5th Foreign Legion Medium Repair Company

The 5th Foreign Legion Medium Repair Company (5e CMRLE) was a Foreign Legion logistics unit constituted in then French Indochina in 1951. The company supported French troops during the First Indochina War (1946-54). The unit’s main mission was to carry out materiel maintenance, repair, and evacuation tasks. The 5e CMRLE was dissolved in 1955.

Foreign Legion Repair Companies in French Indochina 1946-54

– First Indochina War (1946-54)
– French Indochina reffers to French colonial territories in Southeast Asia
– today’s Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos
– in Indochina in the 1940s, a conflict started between France and Ho Chi Minh
– Ho Chi Minh led the Viet Minh (League for the Independence of Vietnam)
– Viet Minh was an independence movement
– in September 1945, Ho Chi Minh declared independence from France for Vietnam
– clashes between French forces and the Viet Minh started
– in 1946, first Foreign Legion units landed in Indochina

– 5th Foreign Legion Medium Repair Company
– 5e Compagnie Moyenne de Réparation de la Légion Etrangère (5e CMRLE)

– 5e CMRLE was established on July 1, 1951
– a materiel maintenance unit of the Foreign Legion
– part of the Service du Matériel branch of the French Army
– 5e CMRLE was organized in then French Indochina during the First Indochina War
– formed and stationed at Hanoi, Tonkin
– Tonkin was then title for northern Vietnam
– Hanoi was the then capital of French Indochina

– 5e CMRLE was an administratively independent unit
– a composite unit, it consisted of some 195 men
– 6 officers + 29 NCOs + 160 men
– legionnaires in the majority
– also French engineers + local Vietnamese auxiliaries (some 25%)
– the company divided into three mobile platoons
– however, the strength was quickly overcomed (to more than 200 men)

– Captain Christian Vet took command

– 5e CMRLE served as a logistics unit
– it provided primarily vehicle maintenance, repair, and evacuation
– in support of legionnaires and other French troops
– its men maintenaned and repaired vehicles in their ateliers (workshops)
– the unit provided exelent services
– tens of vehicles were repaired every month

– the men provided their important services also during military operations
– the company was equipped with wreckers (mainly Mack trucks)
– to evacuate vehicles damaged in the field during the operations
– by an engine failure or by enemy attacks
– also damaged by explosive devices placed on roads
– the men were often forced to repair vehicles on the spot, under enemy fire
– these tasks were carried out by Mobile Platoon

– 5e CMRLE was able to maintain and repair different materiel
– small vehicles, trucks or armored vehicles
– their mobile platoons operated mainly around Hanoi, Tonkin

– 5e CMRLE was assigned to the 3rd Provisional Tonkin Division (3e DMT)

5e CMRLE: 1951 – 1954

– there are only a few of official data regarding the company
– these small, independent Legion units were very autonomous
– they were far from North Africa, the HQ and archives of the Legion

1951 – 1952:
– in November 1951, Operation Tulipe
– 5e CMRLE participated in the operation
– alongside 1er BEP and 13e DBLE

1953:
– in March, Captain Jean Reix took command

– in April, 3rd Platoon deployed to Laos
– it returned back to Tonkin in August

– in October 1953, Operation Mouette
– 5e CMRLE participated in the operation
– Captain Reix commanded materiel units during the operation

– in December 1953, Dien Bien Phu
– in mid-December, an operation in the Dien Bien Phu valley
– in a remote region of northern Vietnam
– 2nd Platoon, 5e CMRLE was involved
– led by Lieutenant Jourdonneau
– the platoon moved to the valley
– to support French units stationed there
– over 10,000 of French soldiers and legionnaires
– the platoon became an armored mobile unit

1954:
– in March-May 1954, Battle of Dien Bien Phu
– a decisive battle in the valley
– 2nd Platoon, 5e CMRLE was involved
– during the battle, 1 legionnaire was killed
– 8 legionnaires were wounded
– at the end of the battle, the platoon was lost
– an officer, 3 NCOs + 27 men

– in mid-May, a new 2nd Platoon was established

– June 1954, a mission in southern Laos
– 1st + 2nd Platoon participated

– July 1954, a mission at Bien Hoa
– close to Saigon, Cochinchina (then title for southern Vietnam)
– 1st + 2nd Platoon participated

5e CMRLE: 1954 – 1955

– First Indochina War ended
– in August 1954, First Indochina War ended

– after the war, 5e CMRLE continued to serve as a repair company

– in September 1954, 5e CMRLE officially left Tonkin
– it moved to Annam (then title for central Vietnam)
– the company was stationed in Tourane (HQ + 1st Platoon)
– remaining platoons were placed at Hue and Dong Hoi

– in December 1954, Lieutenant Cornilleau took provisionally command
– he was promoted to Captain in January 1955
– Captain Cornilleau took command officially on March 20, 1955

1955:
– as a result of the war, France had to leave Indochina
– all French units had to leave Asia until 1956
– many units were disbanded yet in Indochina

– in August 1955, 5e CMRLE left Annam
– the unit moved to Cochinchina
– it was stationed in then Saigon

– 5e CMRLE’s dissolution
– 5e CMRLE was dissolved on September 30, 1955