The 2nd Foreign Legion Transportation Company, 519th Transportation Group (CTLE 2/519) was a Foreign Legion logistics unit organized in Algeria in 1949 to serve in then French Indochina. Based in Southern Vietnam, the main purpose of this company was to provide transportation of personnel and supplies by truck during the First Indochina War (1946-54). The CTLE 2/519 was dissolved in 1953.
2nd Foreign Legion Transportation Company
June – July 1949:
– 2nd Foreign Legion Transportation Company
– 2e Compagnie de Transport de Légion Etrangère (2e CTLE)
– 2e CTLE was established on June 1, 1949
– a transportation unit of the Foreign Legion
– organized at Sidi Bel Abbes (then HQ of the Legion in Algeria, North Africa)
– its purpose was to serve in French Indochina (Southeast Asia)
– it had to support French troops during the ongoing First Indochina War (1946-54)
– a conflict between the French and the Viet Minh
– Viet Minh was an independence movement of Ho Chi Minh
– Lieutenant Rajko Cibic took command
- Lieutenant Cibic was born in Slovenia in 1914
- as a Yugoslavian, he joined the Legion in 1936
- campaigns in Tunisia, France, Alsace
- an officer in 1943, he was wounded in the Colmar Pocket in 1945
- in 1946-48, he served with 2nd Battalion, 2e REI
- Aug 1950 – Jun 1951, he commanded Armored Train, 2e REI in Northern Vietnam
- in 1953-54, he served with 3rd Battalion, 3e REI
- Captain Cibic left the French Army in 1957
- he died in France in 2010
– 2e CTLE left Algeria in mid-June and landed in French Indochina in July 1949
– the unit was stationed at Camp Lyautey, Cholon
– Cholon was part of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City now)
– the city was located in Cochinchina (then title for Southern Vietnam)
– in Indochina, the company was reinforced by legionnaires already stationed there
– short after, an order to assign the unit to a transportation group
– the company will be redesignated
Legionnaire Transportation Company 2/519
August – September 1949:
– Legionnaire Transportation Company 2/519
– Compagnie Légionnaire de Transport 2/519 (CLT 2/519)
– in August, 2e CTLE was assigned to 519th Transportation Group
– 519e Groupe de Transport (519e GT)
– 519e GT was a French Army regular supply train battalion
– created in 1946, it was composed of HQ and three companies
– 519e GT was also headquartered in the Saigon area
– August 1, 1949, 2e CTLE was redesignated and became CLT 2/519
– 2nd Legionnaire Transportation Company, 519th GT
– it means the unit became the 2nd Company of the 519e GT
– Lieutenant Cibic continued as its commander, until September
– CLT 2/519 was comprised of about 190 legionnaires
– they were divided into four platoons
– the company was equipped with GMC CCKW 353 cargo trucks
– it operated around 60 vehicles
– CLT 2/519 was used primarily to transport troops, material, ammunition, food, mails etc throughout Cochinchina
Foreign Legion Transportation Company 2/519
October 1949:
– Foreign Legion Transportation Company 2/519
– Compagnie de Transport de Légion Etrangère 2/519 (CTLE 2/519)
– October 3, 1949, the company was renamed again
– it became 2nd Foreign Legion Transportation Company, 519th GT (CTLE 2/519)
– although assigned to the group, it served as an autonomous unit
– CTLE 2/519 was still placed at Camp Lyautey in Saigon
– CTLE 2/519 continued to transport troops, material, ammunition, food, mails etc throughout Cochinchina
1950 – 1953:
– in 1950-51, CTLE 2/519 was led by Captain Constantin Tchernomazenko
- Captain Tchernomazenko was born in Russia in 1903
- he joined the Legion in 1921
- Sergeant Major with the 2e REI, he was promoted to officer in 1939
- he made campaigns in Syria, Morocco, France, Germany
- he made three deployments to French Indochina 1946-54
- in 1954, Major Tchernomazenko was chief of all Legion logistics units
- he left the Legion in 1961, after 40 years of service
- he died in France in 1997
– in 1952-53, CTLE 2/519 was led by Captain Bonafos
– every month, the company logged tens of thousands miles/km of trasportation
– the company often supplied the outposts of the 13e DBLE (Half-Brigade) or 1er REC (Cavalry Regiment)
– during 1951-52, the company supported French troops, including legionnaires, in several military operations in Cochinchina and, later, also in Cambodia or Central Vietnam
– in 1953, it supported operations in Laos
– CTLE 2/519 was disbanded on July 31, 1953
———
Main information sources:
More-majorum.de (Germans in French Indochina 1946-56)
Insignes Legion (Fr)
———
See Foreign Legion’s other disbanded transportation units of Indochina:
1st Transportation & Headquarters Company
2nd Transportation & Headquarters Company
3rd Foreign Legion Transportation Company
———
The page was updated on: October 26, 2017
← Back to French Foreign Legion Units