In February 1976 legionnaires of the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) and the 13th Demi-Brigade of the Foreign Legion (13e DBLE) were involved in the rescue of 31 children in Loayada, a village on the border between today’s Djibouti and Somalia. The children were kidnapped in Djibouti, capital of the then French Territory of Afars and Issas (TFAI, formerly French Somaliland, today’s Djibouti), by four rebels from the Somali Coast Liberation Front (Front de Libération de la Côte des Somalis, FLCS), a pan-Somali guerrilla organization created in the 1960s and supported by the Somali government.
13e DBLE: History of the Legion’s only Demi-brigade
See the history and images of the French Foreign Legion’s only Demi-brigade (Half-brigade), 13e DBLE. This famous, well-known unit of the Legion was established in 1940 in Algeria, to participate in the WWII. Later that year, it became the first ever unit of the Free French Forces (FFL) of general de Gaulle. In 2011, as the last unit of the Legion, the Demi-brigade left Africa.
Read more13e DBLE: History of the Legion’s only Demi-brigade
13e DBLE will be stationed in France in 2016
In 2016, the 13th Demi-Brigade of the Foreign Legion (13e DBLE) will move from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to be stationed in France, for the first time in the regiment’s history. The 13e DBLE is one of the last two Foreign Legion’s regiments which have never been stationed in Europe (together with 3e REI).
2e REP: IDEX 2015 Exhibition in Abu Dhabi
The legionnaires from the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) of the French Foreign Legion took part in IDEX 2015, the International Defence Exhibition and Conference taking place in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
13e DBLE: Djibouti 2008-09
Nice and interesting private images showing military courses within the 13th Demi-Brigade of the Foreign Legion (13e DBLE), while still being stationed in Djibouti, a country located in the peninsula in Northeast Africa.
Rare Foreign Legion’s photos from the 1980s & Gulf War
Chad, Djibouti, Mayotte and the Gulf War… See the interesting slideshows created by Ch. R., a former legionnaire and NCO of the French Foreign Legion, who served in the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er REC) during the 1980s and 1990s. Hundreds of rare, cool photos from places known by almost all legionnaires and from the Gulf War 1990-91.
Read moreRare Foreign Legion’s photos from the 1980s & Gulf War
13e DBLE: How to avoid the danger of IED
Yesterday, on May 28, the Foreign Legion launched a video showing an instruction to avoid the danger of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) during military operations. The instruction took place in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a garrison of the 13th Demi-Brigade of the Foreign Legion (13e DBLE), in March 2014.
13e DBLE: Desert exercise
In March 2014, an exercise took part at the Regimental camp of the 13th Demi-Brigade of the Foreign Legion (13e DBLE), based in the desert of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a country located in the southeast end of the Arabian Peninsula, Southwest Asia, bordering the Persian Gulf.
Unique photos: 13e DBLE, 4e RE and 2e REI about 35 years ago
Three videoclips, created and shared on YouTube by a former legionnaire of French nationality, with a large number of nice photos from the French Foreign Legion, made approximately 35 years ago (late 1970s, early 1980s).
Read moreUnique photos: 13e DBLE, 4e RE and 2e REI about 35 years ago