French Foreign Legion information. An online project dedicated to the famous Foreign Legion.
In May 1955, a large semicircular building in southern France, containing 200 beds and modern medical and support facilities, was completed and inaugurated. It opened to wounded legionnaires as a center for their professional and social reintegration. As the Legion’s needs evolved after the 1950s, the institution adapted to new challenges, housing older, often solitary individuals facing personal hardships.
Read more70 years ago: A large center for Foreign Legion disabled veterans was completed
Between 1939 and 1945, the French Foreign Legion men saw nearly every front of the Second World War – from Norway and France to North Africa, the Middle East, Italy, mainland Europe, and the jungles of Indochina. They fought under both Vichy and Free French command in some of the war’s most challenging campaigns. Our new article traces the Legion’s complex role during the war, its internal transformations, battlefield engagements, and the legacy it carried into the postwar world.
Read more80 years ago: Second World War ended for legionnaires in Europe
Colonel Raphaël Vienot was a distinguished French officer who concluded his military career as a colonel in the French Foreign Legion during the Crimean War. One of the Legion’s most important figures in history, Vienot became renowned not only for his leadership abilities but also for the bravery and dedication he demonstrated in service to France, ultimately sacrificing his life during the night assault of May 1–2, 1855.
In early March 1915, a battalion of the French Foreign Legion was formed in Algeria to participate in the Allied campaigns in Southeastern Europe, including engagements in Gallipoli, Serbia, Greece, and Macedonia. Discover the harrowing journey of these nearly forgotten men, whose odyssey ultimately led them to Odessa, in what is now Ukraine…
Read more110 years ago: French Foreign Legionnaires in Southeastern Europe during World War I
85 years ago, on February 25, 1940, a Foreign Legion regiment was constituted in France. Its task was to defend the country against Nazi Germany during the first stage of the Second World War. A few weeks after its constitution, the men were heading for combat.
Read more85 years ago: Foreign Legion regiment was constituted in France
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.
Read morePHOTOS: 1st Battalion 2e REI in Vietnam’s Faifo around 1950
In 1854, fearing the growth of influence of the Russian Empire, the British and French decided to attack Russia’s main naval base in Crimea. To reinforce their expeditionary forces, both European powers agreed to recruit Swiss volunteers. Therefore, in mid-January 1855, a second Foreign Legion was created in France.
Read more170 years ago: Another Foreign Legion was created in France
A new part of the PHOTOS series. See a rare set of pictures taken in Syria in late April 1938. They show legionnaires of the 1st Foreign Infantry Regiment (1er REI; now 1er RE) during the most important holiday of the Foreign Legion (April 30), commemorating the famous 1863 Battle of Camerone.
85 years ago, in late 1939, the only Foreign Legion regiment to guard the French interests in the Middle East was organized, with its units stationed in Syria and Lebanon. Following the 1941 Syria-Lebanon Campaign against a British invasion, the regiment was inactivated. In 1949, it was reconstituted in Tunisia, North Africa, though it was ultimately disbanded in mid-1955.
Read more85 years ago: Foreign Legion’s only regiment in the Middle East was activated
Another part of the PHOTOS series. Today we share rare photographs presenting the 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment (3e REI) in 1965. At that time, the regiment was stationed in Madagascar, a large island in the Indian Ocean, located off the eastern coast of Southern Africa. The island was a French colony until 1960.
In Mayotte, Indian Ocean, the 5th Foreign Regiment (5e RE) was reactivated by reorganization and transformation of the former Foreign Legion Mayotte Detachment (DLEM), retaining the tasks and missions of the latter. The original 5e RE was inactivated in French Polynesia 24 years ago. To better introduce this newly reactivated regiment, the article mapping its history has been revised and fully rewritten.