151e Régiment d'Infanterie de Ligne (1914-18)

Soldiers of the 151e R.I., ca. 1917-18
151st
Battle Acclaims


Medals


Citations


Pictures of the Regiment


The Regimental Colors


March of the 151st R.I.

First-Hand Accounts

Faces of the 151st Dead




  • In August 1914, the 151e R.I. is garrisoned at Verdun; 84e Brigade d'Infanterie; 42e Division d'Infanterie, 6e Corps d'Armée, IVe Armée (Ruffey).

    42e D.I.
    83e B.I.             84e B.I.
    94e R.I., 8e and 19e B.C.               151e and 162e R.I., 16e B.C.
    Compagnie 6/2 of the 9e Régiment de Génie (Engineers)
  • Assigned to 32e C.A. in October 1914, which it will remain in for the majority of the war. Attached to 42e D.I. from August 1914 to December 1916. Transferred to the 69e D.I. from January 1917 to November 1918.

  • 69e D.I. disbanded 15 January 1919, 151e reorganized into 84e B.I. and rejoined 42e D.I.

  • The 151e was composed of men primarily from the Meuse and Ardennes departments. However, when mobilized in 1914, its ranks were completed by men from the departments of the North, the Havre and Paris.

  • The regiment went by a number of nick-names including, the "Verdun Regiment" and (after the Battle of the Somme) the "Rancourt Regiment." However, "le Beau 15-1" or just "le 15-1" were perhaps more common.

  • The war lasted 53 months, with the 151e in action for all but six of these. Total casualties for the regiment were roughly 300 officers and over 16,000 men, of which over 100 officers and 6,000 men were killed.* In other words, the regiment sufferred a casualty rate of more than 600% (and a death rate of more than 200%) from 1914-1918.

    *Note: The 1919 historical cites the total number of casualties at 12,000, including over 5,000 killed. The above figure comes from the 1997 historical.



    Campaign History of the 151st R.I. - 1914-1918


    ~ 1914 ~

    14 July: The 151, along with the 42nd DI, conducts maneuvers at the Verdun training grounds in front of a nervous crowd of Meusians. The division prepares to depart for the Chalôns maneuvers camp as it does each year.

    28 July: While en route to Chalôns, the 151 receives order to proceed back to its barracks at Verdun (Miribel) and to place itself in a state of readiness for war.

    31 July: The 151 leaves Miribel and heads off to the Frontier (Lorraine) to help cover the border along with the rest of the 42nd DI. On 2 August, the general mobilization is decreed, and France and Germany are at war.

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