The Foreign Legion Pioneer Company (Compagnie de Pionniers de la Légion Etrangère, CPLE) was a Legion engineering unit created to serve in France. It was officially activated on March 1, 1968 in Aubagne, within the 1st Foreign Regiment (1er RE). But it was before that, on February 1, when the first precursor detachment of the company was formed. Two weeks later, some sixty officers and legionnaires left Aubagne under their future company commander, Captain Dousseau, and his deputy, Lieutenant Barellon. They would move to the heights of Canjuers, in the Var Department of Southeastern France, north of the town of Draguignan. As a matter of interest, many among these men were former members of the recently inactivated 2e REI.
In 1962, following the end of the Algerian War and with the inevitable movement of French troops from North Africa to Europe in mind, a decision was made to build up a new, large military training location in France which would be designed mainly for armored cavalry. A desert of stones, with rare vegetation, the future firing range of Canjuers was a vast maneuver area of 86,500 acres (35,000 hectares) and 22 miles (35 kilometers) long where the men of the CPLE were going to create the largest military camp in France, and even in Western Europe.
In March, the Legion Company welcomed the 2nd Company 5th Engineer Regiment (a regular Army unit) to Canjuers to work together.
The work began in difficult conditions, weighed down by cold, rain, mud, and isolation. The legionnaires’ first priority was to build a solid camp to replace the initial tent city (88 big military tents). Thus, about fifteen FILLOD prefabricated houses appeared. At the same time, the construction sites progressed. In a few months, until September 1968, the pioneers of the CPLE at Camp Canjuers had achieved the following results:
- 11 acres (43,000 m2) of land cleared of trees and bushes
- 2,472,000 ft3 (70,000 m3) of earth moved
- 42,000 ft3 (1,200 m3) of concrete poured
- 73,500 ft3 (2,100 m3) of construction aggregate extracted
To carry out these tasks, the company’s GMC dump trucks covered approximately 12,500 miles (20,000 km). Besides all this, miles of trenches had to be dug for a sewer system and many drains and culverts had to be laid.
Reinforcements in personnel and equipment followed one another; the Legion Pioneer Company grew. Commanded by Captain Dousseau, it now had 196 men, including 6 officers, 31 NCOs and 159 (senior) corporals and legionnaires. They were divided into six platoons: a command platoon, a machine and car workshop platoon, a firecracker platoon, an engineering and masonry platoon and two earthwork platoons. The company was equipped with a hundred various heavy machines and vehicles.
On April 29, 1968, on the eve of Camerone Day (commemorating the famous 1863 battle in Mexico), the CPLE received its fanion from Colonel Chenel, the then commanding officer of the 1er RE.
Two years later, on April 29, 1970, the CPLE’s newly created badge was distributed among the legionnaires. In fact, the design was based on the original insignia of the Sapper-Pioneer Company (CSP) of the 1st Foreign Regiment that was active in North Africa during the 1920s and 1930s.
Until the end of 1970, the Legion Company contributed to the construction of the housing installations (55 buildings), a water supply, an electrical supply with an installed power of 2,500 kW, a purification station, as well as the firing range of Auveine for small arms and the firing range of Clos Magnan for mortars.
In early January 1971, the company lost its designation and its place within the 1st Foreign Regiment and was incorporated into the newly created 61st Engineer-Legion Mixed Battalion (61e BMGL).
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Main information & images sources:
Képi blanc magazines
1969 Foreign Legion bulletin
Pierre Dufour: Génie-Légion (Lavauzelle, 2000)
Wikipedia.org
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L’article en français : CPLE : Compagnie de Pionniers de la Légion Etrangère
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Related articles:
3e BMLE: 3rd Foreign Legion Task Force
15th Engineer Maintenance Company
2nd Foreign Engineer Regiment: The origins
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The page was updated on: November 4, 2022