» history | French Foreign Legion Information

2e REI: History of the Foreign Legion’s longest-serving regiment

August 14, 2016 · Posted in 2rei, history

In 2016, the 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment (2e REI) of the French Foreign Legion commemorated the 175th Anniversary of its activation. The history of the 2e REI started in Algeria, in April 1841, when the French Foreign Legion divided into two parts. Its legionnaires fought in Algeria, Crimea, Italy, Mexico, French Indochina, Madagascar, Morocco, France, Chad, Iraq, ex-Yugoslavia, Ivory Coast, Mali or in the Central African Republic. Currently (2016), the 2e REI is also the largest regiment of the Foreign Legion.

40th Anniversary: 1976 Djibouti helicopter crash

May 25, 2016 · Posted in 2rei, history

40 years ago, on May 24, 1976, the French Foreign Legion suffered its worst losses in a single incident since the end of the Algerian War in 1962. In the then French Territory of the Afars and the Issas (today’s Djibouti), six of its legionnaires died during a helicopter crash. Nevertheless, the accident will be totally forgotten during next 40 years. On the internet, there is no article in French (still less in English) being concerned with the accident, which still remains the second deadliest incident for the French Foreign Legion since the Algerian War ended…

38th Anniversary of the Battle of Kolwezi

May 18, 2016 · Posted in 2rep, history, kolwezi

On 17 May 1978, the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) of the French Foreign Legion was put on alert to get involved in an emergency operation in Kolwezi, an important mining center located in the Katanga province of Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), the second largest country of Africa.

French Foreign Legion: 185th Anniversary

March 10, 2016 · Posted in history, legion

On March 10, 2016, the French Foreign Legion commemorates the 185th anniversary of its founding on March 10, 1831. That day, a decree of the Council of State ratified the royal ordinance signed by Louis Philippe, the King of the French, on March 9. In the Article 1re of this three-article ordinance, the king authorized to form a Legion of Foreigners (Légion d’Etrangers) inside France.

34th anniversary of the Mont Garbi accident

February 3, 2016 · Posted in 2rep, history

February 3. This day marks the 34th anniversary of the Mont Garbi accident, in which 29 members of the French Foreign Legion were killed, including a whole platoon of the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP). The accident occurred in Djibouti, Africa. For the Legion, the 3rd February 1982 remains the most tragic day since the end of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu (1954).

3e REI: History of the second most decorated French regiment

January 16, 2016 · Posted in 3rei, history

In November 2015, the 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment (3e REI) of the French Foreign Legion commemorated the 100th Anniversary of its activation. During campaigns in Europe, Morocco, Indochina and Algeria, this famous regiment received 16 unit citations, mentioned in the name of the Army. Because of that, the 3e REI remains the second most decorated unit within the French Army.

Museum: Foreign Legion Badges Exhibition

September 21, 2015 · Posted in history, legion

The Foreign Legion Museum, placed in Aubagne within Legion’s HQ of 1st Foreign Regiment (1er RE), organized a temporary exhibition dedicated to the badges/insignias of the French Foreign Legion from all decades. The exbition is opened to the public since September 18 and continues on view through 20 March 2016.

13e DBLE: History of the Legion’s only Demi-brigade

September 6, 2015 · Posted in 13dble, history

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.

The forgotten 1976 Djibouti accident

May 24, 2015 · Posted in history, legion

On May 24, 1976, the Legion suffered its worst losses in a single incident since the end of the Algerian War in 1962. In the then French colony of Djibouti, six of its legionnaires died. Nevertheless, the accident will be totally forgotten during next 40 years. On the internet, there is no article in French (still less in English) being concerned with the incident, which still remains the second deadliest incident for the French Foreign Legion since the Algerian War ended…

37th Anniversary of the Battle of Kolwezi

May 16, 2015 · Posted in 2rep, history, kolwezi

On 17 May 1978, the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) of the French Foreign Legion was put on alert to prepare to be sent to the Katanga province of Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), the country located in central Africa, to rescue the hundreds of European hostages captured by a group of some 1,500 Katangese rebels in the city of Kolwezi and to drive out the rebels from the city.

Disciplinary platoon of Corte: 40 years later

May 12, 2015 · Posted in history, legion

See images of the site of Saint Jean near Corte, Corsica, where a disciplinary platoon of the Foreign Legion, the Foreign Legion Trial Platoon (Section d’Epreuve de la Légion Etrangère, SELE) was based until the late 1970s.