Chant du 4e escadron (4th Squadron’s Song) is a song of the French Foreign Legion. It is the official song of the 4th Squadron, 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er REC), the famous squadron of the regiment which distinguished in Syria and Lebanon in the 1920s (learn more: The Foreign Legion in Syria and Lebanon: 1921 – 1939).
The song uses an old Russian melody (a Red Army song, nowadays known as the Po dolinam i po vzgoriam – Through valleys and over hills). During WWII, it became known as the Partisan’s Song. The French regular army used the melody for its own Les Partisans Blancs song. The Foreign Legion adopted it in the 1960s.
1.
Dans les Djebels ou sur les routes
Va le quatrième escadron
Qui est, vous l’ savez sans doute,
L’escadron de tradition (bis),
2.
Des anciens il a la devise :
Courage, honneur, fidélité.
Le danger il le méprise,
Comme jadis à Messifré (bis).
3.
Algérie, Syrie, Indochine,
Druzes, Viets ou bien Fellaghas,
L’escadron leur brise l’échine,
Il l’a fait à Rachaya (bis).
4.
Légionnaire du quatrième,
Sois donc fier de ton escadron,
Reste digne de son emblème,
Pour la gloire de la Légion (bis).
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