1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment: Difference between revisions

{{Infobox military unit

| unit_name = 1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment

| image = File:Insigne de béret du 1er RPIMA "Qui ose gagne".svg

| image_size = 200

| caption = Regimental beret badge

| dates = September 15, 1940 – present

| command_structure = [[French Army Special Forces Command]]

| type = [[List of French Paratrooper Units|Special Forces]]

| size = 865 authorized personnel (2017)

| current_commander = Colonel Cutajar

| garrison = [[Bayonne]], [[France]]

| nickname =

| colors =

| march =

| battles = [[World War II]]<br />[[First Indochina War]]<br/>[[Lebanese Civil War]]<br/>

[[Multinational Force in Lebanon]]<br/>

| notable_commanders =

| anniversaries = Saint-Michel Day

}}

 

 

 

== Origins ==

* May 1941: [[Operation Josephine B]] (destruction of six transformers at the electric plant in [[Pessac]]).

* Divided into one section assigned to the [[bureau central de renseignements et d'action|BCRA]] intelligence unit, and two other sections sent to the Middle East. [[Image:RPIM-img 1026.jpg|right|130px|thumb|Parachute equipment]]

* On October 15, 1941 the unit's name changed again, to the ''1^er Compagnie de Chasseurs Parachutistes'', (1^er C.C.P) (1st Parachute [[Chasseur]] Company).

* June 1942: the French SAS destroyed 20 German airplanes in [[Crete]], then attacked the airports in Matouba-Derna, [[Benina International Airport|Benina]], [[Barca (ancient city)|Barce]] and [[Benghazi]] on the [[Libya]]n front.

* July 1942: operations in [[Cyrenaica]].

* Spring 1943: rest and training at [[Camberley]] (England).

* On July 1, 1943 the unit became the ''1^er Bataillon d'Infanterie de l'Air'', (1^er B.I.A) (1st Air Infantry Battalion).

* August 1944: operations and SAS participation in the [[Liberation of Paris]].

* September 11, 1944: one company took 3000 Germans prisoner.

* November 11, 1944: the two regiments of the French SAS marched up the [[Champs-Élysées]] in Paris before General [[Charles de Gaulle]] and British Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]] after the 2^e RCP was awarded the ''Compagnon de la Libération'' designation (Companion of the Liberation).

* December 23, 1944: provided reinforcement in the [[Battle of the Bulge|Ardennes]].

* On August 1, 1945 the Parachute Chasseur Regiments merged completely into the [[French Army]]. The [[3rd Parachute Chasseur Regiment]] (3^e R.C.P) or [[Special Air Service|3rd SAS Regiment]] was dissolved and its components transferred to the [[2nd Parachute Chasseur Regiment|2^e R.C.P]].

 

=== World War II ===

{{Expand section|date=August 2020}} <!-- very brief and vague, little detail -->

On September 15, 1940, General [[Charles de Gaulle]] signed the activation order of the 1ère Compagnie d'Infanterie de l'Air (1ère CIA) of the [[Free French Forces]], or 1st Free French Airborne Infantry Company, under the command of Captain Bergé.

 

 

 

The Free French SAS took an important part in the liberation of Europe. In [[Brittany]], a little after midnight on [[D-Day]], June 6, 1944, [[caporal (military rank)|Caporal]] Emile Bouétard (born in Brittany, 1915) was the first soldier killed in action in [[Plumelec]], [[Morbihan]]. On August 1, 1944, the 3rd and 4th Air Infantry battalions were renamed the 2nd and 3rd Chasseur Parachute battalions. As a reward for their bravery, King [[George VI]] awarded the Free French SAS the right to wear the red beret of the British SAS, which replaced the black beret worn until then. As the war drew to a close, 52 French SAS "sticks" (705 men) were parachuted into the Netherlands on April 7, 1945, causing major havoc in the rear areas of German occupation forces and easing pressure on the forward thrust of the [[II Canadian Corps|2nd Canadian Army Corps]].

 

 

=== 1945–1974 ===

{{Expand section|date=August 2020}}

Between 1945 and 1954 the unit that was later to become the 1^er RPIMa after a series of name changes, took part in the war in Indochina, performing several of the more than 160 combat jumps carried out by French paratroopers during that conflict. After the war, the regiment underwent structural changes and became a training depot for the entire colonial airborne forces. As such, it did not take part in the Algerian conflict.

 

In the 80s and 90s the regiment deployed dozens of times to various hotspots on the planet. While engaged in [[Operation Desert Storm]], the 1^er RPIMa lost two of its men in Iraq in 1991.

 

 

[[File:Insigne infanterie de marine.png|thumb|Shoulder insignia]]

 

 

=== Unit specialization ===

* CTLO (Counter-terrorism and hostage rescue teams)

* GDC (Garde du Corps)

* SCO (Paratrooper – SAS Chuteurs Opérationnels)

* PAT SAS (motorized patrols. Patrouilles SAS)

* Mountain, arctic, desert, and jungle warfare

* Explosives and demolitions

 

== Organisation and structure ==

* Four main RAPAS (Airborne Reconnaissance and Special Action) combat companies:

 

 

Each company is split in RAPAS sections. Each section includes 30 men.

 

 

== Weapons and equipment ==

** So as to prepare RAPAS units of the 1er RPIMa for operations over difficult terrain it can use French and foreign training centers on the world

** Mountain, jungle and desert training exercises are scheduled every year

** Every year, the Regiment sends some of its members to foreign schools to improve its tactics and procedures in hostile environments (jungle, bush...)

** A regular influx of experienced NCOs volunteering from the French 27th Mountain Infantry Brigade keeps the Regiment up-to-date on modern mountaineering techniques

== External links ==

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070125010643/http://www.rpima1.terre.defense.gouv.fr/index.html 1er RPIMa Official website]

 

{{Authority control}}

 

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment, 1st}}

[[Category:20th-century regiments of France]]

[[Category:21st-century regiments of France]]

[[Category:Bayonne]]

[[Category:Companions of the Liberation]]

[[Category:Marines regiments of France]]

[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1941]]