01st Hussar

1st Hussar

1st Hussar

In 1720, under the reign of Louis XV, an outlawed Hungarian patriot, the Count of Bercheny, raised a regiment of "Houzards", which he put in the service of France. After having distinguished itself under the Ancien Régime, the regiment took part in the wars of the Revolution and then of the Empire, recording on its standard the victories of:Valmy 1792, Jemmapes 1792, Castiglione 1796, Eylau 1807. Then it was present on all the battlefields where France is fighting:Spain, Crimea, Algeria, Syria. In 1855 a new victory name enriched the standard:Sébastopol 1855. In 1870, he participated brilliantly in the charges of the Margueritte division in Sedan. From August 1914, he was in Lorraine. In 1917, the regiment fought in front of Verdun and participated in the final exploitation of 1918. Two new victories were written in the folds of its standard:La Montagne 1914, La Serre 1918. On May 10, 1940, it entered Belgium then covers retirement at the cost of heavy losses. He fought at Mont Dieu where 400 hussars stopped the advance of 5 German battalions for 3 days. Disbanded after the armistice, it was reborn in the resistance and participated in the liberation of France in the pocket of St-Nazaire. In March 1946, Bercheny left for Algeria where he became a paratrooper in the 25th Airborne Division. From 1948, one of its squadrons fought in Indochina. In 1956, he took part in operations in the Moroccan Rif and then in Algeria, in Constantine and eastern Algiers. He returned to France in July 1961, in Sedan, then, in November 1963, joined Tarbes, his current garrison. Today the 1st Parachute Hussar Regiment is the armored regiment of the 2nd Parachute Brigade. Since May 1978, he has taken part in numerous foreign missions. He is the holder of the Croix de Guerre 1914-1918 with vermeil star and the Croix de guerre 1939-1945 with palm.