PHOTOS: 6e REI in Tunisia around 1950 | French Foreign Legion Information

Knowing about some nice Foreign Legion images in my archive, or in archives of my friends, I decided to share them with you here, from time to time. Although they may not be the most beautiful pictures of the Legion you’ve ever seen, I hope you still enjoy them.

Here is a small set of photos taken in Tunisia, North Africa, in 1949 or 1950. They show a German 1st Class Legionnaire who served with the 6th Foreign Infantry Regiment (6e REI) in Tabarka. At the time, the 2nd Battalion, 6e REI was stationed in this coastal town situated in the northwestern part of the country. As the rest of the regiment, also this battalion served as a training unit for newcomers or fresh legionnaires before their first deployment to French Indochina. They passed there their basic or advanced training and familiarized themselves with the common active duty in the Foreign Legion: military instruction, construction works, guards, patrols, ceremonies.

At the same time, the regiment was receiving the officers, NCOs and legionnaires hardened in the fights in the Far East, during the First Indochina War (1946-1954). After their prescribed two-year deployment (which might have been voluntarily prolonged every six months) and a following three-month furlough, they were assigned as staff to the 6e REI to command and train the men in instruction companies. Nevertheless, this practice applied to all Foreign Legion regiments based in North Africa back then.

In fact, on the internet, we may find only few pictures related to the 6e REI in Tunisia.

6e REI in Tunisia around 1950 - Military parade — 6e REI platoon parade most likely in *Tunis*, the capital, around 1950. Sergeants with a black kepi and the MAT-49 submachine gun are followed by machine gunners equipped with the FM 24/29; behind them the ordinary riflemen.

6e REI in Tunisia around 1950 - Guard uniform — 6e REI legionnaires in a winter parade uniform (French 1944 uniform), with white gloves for guard duty. Legionnaires often guarded French military HQs based in towns.

6e REI in Tunisia around 1950 - sergeant with two legionnaires — A sergeant with two legionnaires. Probably a same-nationality mafia picture.

6e REI in Tunisia around 1950 - Two friends — Two friends from 6e REI during their freetime, not far from *Tabarka*.

6e REI in Tunisia around 1950 - 1st Class Legionnaire - — The German 1st Class Legionnaire, a veteran of the First Indochina War at the time. In the background, the Genoese Fortress on the Tabarka Island. It was built in the Middle Ages by Genoese settlers coming from Italy.

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