Military History Photo Friday: Colonial Forts in Morocco

This shot shows the Casbah de la Cigogne, a 17th century Spanish fort protecting the harbor of Larache in Morocco. The coastline of Africa is studded with old colonial forts, many of which are falling into decay. This one is now a hangout for the local drug addicts. You can read more about the fort and the city it protected in a post about Larache I did for the Black Gate blog.

A view of the Casbah de la Cigogne from the seaside. Photo courtesy user Dans via Wikimedia Commons. When we were there the sun was right behind the fort so all I got was a silhouette. Timing is everything in photography!

Below is part of the 15th century Portuguese fortifications in Asilah, a notorious pirate haven on the Atlantic coast. For more on this cool spot, check out my Black Gate post on Asilah. I blog every Wednesday on Black Gate, usually on travel mixed in with the occasional book review or con report.

For more on colonial forts in Morocco and elsewhere, check out the excellent website Colonial Voyage. They have a good article on Portuguese forts in Morocco.

Military History Photo Friday: North African and Portuguese WWI Uniforms

One of the more unusual scenes in Trench Raiders, the World War One novel I'm currently writing, has some of the British troops meeting up with French Moroccan troops. When we think of the war, we tend to think of the British, French, and Germans, while in fact it was a world war. The European powers had vast colonies and they drew troops from these to help with the war effort. Also, many smaller countries jumped on the bandwagon. Few parts of the world remained untouched.

When I was in Brussels last month I got to visit that city's fine military museum. Of course they have a huge WWI section! Above is a uniform of a French Spahi, a colonial soldier from northwest Africa from 1914. Below is the uniform of a Portuguese infantryman from the 35th Battalion, 1917-1918.

The Moroccan troops were a mix of Berbers and Arabs. My characters get very curious about these troops because they've only heard of these folks from books and illustrated newspapers! By all accounts they fought well, although they were poorly supported by the French high command. At the Battle of the Aisne in 1914 the Moroccan regiments weren't even assigned any medical personnel. British medics had to take care of their wounded.

The Portuguese didn't come into the war until 1916 and didn't arrive at the Western Front until the following year. Poorly trained and inexperienced, they fared badly and broke in the face of a large German offensive in April 1918.

For more pics of the museum's WWI collection, check out this article I wrote for Black Gate.