PHOTOS: 1st Battalion 2e REI in Vietnam’s Faifo around 1950

Another part of the PHOTOS series. See a small set of nice pictures taken in French Indochina’s Vietnam from 1950 to early 1951, during the First Indochina War (1946-1954). These few photographs belonged to a German legionnaire serving with the 1st Battalion, 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment (2e REI) there at the time.

The 1st Battalion 2e REI was organized in December 1948 in Algeria’s Nouvion, one of the instruction centers of the Foreign Legion, after the original 1st Battalion that had served in Indochina from early 1946 was inactivated in Algeria in May 1948. This return to North Africa was a very unusual event among the Legion regiments of the time, even in the 2e REI itself. In fact, the remaining battalions of the latter regiment continued operating in Indochina against the Viet Minh movement without a pause.

Anyway, the new 1st Battalion under Major Le Toulec left Africa and landed in Indochina in early 1949. It was stationed in Annam (present-day Central Vietnam), south of Tourene (now Da Nang). This city was about 300 miles (500 km) north of Nha Trang, the 2e REI HQ. Its companies and platoons occupied different posts between Faifo (Hoi An), Quang Nam (Dien Ban), and Ai Nghia, roughly defining the southern front line of the Tourane sector. The legionnaires were mainly tasked with maintaining order in the sector, as well as patrolling the main routes and keeping them safe and passable. This included the Colonial Road 1 (RC1) going from Tourane to Hue, and the railway passing alongside it. The 2e REI legionnaires conducted from time to time operations along with their comrades from the 1er REC, the cavalry regiment garrisoned in Tourane.

In February 1950, Major Le Toulec was killed during an ambush of a convoy.

In March 1951, the 1st Battalion was relieved in the sector by the 4th Battalion 2e REI.

Most of the pictures show Faifo, whose historic center is recognized as a well-preserved example of a Southeast Asian trading port (registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site). It is dominated by a footbridge dating from the late 16th century: the Japanese Bridge.

As usual, the photos were provided to our website and published with the kind permission of Krzysztof Schramm, historian of Poland’s Foreign Legion veteran association, A.A.A.L.E. de Pologne, and author of the awesome book Zygmunt Jatczak: I Regret Nothing.

Click on the images to enlarge them: