100 years ago, in the Middle East in late November 1925, the French Foreign Legion cavalrymen held a fortress in a Lebanese village, then besieged by thousands of Druze fighters. For the Legion cavalrymen, the battle became their own “Camerone”, a last-stand defense carried through to the very end.
85 years ago: Foreign Legion’s only regiment in the Middle East was activated
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
80 years ago: Foreign Legion’s last artillery batteries were disbanded
With the conflict in Ukraine, a long-neglected component of Western armies, artillery, has once again stepped to the fore. It might come as a surprise to many Foreign Legion enthusiasts that a 1920 law allowed the Foreign Legion to establish, along with a cavalry regiment, also a separate artillery regiment. Equally surprising might be the fact that, in 1941, the legionnaires probably served in as many as 11 artillery batteries at the same time. The last of these units were disbanded 80 years ago, in 1944.
Read more80 years ago: Foreign Legion’s last artillery batteries were disbanded
1er REC: 2022 Operation Daman
In July 2022, Colonel Henri Leinekugel Le Cocq and an important part of his 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er REC) arrived in Lebanon in the Middle East. On the 14th, the colonel took over the command of the 43rd mandate of France’s Force Commander Reserve (FCR). The FCR, consisting of about 700 soldiers, is a main reserve force of the UNIFIL, a United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission to confirm Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.
2020 Operation Amitie in Lebanon
In early August 2020, Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, was affected by devastating explosions. The center of the capital was heavily damaged; over 200 people died, more than 6,000 were wounded. In response to the disaster, France sent an important aid and military assistance to Lebanon in mid-August, boarded on a French ship Tonnerre and several aircraft, as part of Operation Amitie (Operation Friendship).