Overview

This figure represents a soldier of the Fuerzas Regulares Indígenas (Native Regular Forces), the Moroccan infantry of the Spanish Army of Africa, in light campaign dress: red tarbush (fez), shirt with rolled sleeves, baggy khaki trousers, red sash, leg wraps, white alpargatas and brown leather equipment, with a long Spanish Mauser rifle and a bayonet at the belt, and a Moroccan pipe in his hand. It is a portrait of the corps rather than of one battle. The dress follows a soldier of the Group of Alhucemas (Grupo de Regulares de Alhucemas nº 5) as shown in a colour plate of 1936, with the red sash that some sources give to this Group (see Clothing).

Historical Context

The Regulares were created in Melilla by a royal order of 30 June 1911: units of Moroccan soldiers under Spanish officers, formed at a time when sending Spanish conscripts to the Protectorate in Morocco was unpopular at home. A further order of 31 July 1914 organised them into Groups, each made up of infantry Tabores (roughly battalion-sized units) and a cavalry Tabor. By July 1936 there were five Groups: Tetuán nº 1, Melilla nº 2, Ceuta nº 3, Larache nº 4 and Alhucemas nº 5. The Group of Alhucemas was the youngest: it was created by a royal order of 29 July 1922, after the Spanish defeat at Annual in 1921, with three infantry Tabores and one cavalry Tabor, and its first base was at Segangán.

In July 1936 the Army of Africa, of which the Regulares and the Spanish Legion were the best-known parts, joined the military rising. The Regulares crossed the Strait by sea and then by air bridge, and by early September all their units were in Spain. They fought on the Nationalist side, in the relief of the Alcázar of Toledo in late September 1936 (the II Tabor of Alhucemas was among the units that took part), on the approaches to Madrid in November 1936, and later at Jarama, Oviedo, Teruel, the Ebro and in Catalonia. Estimates of how many men served in the Regulares during the war are uncertain, around 60,000 to 70,000 in some fifty Tabores. This guide covers uniform and equipment only.

Sourced from El Faro de Ceuta: Los Regulares, la unidad más condecorada (I), Alabarda: Soldado indígena de Regulares, 1936, Uniformes españoles: Las tropas Regulares Indígenas 1936–1939 and Wikipedia: Regulares.

Clothing & Equipment

Tarbush (tarbuch): the red felt fez, the characteristic headgear of the corps. The tarbush and the turban were the most common headgear; this figure wears the fez.

Shirt and zaragüelles (trousers): the uniform was khaki in a sandy shade called garbanzo (chickpea). In warm weather the shirt was worn with the sleeves rolled up, with the typical Moroccan baggy trousers, cut like those of the Zouaves. (We show the shirt in an olive-khaki and the trousers in a lighter beige. Some sources describe both as the same garbanzo colour, one says the army adopted a darker greenish khaki in 1914. If you find a better reference, please tell us, see below.)

Faja (sash): a wide wool sash wound round the waist, in a colour assigned to each Group. This figure follows the Group of Alhucemas, whose characteristic sash is red according to one source on its history (created in 1922) and to a colour plate of 1936 showing an Alhucemas soldier. Red is also listed for Melilla. (Sources disagree: another gives dark green for Alhucemas, and a reader's comment on one of them says green was worn in 1956. Ceuta is also given as green by one source and blue by another. If you have a photograph or a source that settles the colour for 1936, please write to info@lindenmodels.com.)

Vendas (leg wraps / puttees): wool or cotton wraps on the lower leg, shown here in a dark olive-green. (The colour plate of 1936 that we follow shows them dark blue-black. The royal order of 1914 says the puttees matched the sash colour, but we have found no photograph or illustration showing red puttees, so we paint them dark. If you have a source on this, or find an error, please write to info@lindenmodels.com.)

Alpargatas: white, boot-shaped rope-soled shoes. The same word is explained in other guides in this series.

Leather equipment: a harness with ammunition pouches, a side pouch and a belt, in natural brown leather. The pouches are the special pattern also used by the Caballero Legionario figure (LMF-006), here not blackened. (The 1914 regulation calls the leather equipment of the Regulares “light” leather, so shades from light tan to mid brown are reasonable.)

Rifle and bayonet: the long Spanish Mauser, 7×57 mm, a bolt-action rifle with a five-round magazine, carried slung. The bayonet hangs from the belt.

Sebsi (pipe): a traditional Moroccan pipe, with a long wooden stem and a small clay bowl, held in the right hand. It is a personal item, not regulation issue. (We have not found a source showing Regulares soldiers carrying one; it is a detail of the sculpt, shown as an everyday North African object.)

Built from Linden Models' own reference photography and approved sculpt; some details may be refined once final box art is confirmed. If you find an error, or have a photograph or source that settles a point marked with a question above, please write to info@lindenmodels.com. We will check it and update this page.

Colours Overview

Colour names are generic mixing targets, not brand-specific codes. Swap in your preferred paint range (Vallejo, AK Interactive, Scale75, etc.).

Glossary

Regulares: short name of the Fuerzas Regulares Indígenas, Moroccan infantry and cavalry units in Spanish service, founded in 1911. “Regular” here means regular (permanent) troops, as opposed to irregular tribal levies.

Grupo / Tabor: a Group was the main Regulares unit; a Tabor was a battalion-sized unit inside it.

Tarbush (tarbuch): the red felt fez.

Zaragüelles: the loose, baggy trousers typical of Morocco and North Africa.

Faja: the wide sash worn round the waist, in a colour assigned to each Group.

Sebsi: a traditional Moroccan pipe with a long wooden stem and a small clay bowl.

Garbanzo: a sandy khaki-beige, the colour of the corps' uniform; the word means chickpea.

This glossary is shared across the Linden Models Spanish Civil War series. Terms already defined on other guide pages are not repeated here.

Historical References

This figure is a composite portrait of a Regulares infantryman in light campaign dress, rather than a depiction of one named individual or one engagement.

Sourced from El Faro de Ceuta, Alabarda: Soldado indígena de Regulares, 1936, Alabarda: Regulares, Uniformes españoles, Wikipedia: Regulares and Wikipedia: Mauser Model 1893.

Recommended Reading

• The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939 — Antony Beevor
• The Spanish Civil War: Reaction, Revolution, and Revenge — Paul Preston

Links carry the lindenmodels-20 Amazon Associates tag. We haven't yet verified a title devoted specifically to the Regulares in 1936 — Beevor and Preston both cover the Army of Africa's crossing and advance in the first months of the war.

Downloads

A print-ready PDF of this guide — handy to keep next to your paints while you work.

Other Figures in This Series