonetheless, these titular units remained in existence until the end of the German Imperial Army in 1918, as follows: •
Guard Fusilier Regiment •
Fusilier Regiment Count Roon (
East Prussian) No. 33 • Fusilier Regiment Queen Victoria of Sweden (
Pomeranian) No. 34 • Fusilier Regiment Prince Henry of Prussia (
Brandenburg) No. 35 • Fusilier Regiment General Field Marshal Count Blumenthal (
Magdeburg) No. 36 • Fusilier Regiment von Steinmetz (
West Prussian) No. 37 • Fusilier Regiment Field Marshal Count Moltke (
Silesian) No. 38 • Lower
Rhineland Fusilier Regiment No. 39 • Fusilier Regiment Prince Charles Anton of
Hohenzollern No. 40 • Fusilier Regiment Field Marshal Prince Albert of Prussia (Hanoverian) No. 73 • Fusilier Regiment von Gerdsdorff (Electoral Hessian) No. 80 • Fusilier Regiment Queen (Schleswig-Holstein) No. 86 • Grand-Ducal
Mecklenburg Fusilier Regiment No. 90 •
Fusilier Regiment Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria King of Hungary (4th Royal) Württemberg No. 122 In addition, there was the following regiment: • Royal
Saxon (Fusilier) Regiment Prince George No. 108 This was a special case, as it was also classed as (
sharpshooter): this designation originally signified a type of (
rifleman, literally 'hunter'), and thus the regiment wore the -style dark green uniform. The various Fusilier regiments and battalions in the German Imperial Army of 1914 did not have any single distinctions of dress or equipment to distinguish them as fusiliers. Individual regiments did, however, have special features worn with the dark blue full dress. Some of these features were maintained on the field grey dress of the trenches right up to 1918. As examples in full dress, the Guard Fusiliers had nickel buttons and yellow shoulder straps, and the 80th Fusiliers special braiding on collars and cuffs (deriving from their origin as the Elector of Hesse's Guards). When a regiment was permitted the distinction of a horse-hair plume on the
pickelhaube, for fusiliers it was always black. This included the third (Fusilier) Battalion of those regiments normally distinguished by a white horse-hair plume. In World War II, the elite German Division contained a regiment titled (
'Armoured Fusiliers'), to maintain the old German traditions. This was again titular, as in organisation, appearance and tactical use they were essentially . The modern German Army has no fusiliers.
Mexico On 1 January 1969, the
Mexican Army created the Parachute Fusilier Brigade () with two infantry battalions and a training battalion. The brigade's role is that of a
strategic reserve, based in Mexico City.
Netherlands In the
Royal Netherlands Army, one of the two
foot guards regiments, the , is a regiment of fusiliers.
Portugal From the 18th to the 19th centuries, the term (fusiliers) was used in the
Portuguese Army, to designate the regular line infantry, as opposed to the
grenadiers () and the light infantry ( and ). The Portuguese Army discontinued the use of the term in the 1860s. The term (fusilier sailors) has been used in the
Portuguese Navy, since the late 18th century, to designate the naval infantry. The modern
Portuguese Marine Corps is called (Naval Fusiliers).
Switzerland Line infantry soldiers of the lowest rank in the Swiss Army have historically been designated as fusiliers. Because the modern Swiss infantry soldier is trained in a much broader variety of tasks than his earlier counterpart, and because of some supposedly negative connotations attached to the term , modern infantry battalions of the Swiss army have been renamed or "Inf Bat". The individual soldiers are officially called , not , but colloquially they are still referred to as or . This meaning is retained in the name of the 1938 Swiss film .
United Kingdom The original fusiliers in the British Army were the 7th Foot, Royal Regiment of Fuzileers raised in 1685. This subsequently became
The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment). The original purpose of this unit was to act as escort to artillery guns, as well as keeping discipline amongst the civilian drivers. Originally a
sealskin cap for other ranks, this was replaced by a black
raccoon skin cap of in height, according to the 1874 Dress Regulations. However, fusilier officers wore a taller
bearskin like their counterparts in the
foot guards. The badge for each regiment was placed at the front of the bear or raccoon skin headdress, and consisted of a stylized flaming
grenade, with different emblems placed on the ball of the grenade. These continue to be worn to the present day by the band of the
Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, and also by colour parties,
pioneers and
drum majors in the
Royal Welsh. Attached to the various types of fusilier headdress, including the modern
beret, is the
hackle. This is a short cut feather plume, the colours of which vary according to the regiment. Initially, the only regiment authorised to wear a plume or hackle were the 5th of Foot (Northumberland Fusiliers). The regiment had originally worn a white feather distinction, authorised in 1824 to commemorate the
victory of St Lucia in 1778 when men of the Fifth Regiment were supposed to have taken white feathers from the hats of dead French soldiers. When, in 1829, a white plume was ordered for all line infantry regiments, to preserve the Fifth (Northumberland) Regiment's emblem, they were authorised to wear a white plume with a red tip, allegedly to indicate a distinction won in battle. The Fifth were designated fusiliers in 1836. Following the
Second Boer War, plumes were added to the headgear of all fusilier regiments in recognition of their service in South Africa. The following fusilier regiments existed prior to the outbreak of
World War I: The nine regiments of fusiliers that existed in 1914 have since been reduced to one by a series of disbandments and mergers: • In 1920, the Royal Welsh Fusiliers was renamed as the "Royal Welch Fusiliers". • Due to the creation of the
Irish Free State, the Royal Munster Fusiliers and Royal Dublin Fusiliers were disbanded on 31 July 1922. • In 1935, the Northumberland Fusiliers was awarded the title "Royal". • Under the
Defence Review of 1957, the number of infantry regiments was reduced. The Royal Scots Fusiliers was amalgamated with the
Highland Light Infantry on 20 January 1959 to form the
Royal Highland Fusiliers. The new regiment wore the white hackle of the RSF, with a flaming grenade badge bearing the monogram of the HLI. • On 28 March 2006, the Scottish infantry regiments were merged into the
Royal Regiment of Scotland. The individual battalions of the regiment retain the titles of the predecessor units, and The Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland continues to wear the white hackle of the Royal Scots Fusiliers. In addition, the
Scots Guards were known as the Scots Fusilier Guards from 1831 to 1877. ==See also==