French Foreign Legion information. An online project dedicated to the famous Foreign Legion.
The 13th Demi-Brigade of the Foreign Legion (13e DBLE) of the French Foreign Legion will be the first French Army regiment to receive the German Heckler & Koch HK416F rifle. The rifle would replace the outdated FAMAS.
Read more13e DBLE: First French Army regiment to receive Heckler & Koch rifle
On April 30, 2017, the French Foreign Legion commemorated the 154th anniversary of the Battle of Camerone, the well-known and most important event in its history. This day is also the most important day of the year for all current or former legionnaires of the Foreign Legion. See some Camerone Day videos from several Legion regiments.
In March 2017, the 13th Demi-Brigade of the Foreign Legion (13e DBLE) of the French Foreign Legion conducted an exercise with Spanish legionnaires (legionarios) from the X Bandera “Millán Astray”, Tercio 4 (10th Battalion, 4th Regiment), Spanish Legion at Camp Larzac, the home to the 13e DBLE in an inhospitable part of southern France.
On October 21, 2016, France’s Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian visited the 13th Demi-Brigade of the Foreign Legion (13e DBLE) of the French Foreign Legion at Camp Larzac, Aveyron department, southern France, to make this installation official.
On July 14, France celebrates its National Day, Bastille Day. Every year, a military parade takes place on the Champs-Elysées in Paris. The French troops, including legionnaires from the French Foreign Legion, march down the street. In 2016, the Foreign Legion was represented, as usual, by the Foreign Legion Pioneers, being accompanied by the Foreign Legion Music Band. This year, 109 legionnaires from the 13th Demi-Brigade of the Foreign Legion (13e DBLE) also participated in the parade.
In June 2016, the 13th Demi-Brigade of the Foreign Legion (13e DBLE) of the French Foreign Legion left officially Zayed Military City near Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It had been stationed there for 5 years, since the summer of 2011. In late June 2016, the 13e DBLE was placed at Camp Larzac, southern France.
Since June 29, 2016, the 13th Demi-Brigade of the Foreign Legion (13e DBLE) of the French Foreign Legion has been officially based in mainland France, after 76 years. It left the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where the reduced unit (about 60 permanent personnel) was stationed between 2011-16.
During summer 2016, the 13th Demi-Brigade of the Foreign Legion (13e DBLE) of the French Foreign Legion would leave the United Arab Emirates to be stationed in mainland France.
See the history and images of the French Foreign Legion’s only Demi-brigade (Half-brigade), 13e DBLE. This famous, well-known unit of the Legion was established in 1940 in Algeria, to participate in the WWII. Later that year, it became the first ever unit of the Free French Forces (FFL) of general de Gaulle. In 2011, as the last unit of the Legion, the Demi-brigade left Africa.
Read more13e DBLE: History of the Legion’s only Demi-brigade
In 2016, the 13th Demi-Brigade of the Foreign Legion (13e DBLE) will move from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to be stationed in France, for the first time in the regiment’s history. The 13e DBLE is one of the last two Foreign Legion’s regiments which have never been stationed in Europe (together with 3e REI).
The legionnaires from the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) of the French Foreign Legion took part in IDEX 2015, the International Defence Exhibition and Conference taking place in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).