However despite this the French had only sent 90,000 men to France by November 1917, of which 50,000 had come in the month of October 1916. After November 1917, new measures were taken up and another 72,000 men were raised from the black French Africans including the first 10,000 from French Equatorial Guinea . In general however the conscription went over so poorly that men were not only fleeing into the bush or the desert to try and escape the French but many men were even fleeing into other nations. For example it is estimated that up to 35,000 Senegalese men took refuge in the Gambia and Portuguese Guinea during the course of the war . As well there were several revolts against conscription in French Black Africa. These occurred in February 1915, November 1915 and April 1916. These revolts were quickly put down . In total of the 140,000 men from Black French Africa who went to battle in Western Europe about 30,000 of them or 22% of them became fatalities . .
Algerians were the most common of all African nations to be found fighting in Western Europe. Algeria sent over in excess of 250,000 men to help serve in the French Army. As in French Black Africa conscription was a key factor in getting most of these men to fight in Europe. However unlike French Black Africa there were people here who supported the war in Europe and actually signed up, this helps explain the large number of men who served for France. It also helps explain why there was only one small revolt, in the remote region of the Aures Mountains in1916 . The Algerians were so numerous in fact that they had three different divisions fighting in Western Europe. They were the African Light Infantry, the Algerian Riflemen and the Zouaves . .
All three of these regiments saw action in some important battles including the Battle of Ypres in April 1915 where gas was first used on the western front. The Algerians were right at the base of the attack when the Germans opened 5730 cylinders on the Algerian lines .
