This blog post in a very occasional series, looks at the scale of expansion of the Mission Militaire Française (MMF) during the course of the war as well as where some of the men who were part of this expansion came from.
The following explains the MMF structure in 1917 at the time of the first major Allied offensive of that year:
La Mission Militaire Française attaché à l’Armée Britannique – April 1917
There were two main organisational elements to the MMF by this date.
• Bureau des Opérations – Général Pierre des Vallières (Tactics and Military Matters)
• Direction des Services (DS) – Lieutenant-Colonel Reynaud (Administration)
With the expansion of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), there was a concomitant need to expand the MMF. As the BEF grew, its organisational structure saw more divisions arriving on the Western Front and the need for more army corps headquarters to control them. These corps were, in turn, under the management of armies. There were five British armies within the BEF by mid-1916. Each of these higher formations needed French liaison officers and interpreters. Interpreters were also needed at the brigade and battalion level.
Meanwhile, in January 1916, the Direction des Services (DS) was created. This took on the burden of counter-espionage work that included issuing passes, the surveillance of foreigners and civilians in the zone des armées (ZA) – the area under French military control, but which included the areas with British military presence – as well as all aspects of British relations with the civilian authorities and civilian population and the resourcing of the material needs of the British Army.
The responsibilities and attributions of the DS were separate and distinct from those of the Commandant de la Région du Nord (general discipline, maintenance of public order, Gardes Voies Communication (GVC) – for protection of Lines of Communication, administration of bases/depots, recruitment, etc).
The key to an understanding of the DS is to see its responsibilities through the lens of the BEF – its work was to ensure that the more general issues were more tightly focused on the British military in its ‘occupation’ of Northern France. As an example, matters of discipline concerning British troops in the BEF sector, such as allegations of crimes against French people or property, were pursued from the French perspective by the DS. Conversely, the DS facilitated investigations by the British Provost Marshal and military police of alleged offences by British troops.
• Because of its responsibilities, it was vital that the DS worked hand-in-hand and maintained good relations with its British counterparts.
• In March 1916, the responsibilities of the DS were devolved to an extent to Sous-Direction du Service (SDS) each attached to the BEF’s then-four armies.
• 348 Officers and 10,209 troops were under the command of the Mission, including Gendarmerie, Bataillons d’Étapes*, companies of road-menders, quarry workers and agricultural workers, etc. There were 340 personnel (254 drivers) in the Service Automobile de la Mission at this time.
* A term used for pioneer, labour and ancillary units beyond the front-line zone.
The next two tables give some indication of what a large undertaking the MMF by this stage – especially if considered against the tabler in the earlier post in this series covering August 1914.
Officers of the Mission Militaire Française attaché à l’Armée Britannique as at April 1917
| Général | 1 |
| Directeur de l’Intendance | 1 |
| Colonels or Lieutenant-Colonels | 5 |
| Commandants | 17 |
| Capitaines | 36 |
| Lieutenants | 28 |
| Sous-Lieutenants | 27 |
| Interprêtes | 106 |
| TOTAL | 221 |
Source: Sénat Français Commission de l’Armée Procès-Verbaux 69 S 123. Rapport fait à la Commission de l’Armée Sur le Compte-Rendu de Visites faites aupres: 1°) de la Mission Militaire française près l’Armée Britannique … par M. Boudenoot.
1914-1918 Commission de l’armée 69 S 123 – Sénat (senat.fr)
Other Ranks of the Mission Militaire Française attaché à l’Armée Britannique as at April 1917
| Service armé | Service auxiliaire | Inaptes | R.A.T (réserve de l’armée territoriale) | Engagés Spéciaux | Totaux | Observations | |
| Interprétes | 704 | 231 | 110 | 1,053 | – | 2,098 | |
| Secrétaires | 1 (a) | 79 | 1 | 45 | 2 | 128 | (a) père de cinq enfants |
| Plantons * | “ | 18 | “ | 8 | “ | 26 | |
| Télégraphistes (sapeurs manipulants et ouvriers des lignes) | 20 | “ | “ | 1 | “ | 21 | |
| Totaux | 725 | 328 | 111 | 1,107 | 2 | 2,273 |
Source: Sénat Français Commission de l’Armée Procès-Verbaux 69 S 123. Rapport fait à la Commission de l’Armée Sur le Compte-Rendu de Visites faites aupres: 1°) de la Mission Militaire française près l’Armée Britannique … par M. Boudenoot.
1914-1918 Commission de l’armée 69 S 123 – Sénat (senat.fr)
It’s very clear that, as their ally’s army grew in size and importance, the French Army’s high command invested more effort in building a larger organisation intended to maintain good relations at all levels between the two nations’ armed forces. In a planned later post, there’ll be an opportunity to compare this structure with that created with the same intent with the American Army. In the latter case, there was the benefit of the experience of three years of war on which to build, as well as, effectively, a blank canvas to work with. One thing that is extremely relevant, but no table can capture, is the importance of goodwill underpinning any such arrangements.
It’s also worthwhile noting that this table suggests the vast majority of interpreters were from the Service armé and the Territorial reserve, supplemented by the Service auxiliaire – recruitment from within the pool of men with military experience. By contrast, on the outbreak of war anyone (well, any man) with linguistic skills of whatever age and background seems to have been accepted for the role of interpreter – sometimes in a very haphazard and unstructured way – even down to the ‘uniform’ (or lack of it) for some of these men.
The accuracy of these figures from a report by a French senator needs verifying if possible but the point about an increasing commitment to the maintenance and development of effective military liaison and communication between the two nations is well made, along with the issues associated with an ally’s army occupying much of the most northerly region of France.
Next, more on the men who served in with the MMF.
Debout les Morts! 