In mid-June 2026, the 13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade (13e DBLE), a regiment-sized infantry unit of the French Foreign Legion, held three days of celebrations at Camp Larzac in southern France to mark the 84th anniversary of the 1942 Battle of Bir Hakeim.
PHOTOS: 5e RMP’s Heavy Equipment Company in Tahiti in 1971
The latest part in our series on interesting photographs. This time we head to the South Pacific — Tahiti, French Polynesia — for a set of photographs taken in Polynesia’s capital, Papeete, in 1971. They show the Heavy Equipment Company of the 5th Pacific Mixed Regiment (5e RMP) and some of its vehicles and heavy construction equipment.
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2e REG: Mountain Specialists Sharpen Skills in the Alps
In early June 2026, the Mountain Engagement Support Platoon (SAEM) of the 2nd Foreign Engineer Regiment (2e REG), stationed in Saint-Christol in southeastern France, conducted a week-long mountain exercise in the Banon area, near the regiment’s home base at Quartier Maréchal Koenig.
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2e REI: 2026 Training Alongside NATO Allies at Camp des Garrigues
From May 4 to 20, 2026, the 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment (2e REI), stationed in Nîmes in southern France, conducted three weeks of intensive field training at Camp des Garrigues, a large military training area located near the regiment’s garrison town.
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5e RE: 2026 DIO Training in Malawi
From May 10 to 22, 2026, an operational training detachment (DIO) of the 5th Foreign Regiment (5e RE), based on the French overseas island of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, provided military training to members of the Malawi Defence Force.
80 Years Ago: Disciplinary Unit Was Born
80 years ago, in early June 1946, a new Foreign Legion disciplinary unit was established in French Indochina. Stationed on a remote island off the coast of Vietnam, the unit’s mission was to reform ill-disciplined legionnaires who had been deployed to the Far East to fight in the First Indochina War (1946–1954), and whose offenses were too serious to be handled through standard disciplinary measures at the regimental, battalion, or company level.
4e RE: 2026 Remise de Kepi blanc in Toulouse
On May 18, 2026, a White Kepi Ceremony (Remise de Képi blanc) of the French Foreign Legion took place in Toulouse, a major city in southwestern France. New legionnaires from the 4th Foreign Regiment (4e RE), the Legion’s training regiment, donned the iconic White kepi for the first time at Place du Capitole, the city’s main square.
50 Years Ago: Deadly Accident in Africa
50 years ago, on May 24, 1976, a helicopter transporting Foreign Legion elements crashed during a military exercise in the Horn of Africa. Six legionnaires died immediately; another two died from their injuries later. At the time, this was the deadliest day for the Legion since the end of the Algerian War in 1962. Although largely forgotten today, even in France, this sad event and its victims should be remembered.
PHOTOS: A Legionnaire’s Photographs from My Tho, French Indochina, 1947–1949
This is a new part in our PHOTOS series. Once again, we turn to French Indochina — this time to southern Vietnam in the late 1940s. The photographs presented here were shared with us by a French reader whose grandfather, Emile Louis André, served there with the Foreign Legion. His granddaughter, Ms. Alcina Machado, provided some basic details about his service, while the rest had to be researched or pieced together from the photographs themselves. She also shared a few lines about her grandfather’s life, giving us a glimpse into the personal story of one of the tens of thousands of legionnaires who were deployed to the First Indochina War (1946–1954).
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2e REP: Exercise Libecciu 2026
From May 11 to 20, 2026, Exercise Libecciu 2026 took place across several regions of western and central France, primarily in Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Centre-Val de Loire. The exrcise was conducted by the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP), an elite airborne regiment of the Foreign Legion. Based at Calvi, Corsica, it serves as one of the French Army’s rapid-response units.
65 Years Ago: Military Revolt Failed
65 years ago, in late April 1961, a military revolt failed in Algeria, then an integral part of France in North Africa. The revolt became one of the most controversial events in France’s modern history. The Foreign Legion actively participated, and the consequences of this failed coup affected the Legion for many years to come.