French Foreign Legion information. An online project dedicated to the famous Foreign Legion.
A new book that will interest anyone who follows the history of the French Foreign Legion or the First Indochina War came out in fall 2026. Its author, our friend Andrew J. Mitchell, previously published A History of the 2e REP in Algeria. His new book is its prequel: The Praetorians: The History of the 2nd Foreign Parachute Battalion, Indochina, 1948–1955.
Read moreAndrew J. Mitchell’s New Book: The 2nd Foreign Parachute Battalion in Indochina
On November 11, 2026, units of the French Foreign Legion took part in Armistice Day ceremonies to pay tribute to military veterans and remember those who lost their lives in service. As in previous years, the ceremonies took place throughout France as well as overseas.
This new part of our PHOTOS series features a portrait taken in France and dated June 19, 1945. At first glance, it looks like many other wartime photographs of French Foreign Legion soldiers. Look a little closer, though, and you will find a badge that few collectors have ever seen in a period photograph. And as it turns out, the badge’s story may be quite different from the one told in official sources.
Read morePHOTOS: Salamander – A Rare Photograph of the Original 3e REI Badge
In October 2026, the Support Company of the 2nd Foreign Engineer Regiment (2e REG) completed two weeks of intensive training at Camp La Courtine, a large French Army training area in the Creuse department of central France.
General Christian Piquemal, who commanded the French Foreign Legion from 1994 to 1999, died on October 23, 2026, at the age of 85. A funeral Mass was held on October 30 at the Church of Saint-Sauveur in Aubagne, the Legion’s main garrison town. In accordance with his final wishes, his ashes are to be laid to rest in the Legion veterans’ communal vault at the Foreign Legion Institution for Disabled Veterans (IILE) in Puyloubier.
In his new video, Major Gérald, the popular senior non-commissioned officer of the French Foreign Legion, sets aside his usual physical training content to answer one of the questions his viewers ask most often: how do the sports tests at Legion selection actually work? Now serving with the Legion’s Communication Center (a unit handling media relations and the Legion’s social media), he filmed this video at the Selection and Enlistment Center (CSI) of the 1st Foreign Regiment (1er RE) in Aubagne, the Legion’s headquarters near Marseille, where the entire selection process takes place.
Read moreMajor Gérald: Sports Tests of French Foreign Legion Selection
On October 15, 2026, the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er REC) of the French Foreign Legion held its annual Foreign Legion Triathlon. The race is known as the Triathlon du Royal Étranger, after the regiment’s traditional nickname. It ran from La Ciotat, a coastal town east of Marseille, to Camp Carpiagne, the 1er REC’s base near the city.
80 years ago, in late September 1946, a story of one of the least-known units of the French Foreign Legion came to an end. When the 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment (3e REI) was officially disbanded in 1943, its mounted and motorized companies were deliberately kept in service in Morocco, then part of French North Africa, so that the name of one of the French Army’s two most decorated regiments would not vanish entirely. Grouped together in 1944, they spent the rest of World War II and the immediate postwar years in almost complete isolation, far from the battlefields of Europe and Indochina, on the edge of the Sahara, understrength and equipped with outdated weapons.
Read more80 Years Ago: A Little-Known Chapter in the 3e REI’s History Came to a Close
In October 2026, members of the Irish Defence Forces’ Cavalry Corps visited the Foreign Legion’s 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er REC) at Camp Carpiagne, its base near Marseille. Discussions centered on the modernization of the French cavalry and the introduction of the EBRC Jaguar, a six-wheeled armored reconnaissance and combat vehicle. The program included technical briefings, an exchange of experience, and a practical part in the field.
Read more1er REC: Irish Cavalrymen Visit Cavalry Legionnaires at Carpiagne
On Saturday, October 3, 2026, the 48th edition of the Foreign Legion Half Marathon (Semi-Marathon de la Légion Étrangère) took place in Castelnaudary, a town in southern France. As every year, the race was organized by the 4th Foreign Regiment (4e RE), the training school of the French Foreign Legion.
On September 29, 2026, the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) of the French Foreign Legion celebrated Saint Michael’s Day, honoring the archangel who is the patron saint of all French paratroopers. This year, the regiment left its home base at Calvi and took the celebration into the mountains of Corsica.