War 14-18: a rare photo of an Algerian spahi praying in the Oise in 1916
On this Monday, November 11, 2024, when France commemorates the armistice of 1918, signed in the clearing of Rhetondes, in the forest of Compiègne (Vosges), which marked the end of the “Great Butchery” that was the First World War, we publish the photo of an Algerian spahi praying in the Oise in 1916.
A beautiful and rare photo that we never tire of contemplating and that it would be good to share widely, especially in these deadly times when Western imperialism is once again wreaking havoc, to the point of making people gasp. ‘History tragically, terribly.
On the occasion of the celebration of the centenary of the hell of the Battle of Verdun (February 21-December 19, 1916), Kamel Mouellef, great-grandson of an Algerian rifleman who died at the front in 1918 and author of two comics which pay tribute to the sacrifice of the North African and African riflemen engaged in the French army during the two world tragedies, sent us this cliché.
The spahis were soldiers of cavalry units belonging to the Army of Africa which depended on the French army. A 5th regiment of Algerian spahis was created during the general mobilization of August 1914. These valiant fighters were sent to the front as soon as hostilities broke out.
A very moving spiritual parenthesis of great historical value, on a bloody battlefield.
