The Moroccan Goums: Tribal Warriors in a Modern War

by Edward L. Bimberg

Overview

Bimberg provides a military history of the Moroccan Goums, the knife-wielding irregular troops who distinguished themselves, fighting under French command in Tunisia, Italy, France and Germany during World War II. Recruited from the hill tribes of Morocco's Atlas Mountains, the Goums were garbed throughout the war in the traditional djellaba of their homeland and were armed with long sharp knives, in addition to rifles, machine-guns and mortars. They terrified the enemy not only by their ferocity, but by their odd appearance. Their particular skill in mountain warfare prompted General Patton to request their participation in his Sicilian campaign, and they fought brilliantly in this and many other key campaigns.

This account follows these forces from their native North African mountains across the battlefields of World War II to their final triumph in the Austrian Alps. It recounts their tactics and their strange traditions, as remarkable Beau Geste type French officers led them into battle. In Italy, 12,000 strong, they swarmed over the forbidding Aurunci range, which no one thought could possibly be penetrated by any sizable force under combat conditions, to spearhead the French forces in turbaning the German flank in Operation Diadem, the final drive on Rome. Their later exploits in the capture of Marseilles, in the Vosges Mountains, and on the drive to the Rhine were equally sensational.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313309137
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	07/30/1999
Series:	Contributions in Military Studies , #177
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.56(d)
Lexile:	1360L (what's this?)

About the Author

EDWARD L. BIMBERG came to know the ferocious Moroccan Goumiers while he served in North Africa during World War II./e After the war, he worked as an advertising agency copywriter, penning free-lance articles on military and equestrian topics in his free time. He has spent the last 30 years operating a series of riding schools while he continues to pursue his writing.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Mountain Snows, Desert Palms, Savage Tribes
A Legend Is Born
Italy—Triumph and Disgrace
At Last—France
Across the Rhine—The Last Laugh
In Retrospect
Epilogue
Appendices
Glossary
Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

A history of the military accomplishments of the Groups of Moroccan Tabors (GTMS). The GTMs, recruited by the French from the ranks of the defeated Moslem tribes that had fought the colonial conquest of Morocco, fought as infantry units against the Germans in W.W. II. The author follows the GTMs as they served in North Africa, Corsica, Italy, and France. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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