French Foreign Legion information. An online project dedicated to the famous Foreign Legion.
In late February 1940, a little-known Foreign Legion regiment is activated in France, at the beginning of the Second World War. Its legionnaires will participate in the fighting with German forces on the Western Front in May-June 1940. Unfortunately, the provisional regiment will suffer heavy casualties and have to be disbanded.
Read more80 years ago: A Foreign Legion regiment is activated in France
See another interesting video published by the official French Foreign Legion channel on YouTube. It is the sixth video of a series dedicated to simple and effective physical training techniques for developing a military close quarter combatant. They are presented by Major Gérald (the most senior warrant officer), the head of the Sports Office, 1st Foreign Regiment (1er RE), the Legion’s HQ.
Read moreForeign Legion: Basic fighting stance & movement training with Major Gérald
Like the other regiments of the French Foreign Legion, even the 1st Foreign Engineer Regiment (1er REG) and the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er REC) are to be largely deployed overseas this year.
In 2020, at least three compagnies of the 13th Foreign Legion Half Brigade (13e DBLE) are to be deployed overseas this year, according to their commanding officer, Colonel Jacques Bouffard. Two of them will serve in Africa.
Read more13e DBLE: Three companies to deploy overseas in 2020
In 2020, around 750 legionnaires of the 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment (2e REI) will deploy overseas, according to their commanding officer, Colonel Arnaud Guerry. The vast majority of the men take part in anti-terrorist Operation Barkhane in Mali, West Africa.
The paratroopers of the French Foreign Legion, together with French elite counter-terrorism policemen and cavalrymen of the Legion’s 13th Half-brigade, participated in a hostage rescue mission 44 years ago, in early February 1976. The mission to rescue 31 French children kidnapped by local militants took place at Loyada, a small border village in then French Somaliland, today’s Djibouti (Horn of Africa). See more information.
38 years ago, on 3 February 1982, a common French military exercise had to take place in Djibouti, a country in the Horn of Africa. In the morning, a French Foreign Legion airborne platoon were lined up at a French air base. It was their only 10th day in Africa. The Legion paratroopers were ordered to carry out a routine training jump over a drop zone located nord-west of the capital. The legionnaires boarded their aircraft and took off…
See a short but new official video presentation of the Foreign Legion Detachment in Mayotte (DLEM), the last permanent post of the French Foreign Legion to remain in Africa.