In Memoriam: Prince Aage of Denmark

On February 29, 1940, Prince Aage, Count of Rosenborg, died after a short illness. A famous French Foreign Legion officer, he was born in Denmark to the Danish royal family. This article was written to honor his memory.

Prince Aage, Count of Rosenborg, was a Danish prince and officer of the French Foreign Legion. He was born on June 10, 1887, and was the eldest child of Prince Valdemar of Denmark, a naval officer. Prince Aage’s paternal grandfather was King Christian IX, who ruled Denmark at the time. Incidentally, Prince Aage’s mother, Princess Marie d’Orléans, was the great-granddaughter of French King Louis Philippe I, who established the Foreign Legion in 1831.

In 1901, at the age of 14, Prince Aage of Denmark met Lieutenant Christian Selchauhansen, a Danish officer of the French Foreign Legion, who gave him a pewter figurine of a Foreign Legionnaire as a gift. Two years later, Lieutenant Selchauhansen was killed during the Battle of El Moungar in western Algeria.

In 1909, Prince Aage joined the Danish Army. He became an officer in 1913. In 1914, because he had married Matilda Calvi dei conti di Bergolo (a noblewoman from an Italian aristocratic family of the House of Savoy) without the legally required permission of the Danish king, Prince Aage renounced his royal status and the title “of Denmark.” He became the Count of Rosenborg. The next year, his son Valdemar Alexander was born.

In 1918, at the end of World War I, Prince Aage obtained permission to leave the Danish Royal Guards and serve with the French Army. He joined the 16th Chasseurs Battalion (16e BC) in Metz with the rank of captain.

In 1922, having always been fascinated by the Foreign Legion and troubled Africa, Prince Aage was assigned to the 2e REI in Morocco, the same unit with which Lieutenant Selchauhansen had served. Between March and October 1923, the prince participated in anti-insurgent military operations in the Middle Atlas, in the north of the country. As a liaison officer within his assigned battalion and, later, within the Operations Group’s HQ, he was involved in several actions, including the Battles of Bou Arfa, Bou Khamoudj, Ait Maklouf, Immouzer, and Djebel Idlan. As a result, Captain Aage was cited at the level of the French Forces in Morocco.

In 1924, following Lieutenant Selchauhansen’s example, Prince Aage asked to serve in a Mounted Company, the then-elite mule-mounted light infantry units of the Foreign Legion (predecessors to today’s paratroopers). His request was granted and he was assigned to the 1st Mounted Company 2e REI.

A year later, he was called up to the French Forces in Morocco’s HQ to take part in the Rif War (1925-26) in northern Morocco. Prince Aage participated in the Battle of Bibane and received a citation for demonstrating “the best courage” and volunteering for “the most dangerous missions” under the fire of the first line.

Captain Aage accompanied the French foreign minister during a diplomatic trip to America in 1926. Thereafter, he studied for two years at the War School. In late 1928, the prince was back at the French HQ in Morocco. The next year, as the liaison officer of the 2e REI’s colonel, he took part in the Battles of Azarar Fal, Bou Adiane, and Bou Anghzir. He was cited for the third time.

Between 1930 and 1933, Captain Aage served with the 3rd Cavalry Division in France. Back in Africa, he joined Colonel Trinquet’s Motorized Group (consisting primarily of Foreign Legion motorized units) to participate in the lesser-known Anti-Atlas Campaign in southern Morocco. This was the very first fully motorized campaign of the French Army. The latter action also successfully ended the Pacification of Morocco (1907-34).

In 1935, Prince Aage was promoted to major and rejoined the Foreign Legion. He went first to the Legion’s HQ in Algeria and then to the 3e REI in Morocco. From November to December 1935, he temporarily commanded the 2nd Battalion 3e REI.

In November 1937, Major Aage was appointed commander of the 1st Battalion 3e REI in Ksar Es Souk, south-central Morocco. He stayed with this unit for the rest of his short life.

In February 1940, at the beginning of World War II, he fell ill with pleurisy. He died shortly afterward, in Taza, Morocco, on February 29. Prince Aage was 52 years old. A large funeral, in which his unit participated, took place in Taza on March 3. The next day, he was buried in Casablanca.

In March 1947, following his dying wish, Prince Aage’s remains were transported from Casablanca to the Legion cemetery in Sidi Bel Abbès, Algeria. (At the time, this was the Legion’s main garrison town.) The transport was carried out by the 4e REI and accompanied by his son Valdemar, Count of Rosenborg, his brother Prince Viggo, and his sister Princess Margareth.

After the end of the Algerian War and Algeria’s independence, in 1962, the Foreign Legion moved its headquarters to Aubagne near Marseille, in mainland France. This included the transfer of the remains of three men who represented the legionnaires, the French officers, and the foreign officers left behind in Sidi Bel Abbès.

Therefore, Prince Aage’s remains were transported to France along with the remains of famed General Paul-Frédéric Rollet, “Father of the Legion,” and Legionnaire Zimmermann, the last legionnaire of the 1er RE who was killed in action in Algeria. They are buried at the Foreign Legion cemetery in Puyloubier, not far from Aubagne.

Wounded in action, Prince Aage was awarded many decorations, including the Legion of Honor, two War Crosses of the TOE (Foreign Theater Operations), the Colonial Medal, and the Order of Ouissam Alaouite.

In 1936, he published a book called Souvenirs de la Légion (Memories of the Foreign Legion).

 

Prince Aage - France - Metz - 1920
Prince Aage is awarded the Legion of Honor. Metz in France, Nov. 1920.

Prince Aage - Legion Etrangere - Camerone - Ksar Es Souk - 1939
Major Aage (left) with his legionnaires from the 1st Battalion 3e REI in Ksar Es Souk, during a funny challenge on Camerone Day (April 30), 1939.
Prince Aage - Legion Etrangere - funeral - Taza - 1940
Prince Aage’s funeral procession. Taza, March 3, 1940.
Prince Aage - Legion Etrangere - funeral - Casablanca - 1940
Prince Aage’s remains during a ceremony at Casablanca, March 4, 1940.
Prince Aage - Foreign Legion Etrangere - Morocco - 1930s
Prince Aage as the 1st Battalion 3e REI commander.

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