Mémorial de l'armée noire

Inaugurated in 1994, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the landing in Provence, this monument was inspired by the first "Monument to the Heroes of the Black Army" erected in Reims in 1. In 1924, the Committee to the Heroes of the Black Army was created in Paris. Placed under the high patronage of the French State, its mission was to erect in France and Africa a monument to the memory of the indigenous soldiers who died for France during the First World War. The cities of Reims and Bamako were quickly chosen. On October 1921, 29, André Maginot, Minister of War, came to lay the first stone. It was inaugurated on July 1922, 13 by Edouard Daladier, Minister of Colonies, and in the presence of the two African deputies of the National Assembly: Blaise Diagne, deputy of Senegal and Gratien Candace, deputy of Guadeloupe.

This monumental sculpture was made to pay tribute to the Senegalese Tirailleurs who defended the city during the First World War. It represents a group of African soldiers from the colonial army corps gathered behind a white officer carrying the French flag. A similar monument, from the same mold, was erected in Bamako on January 10, 1924, then capital of French Sudan, and is still in place. The Reims monument, the work of the sculptor Paul Moreau Vautier, was destroyed by the Germans in 1940. Since 2013, a new monument has been built in Reims, but with a different base.

During the First World War, nearly 200000 soldiers from "French West Africa" ​​fought in the French army, 30000 of whom died. The federation represented 8 French colonies in West Africa between 1895 and 1958: Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan (which became Mali), Guinea, Ivory Coast, Niger, Upper Volta (which became Burkina Faso), Togo and Dahomey (which became Benin).

The Fréjus memorial, which stands on the seafront, was erected by the Association of Friends of the Marine Troops Museum, with the support of the Ministry of Defense and the City of Fréjus. It is dedicated to all the African troops who have valiantly served under the French flag for over a century and of which Fréjus was the largest garrison. The installation of this garrison is due to General Gallieni, who owned a large building in Fréjus called "La Gabelle".

The statue is made of bronze, the work of the sculptor Yvon Guidez, a student of César. This work was cast in Gliwice in Poland. It was inaugurated by François Léotard, at the time Minister of Defense and Mayor of Fréjus.

The epitaph is signed by Léopold Sedar Senghor (1906 – 2001), Senegalese politician and writer, former President of the Republic of Senegal: “Passers-by, they fell fraternally united so that you remain French”