2e REI: 2024 El Moungar Day | French Foreign Legion Information

On Monday, September 2, 2024, the 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment (2e REI) officially commemorated the 121st anniversary of the 1903 Battle of El Moungar, an important part of the French conquest of the Sahara, and the 36 men of the regiment who had fallen during it.

As usual, the festivities took place in the Caserne Colonel de Chabrières in Nîmes (Southern France). They included an official ceremony, a military parade, sports competitions, and a naturalization ceremony during which six legionnaires became French citizens.

The date of the bloody battle — September 2 — became the regiment’s main holiday. The nearly eight-hour battle occurred at El Moungar, a waterhole located north of the town of Taghit, Western Algeria. A two-platoon half-company (peloton) of the 22nd Mounted Company, 2nd Foreign Regiment — consisting of 113 men under Captain Vauchez — was ambushed on an open plain by approximately 200-300 Moroccan Berbers while the unit was protecting a camel train moving to the Sahara. Captain Vauchez and his deputy, Lieutenant Selchauhansen (a Danish officer), were killed, as were 34 legionnaires. Another 47 legionnaires were seriously wounded.

As a consequence of the battle, efforts were intensified to solve the problem of Moroccan raiders who had been operating in the Algerian borderlands for decades. This eventually led to the invasion and occupation of Morocco by France in 1907.

PHOTOS: 2024 El Moungar Day in Nimes
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