Méhariste

Méhariste is a French word that roughly translates to camel cavalry. The word is most commonly used as a designation of military units.

France created a méhariste camel corps as part of the Armée d'Afrique in the Sahara in 1902, replacing regular units of Algerian spahis and tirailleurs earlier used to patrol the desert boundaries. The newly raised Compagnies Méharistes were originally recruited mainly from the Chaamba nomadic tribe and commanded by officers of the French Affaires Indigènes (Native Affairs Bureau). Each company of Méharistes comprised six officers, 36 French non-commissioned officers and troopers, and 300 Chaamba troopers. Their bases were at Tabelbala, Adrar, Ouargla, Fort Polignac and Tamanrasset.

With their local tribal links plus mobility and flexible tactics, the Compagnies Méharistes provided an effective means of policing the desert. A similar camel corps was subsequently raised to cover the southern Sahara, operating from French West Africa and falling within the Armee Coloniale. From the 1930s onwards the Méharistes formed part of the Compagnies Sahariennes which also included motorised French and (from 1940) Foreign Legion units. Following the establishment of a French Mandate over Syria in 1920, three méhariste companies were organised in that country as part of the French Army of the Levant.

During World War II méhariste companies organised as "nomad groups" saw service against Axis forces in the Fezzan and southern Tunisia. At the end of the war the Compagnies Sahariennes resumed their role as desert police. Operating in wide-ranging platoons of 50 to 60 men under French officers, they administered local laws, provided some basic medical assistance, inspected wells and reported on the state of pastures in the fertile oasis areas.

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