110 years ago, on 15 May 1911, during a French campaign to liberate the besieged ruler of Morocco, two platoons of the French Foreign Legion were involved in a fierce battle with numerous Moroccan rebels. Determined never to surrender to the enemy, only an officer and six legionnaires left alive after six hours of fighting. Although this battle is considered as the second Camerone, it has been almost forgotten over the years.
180 years ago: Motherhouse of the French Foreign Legion was born
180 years ago, in April 1841, the Foreign Legion in Algeria was split by order into two regiments. Thus, the current Motherhouse of the Legion was born. See an article dedicated to its history, supplemented by 80+ pictures and documents, some of them never published before.
Read more180 years ago: Motherhouse of the French Foreign Legion was born
80 years ago: Father of the Legion died
80 years ago, on 16 April 1941, one of the most important persons of the French Foreign Legion passed away. Nicknamed as the “Father of the Legion”, he created a modern institution and widely raised public awareness of his legionnaires. His time at the head of the Foreign Legion was known as the Legion’s golden age. However, the Second World War and his damaged health stopped the enormous work dedicated to the legionnaires and veterans.
2021 Foreign Legion Exhibition in Poznan
See nice pictures from an exhibition dedicated to the French Foreign Legion that was open in Poland this March. The exhibition is under the patronage of the Foreign Legion Veteran & Friend Association in Poland (AAALEP).
39th Anniversary: A Foreign Legion airborne platoon perished in Djibouti in February 1982
39 years ago, in early February 1982, a common French military exercise had to take place in Djibouti, a country in the Horn of Africa. A French Foreign Legion airborne platoon was to participate. The Legion paratroopers were ordered to carry out a routine training jump over a drop zone located nord-west of the capital. They boarded their aircraft and took off…
Read more39th Anniversary: A Foreign Legion airborne platoon perished in Djibouti in February 1982
113 years ago: Foreign Legion’s company decimated by a severe snowstorm
In early February 1908, an unexpected severe snowstorm surprised a Foreign Legion company on the edge of the Sahara, during their march to a remote military post at the Algeria-Morocco border. Within hours, the unmerciful element decimated the unit. Many legionnaires died, others had to undergo amputation of their frozen extremities.
Read more113 years ago: Foreign Legion’s company decimated by a severe snowstorm
100 years ago: A Foreign Legion regiment was constituted in Morocco
In the then French protectorate of Morocco in late 1920, four autonomous battalions of the French Foreign Legion that had spent the whole First World War there were grouped to form a new unit, nicknamed as the Regiment of Morocco. The new regiment had to go on with the pacification of the country while, at the same time, his men were the first legionnaires ever to operate in the Middle East…
Read more100 years ago: A Foreign Legion regiment was constituted in Morocco
Suppression of the 1947 Malagasy Uprising: Another forgotten campaign of the Legion
In late March 1947, three months after the regular war started in French Indochina, a bloody rebellion erupted in Madagascar, then a French colony annexed by France (with the predominant help of legionnaires) in 1896. To stop the massacres of French settlers and to restore order on that large island in the Indian Ocean, a battalion of the Foreign Legion left North Africa. Follow the link and learn more about another already forgotten campaign of the Legion, accompanied by 40+ original, still unpublished photos from private archives…
Read moreSuppression of the 1947 Malagasy Uprising: Another forgotten campaign of the Legion
Andrew J. Mitchell: Pictorial History of the French Foreign Legion in Indochina, 1927-1945
In late September 2020, a new book dedicated to the Foreign Legion and its history was released: Pictorial History of the French Foreign Legion in Indochina, 1927-1945. This pictorial book is another interesting work of Andrew J. Mitchell, an Irish author, amateur historian and a well-known Foreign Legion badge collector.
Read moreAndrew J. Mitchell: Pictorial History of the French Foreign Legion in Indochina, 1927-1945
Foreign Legion: Old documentaries – 1er RE, 13e DBLE, 1er REC, 2e REI
If you are interested in the French Foreign Legion, you can watch some rare and interesting French documentaries from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, recently posted on YT, showing the then Legion and legionnaires.
Read moreForeign Legion: Old documentaries – 1er RE, 13e DBLE, 1er REC, 2e REI
Zygmunt Jatczak & Krzysztof Schramm: Niczego nie żałuję (Je ne regrette rien)
In July 2020, Krzysztof Schramm, a Polish historian and an honorary member of Poland’s French Foreign Legion Veterans and Friends’ Association released a second edition of memories of Zygmunt Jatczak, most likely the last-known surviving Polish veteran of the First Indochina War (1946-54).
Read moreZygmunt Jatczak & Krzysztof Schramm: Niczego nie żałuję (Je ne regrette rien)