In the early days of these regiments the charge was often made that the
tirailleurs were prone to
desertion. However under the leadership of officers seconded from the regular French Marine (subsequently Colonial) Infantry the
tirailleurs became an effective corps, without which the French would have had difficulty in occupying and garrisoning their Indochinese possessions. During World War I the French Army was initially reluctant to deploy its Indochinese units of the
Troupes coloniales on the Western Front but eventually 40,000 Annamite and Cambodian tirailleurs were sent to France. The majority were employed behind the lines in guard, depot and factory-worker duties. The battalions of Indochinese riflemen who saw combat were the 7th and 21st on the
Western Front, at Verdun, the Chemin des Dames, and in Champagne. Indochinese troops of the 1st and 2nd battalions were also deployed to the
Macedonian front. A further engagement took place for the 1st Battalion at
Monastir, from August to November 1917, with the
122nd Infantry Division (France), and at
Lake Ohrid with the
175th Infantry Regiment. 61 casualties were recorded for the 1st Battalion. The 2nd Battalion took part in the attack on Veliternë (Albania) on January 1, 1917, taking the village where it remained until April. 20 men died. At Lake Ohrid, in April 1917, the 2nd Indochinese Battalion withstood an enemy counter-attack at a cost of 35 dead. The
tirailleurs saw active service in Indochina, the
Boxer Rebellion in
China, the Allied intervention in Siberia between 1918–19, Syria (1920–21) and Morocco (1925–26). On 10 February 1930 fifty
tirailleurs rose in support of the
Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng during the
Yen Bai mutiny, which was quickly suppressed by loyal
tirailleurs of the same regiment. This event resulted in the increased recruitment of non-Vietnamese soldiers. In 1945 some
tirailleur units fought against the
Japanese occupation of Vietnam. In particular the "3e RTT" (
3e régiment de tirailleurs tonkinois) offered fierce resistance but was annihilated. The six Tonkinese and Annamite tirailleur regiments then in existence were destroyed or dispersed in the course of the Japanese coup, and were not reestablished. Some
tirailleur units were absorbed into the Viet Minh forces after 1945. Large numbers of Vietnamese troops did however serve in the French Union Forces during the French Indochina War (1946–1954) and the last Indochinese unit in the French Army was not disbanded until 1960. Many of them became officers of the
Republic of Vietnam Military Forces after the French withdrawal. == Regiments ==