French Foreign Legion information. An online project dedicated to the famous Foreign Legion.
A very nice photo slideshow made by an Italian ex-legionnaire who served in the French Foreign Legion between August 1987 and August 1992, in the majority in the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP).
Read moreSlideshow: 5 years in the Foreign Legion 1987 – 1992
On October 19, 2014, in front of the Arc de Triomphe (Arch of Triumph) at the western end of the Champs-Élysées in Paris, 58 young volunteers from the 1st Platoon, 2nd Company of Enlisted Volunteers (2e CEV) of the 4th Foreign Regiment (4e RE) received their Képi blanc and became legionnaires during the White Kepi Ceremony (Remise de Képi blanc). The ceremony took place in front of the Arc de Triomphe for the first time in the Legion’s history.
Some informal images from the farm (ferme) of the 1st Engaged Volunteer Company (1re CEV) of the 4th Foreign Regiment (4e RE), one of the three farms where volunteers spend their first 4 weeks of the French Foreign Legion’s four-month basic training.
On 8 September 2014, the Foreign Legion’s new commander, Major General Jean Maurin visited the 4th Foreign Regiment (4e RE). The 4e RE serves as a training unit of the Legion, based in Castelnaudary, southern France. Major General Jean Maurin spent 2 days in the 4e RE. Among other things, he visited the farms, where young volunteers start their basic training.
See the history and images of the 4th Foreign Infantry Regiment (4e REI), the last Foreign Legion regiment that served in Morocco. Constituted in late 1920 and nicknamed as the Regiment of Morocco, the 4e REI participated in the pacification of that country, as well as in the campaigns in Syria and Lebanon, in Madagascar, in Indochina, and eventually in the Algerian War. It was disbanded in 1964. The current training regiment of the Legion took over the title, history and traditions of the 4e REI.
Between February 25 and 27, because of their departure to the Central African Republic (CAR) in mid-March, legionnaires from the 1st Company of the 2nd Foreign Engineer Regiment (2e REG) of the Foreign Legion participated in the Oubangui exercise, which took part in Sault, a small commune in the Vaucluse department of southeastern France.
Read more2e REG: Oubangui exercise and “Remise de Képi blanc”
An interesting Brazilian documentary on the French Foreign Legion, showing, besides other things, the very rare images of advanced training courses of this legendary unit. It was released 36 years ago, in January 1978 by Globo, the second-largest commercial TV network in the world.
Jean-Yves Le Drian, the current French Minister of Defence, visited the 4th Foreign Regiment (4e RE), the training unit of the French Foreign Legion on Friday, October 25. He also met the new recruits being trained at the “ferme“. See nice photos.
Read moreDefence Minister visited the 4e RE and its new recruits
Starting in June 1962, training units of the French Foreign Legion were based in Corsica, where they had arrived from Algeria. In October 1976, they left the island and moved to mainland France to be stationed in the town of Castelnaudary, in the southern part of the country.
Read more1976: Transfer of Basic Training Units from Corsica to Castelnaudary
This Monday, September 23, while en route to the Caylus military camp for a training exercise, a platoon from the 2nd Enlisted Volunteer Company (2e CEV) of the 4th Foreign Regiment, the training unit of the French Foreign Legion, was involved in an accident near the exit of Verfeil-sur-Seye, a commune in the Midi-Pyrénées region of southern France.
In this single-vehicle crash, a truck carrying three cadres and 16 fresh legionnaires, who had only two months of service, was traveling from Castelnaudary to Caylus. The vehicle veered off the road and collided with a retaining wall. A total of 12 legionnaires and one NCO were injured. The NCO, a 24-year-old sergeant, fell from the front passenger seat and sustained serious injuries. He was airlifted in critical condition to the hospital in Rodez. The injured legionnaires, who had less severe injuries, were hospitalized in Montauban, Albi, and Villefranche-de-Rouergue.
Authorities reported that the legionnaire-driver, while checking the other trucks in his rearview mirror to ensure they were following, lost control of the vehicle as he was making a turn off the road.
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Related posts:
Tragic accident involving Foreign Legion recruits in August 2000
4e RE: Fresh legionnaires obtaining their Képi blanc
4e RE: Exercise at Caylus 2014
4e RE visited by the Foreign Legion’s commander
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