French Far East Expeditionary Corps

The French Far East Expeditionary Corps was a colonial expeditionary unit which belonged to the French Army. It was sent to French Indochina at the end of 1945, right after World War II. Its name in French was “Corps Expéditionnaire Français en Extrême-Orient,” or CEFEO. It was created in 1945 to replace the former Far East French Expeditionary Forces. The purpose for the creation of this large military unit was to support Saigon-based General Gilbert Sabattier, who was the divisional commander of the Indochina French Forces. It fought in the French Indochina War against the Viet Minh and was disbanded in 1956.

The French Far East Expeditionary Corps consisted of enlisted and volunteer troops from the French Union colonial territories in Maghreb, Africa, Madagascar, Overseas and South-East Asia. The Corps included TirailleursSpahis (sharpshooters) and Goums from France’s Armée d’Afrique. The American government supplied them with military equipment, including artillery. The infantry weapons its troops used were World War II American rifles and submachine guns, such as the M1 Garand rifle, the Browning Automatic Rifle, and the Thompson submachine gun. The cavalry units were equipped with M24 Chaffee, M5A1 Stuart, and M4 Sherman tanks.

In 1947, the French Far East Expeditionary Corps had a total strength of about 115,000 troops. However, by 1953, this unit had been augmented and reinforced as it was composed of 175,000 soldiers, from whom 54,000 were French, 20,000 Foreign Legion troops (most of them WW2 German veteran soldiers), 30,000 North Africans, 18,000 West African, 53,000 Vietnamese under French command, 5,000 naval and 10,000 air force personnel. They were beefed up by the Colonial Vietnamese National Army, also under French command.

Below, M24 Chaffee tanks of 1er RCC (1st cavalry regiment) in Tonkin, North Vietnam, in 1953.

Below, Algerian ‘Tiraillieurs’ (sharpshooters) parading in Annam in 1950.