3e REI: 2017 Fourragere Day in Guiana | French Foreign Legion Information

In mid-September 2017, the 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment (3e REI) commemorated the 99th anniversary of the battle on the Hindenburg Line. See the video showing the regimental holiday at Quartier Forget, the regiment’s base in Kourou, French Guiana.

On September 14, 1918, during World War I, a battle in northern France to seize the Hindenburg Line came to an end. It had started on September 2, and the RMLE (Foreign Legion Marching Regiment, predecessor of today’s 3e REI) took part in it. Over those twelve days, French troops launched several attacks to storm the well-known German defensive position, and the RMLE was the most active unit among them. It had 275 men killed, including 10 officers, and 1,118 wounded.

For this action, the regiment received its ninth citation in the orders of the Army and was awarded the double fourragère in the colors of the Legion of Honor and the 1914–1918 Croix de Guerre (War Cross). September 14 has since become the regimental holiday, known as Fourragère Day and commemorated annually. This year, Fourragère Day was held on September 16–17.

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