Sousse was the very first garrison town of the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er REC). It is lying on the eastern coast of Tunisia, North Africa. This country was part of the French Empire between 1881 and 1956.

In 1921 the headquarters of the 1er REC was stationed here. The regiment stayed in the town until October 1940, when it moved to Oujda in Morocco. It returned to Sousse in November 1955, after the end of the First Indochina War (1946-1954). However, the 1er REC had to leave its old garrison town for good the following year, in December 1956.

In February 1952, the 3rd Foreign Parachute Battalion (3e BEP, later 3e REP) maintained order in Sousse during anti-insurgent Operation Mars.

Prior to WWII, a War Memorial to commemorate the fallen Foreign Legion cavalrymen was raised in Sousse. In 1952, it was transferred to Morocco, to be guarded by the 2e REC. Since mid-2010s, the monument has been placed within the 1er REC’s camp at Carpiagne, southern France.