Les Africains

Born into a family of musicians, Félix Boyer (1890-1980) trained at the Paris Conservatoire with Xavier Leroux and Paul Fauchet, and took conducting lessons at the Schola Cantorum with Vincent d'Indy. He wrote the song Boire un petit coup c'est agréable (1910). Promoted to conductor in 1914, he took part in the entire war and continued his military career after the war. Prisoner in 1940 and liberated in 1941, he left for Algiers. In 1941, as head of the regional music of the Chantiers de la Jeunesse in French North Africa, and then of the music of the Provisional Government of the French Republic in Algiers, he revived the Chant de la Division Marocaine created in 1915. With new lyrics, Le Chant de guerre des Africains became the anthem of Gal de Lattre de Tassigny's 1st Army. During the ceremonies commemorating the 1914-1918 War, it is essential to remember the contribution of the so-called "Moroccan" Division, made up of Algerian and Tunisian Tirailleurs, Zouaves and Legionnaires, not Moroccan soldiers. This Division distinguished itself particularly during the Battle of the Marne (September 1914) and the Battle of Artois (May 1915). All its regiments were cited in the Army Order and, by the end of the conflict, its ranks included some of the most decorated units in the French army. It was the only division whose flags were all awarded the Légion d'honneur during the First World War.