Indigen'es

[bearhunter]

Did anyone see the movie "Indigen'es"?

It's a movie about the Algerian vollunteers that fought for France dureing WW2.

I won't go int detail, other than it emphasises the abuses suffered by the men at the hands of the French. Pretty much a global attitude of 1st world nationals toward 3rd world nationals at the time.

The amazeing thing about this movie is the hodgepodge of material these men were supposedly issued.

Weapons included Mas 36, M1 Garands, Lee Enfields, P17 Enfields, Thompson 1928, Colt 45 auto, Lebel pistols and a mauser 98 sniper.

The uniforms included US, French and Berber.

The webbing was matched to the uniforms.

I did notice that some of the men were carrying the wrong bayonets, though this may have been because the men with Mas 36 rifles needed a knife.

All in all a decent movie, I reccomend it.

I forgot to mention, you have to be able to read or understand continental French as it's subtitled. bearhunter

 

[Rossguy]

Always remember: Hollywood's job is to entertain, NOT educate.....

 

[Pete04]

Always remember: Hollywood's job is to entertain, NOT educate.....

Could be wrong, but I don't think this is a Hollywood production.
Pete

 

[Nyles]

I saw it. The mix of kit was interesting, though I'm not prepared to assume it was historically accurate.

 

[bearhunter]

I don't know if was historicly correct or not either. I do know that the
french received a lot of arms from both britain and the US.

They also took a lot of p17 bayonets and cut them down as fighting knives. bearhunter

 

[NickHTK]

Love the early scene where the best shot gets given the good German rifle. The film is not Hollywood and caused a real s@$t storm in France over benefits and pensions to those that fought. Remember, pre '44 the French didn't have much to draw from soldier wise.

 

[purple]

Never saw the movie,but French Colonial troops(Morrocans,Algerians)had a reputation as bad as the Russians for rape and plunder in Germany.By and large the French contribution to the outcome of WW2 was negligible.The fact is that their spirits were crushed by the terrific casualties that they endured in WW1 which lead to the defensive "Maginot Line" mindset and an unwillingness and inability to pay the butcher's bill with the next generation.The French made a huge contribution in WW1.All it takes is a visit to Verdun to understand why they were'nt prepared to do it again.

 

[John Sukey]

My father had no love for the french
He told me about operating on wounded GI's while he could look out the window of the hospital and see young military age frenchmen sitting in the sidewalk cafe's drinking their coffee and sipping ther pernod.
Then there was the time they were being transported in 40 and eighters. Their troop train was put on a siding while a french passenger train went by on the main line.

There was also a movie that was banned in france for some time that used film clips showing the majority of the french "collaberating" with their german "guests"

Then we have the Paris Gendarrmes who cordoned off a ghetto, stocked it with jews, and then loaded them on boxcars for Auschwitz!

 

[longbranch*]

France

Now,now, no bashing the Frenchies. Just kidding,bash away. Saw the movie and quite enjoyed it. Thought it was well done and was a treat to have no hollywood stars in it. As they said in England after the war..."if there were as many French in the underground, then there wouldnt be any above ground" .

 

[bearhunter]

There were a lot of young men in almost all of the countries that participated in WW2 that didn't fight. I can understand a combatant being upset watching them. I've heard similar stories from Viet Nam and the Philipines. Some people just can't or won't fight or support any kind of war effort willingly or by force for a variety of reasons. War is an abomination, brought upon us by many different demons. Like it or not they have to be fought by someone, hopefully by someone that isn't a psychopath.

From what I've seen and heard of war, people go crazy for a variety of reasons and just can't stop destroying everything and everyone in their path, until they realise that they don't have to do it anymore to survive. Then and only then do they become sane again.

I rather like the Algerians I met, darn good troops. They were meticulously clean and well mannered, devout in their beliefs and quite accepting of mine, with no prejudices shown or implied. They were also reasonably well educated, pretty much on par with most of the North American troops and were tough as hell. Good with their weapons as far as handling and care and use. I really wouldn't want to go up against them in a serious altercation. The only thing they really lacked was high tech equipment, they certainly would have been capable of mastering them.

As far as rape goes, I don't think there's an army in the world that isn't plagued with that problem under wartime conditions in the field.

By the way, I'm neither a muslim or a communist or any of those touchy/feely wannabes. I'm just like almost every other man from around the world, a man, plain and simple. Sometimes it's our job to be a pig and sometimes it's not.

bearhunter