55 years ago, in 1961, the 1st Foreign Parachute Regiment (1er REP) of the French Foreign Legion was disbanded at lightning speed by then French president De Gaulle, because of its participation in the Generals’ Putsch of Algiers in late April 1961. To commemorate this famous and strictly disciplined unit, two times annihilated in combat and finally killed by a political decision, I re-designed the badge of 1er REP and published it in our store…
40th Anniversary: 1976 Djibouti helicopter crash
40 years ago, on May 24, 1976, the French Foreign Legion suffered its worst losses in a single incident since the end of the Algerian War in 1962. In the then French Territory of the Afars and the Issas (today’s Djibouti), six of its legionnaires died during a helicopter crash. Nevertheless, the accident will be totally forgotten during next 40 years. On the internet, there is no article in French (still less in English) being concerned with the accident, which still remains the second deadliest incident for the French Foreign Legion since the Algerian War ended…
38th Anniversary of the Battle of Kolwezi
On 17 May 1978, the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) of the French Foreign Legion was put on alert to get involved in an emergency operation in Kolwezi, an important mining center located in the Katanga province of Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), the second largest country of Africa.
3e REI: Camerone 2016 in French Guiana
On April 30, 2016, legionnaires from the Foreign Legion’s 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment (3e REI), the unit based in French Guiana, commemorated the 153rd Anniversary of the Battle of Camerone.
Foreign Legion: Camerone Day 2016
Every year, the French Foreign Legion commemorates the anniversary of the Battle of Camerone, the most famous event in its history. Also in 2016, on April 30, Camerone Day, the officers, NCOs and legionnaires of the Foreign Legion commemorated the 153rd Anniversary of the battle. See Camerone Day videos from several Legion regiments.