the first army was mainly composed of north african troops (maghrebis and french pied-noirs) drawn from the army of africa. these troops had played a major role in the liberation of corsica (september–october 1943) and the italian campaign (1943–44), with about 130,000 men engaged. during the french and german campaigns of 1944-45, these troops formed the core of the first army. in autumn 1944, first army comprised about 250,000 men, half of them indigenes (mahgrebian and black african) and half europeans from north africa. from september 1944 onward, 114,000 men of the french forces of the interior will be added to first army replacing many african troops. eventually more than 320,000 men will form the first army during its final advances in germany and austria.