1 Army Corps (France) - Corsica 1943

Corsica 1943

The 1st Army Corps was reconstituted on August 16, 1943, in Ain-Taya, French Algeria. Now commanded by Lieutenant General Martin the primary combat units of the corps were provided American equipment and weapons as part of the rearmament of the French Army of Africa.

While British and American troops invaded mainland Italy in September 1943, the 1st Army Corps, comprising Headquarters, 4th Moroccan Mountain Division (4e DMM), the 1st Regiment of Moroccan Tirailleurs (1er RTM), the 4th Regiment of Moroccan Spahis (4e RSM) (light tank), the 2nd Group of Moroccan Tabors (2e GTM), the Commandos de Choc battalion and the 3rd Battalion, 69th Mountain Artillery Regiment (69e RAM), landed on the island of Corsica in the same month. To the south, the German 90. Panzergrenadier-Division and the Reichsführer-SS assault infantry brigade were evacuating Sardinia and landing on the southern coast of Corsica. Wishing to cut off the German troops, and informed on September 10, 1943, that the Italian troops on Corsica were willing to fight on the side of the Allies, the French launched Operation Vésuve and landed elements of the 1st Army Corps at Ajaccio on September 13, meeting Corsican partisans who also wanted enemy troops off the island.

German General von Senger und Etterlin hoped to obtain reinforcements with which to hold the island. After the Germans began disarming Italian soldiers, General Magli of the Italian Army ordered Italian forces to consider the Gemans as an enemy rather than as allies. Thereafter, Italian units on the island cooperated with the French forces. Surprising the Italian Friuli Division in the northern port of Bastia on the night of September 13, 1943, the SS troops took 2,000 Italian prisoners and secured the port from which the Germans could evacuate their forces. Although supported by the Royal Navy, the French were unable to land forces quickly enough on Corsica to prevent the bulk of the German troops from reaching their exit ports on the east coast of the island. The final combat took place around Bastia, with the island secured by French forces on October 4, 1943. The bulk of the German forces, however, had made good their escape. The Germans took 700 casualties and lost 350 men to POW camps. The Italians lost 800 men in the fighting (mostly Friuli Division troops), and the French had 75 killed, 12 missing, and 239 wounded. From October 1943 until May 1944, the 1st Army Corps defended Corsica, conducted training, and moved units between Corsica and North Africa. On April 18, 1944, the 1st Army Corps was subordinated to General de Lattre's Armée B.