On May 8, 2025, Foreign Legion units took part in the celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe. Honor guards from various regiments participated in ceremonies held primarily in their garrison towns, with several detachments also representing the Legion in other cities across their regions. Below are images from this year’s commemorations.
Foreign Legion: 2025 Camerone Day
April 30, 2025, marked the 162nd anniversary of the Battle of Camerone, the defining event in the French Foreign Legion’s history, when 62 legionnaires under the command of Captain Jean Danjou faced a force of 2,000 Mexican troops. Refusing to surrender, they fought to the very end, with only three able-bodied legionnaires left standing. Commemorations of this anniversary were held across all Legion units and garrisons, both in France and abroad. The following post includes images from several of these ceremonies.
2e REG: Heads of the French and Norwegian Armed Forces with Legionnaires in the Alps
At the end of March 2025, in the heart of the Alps, General Thierry Burkhard, Chief of the French Armed Forces, and General Eirik Kristoffersen, his Norwegian counterpart, held a detailed exchange on the expertise of mountain troops alongside the legionnaires of the Foreign Legion’s 2nd Foreign Engineer Regiment (2e REG), which specializes in mountain warfare and engineering support.
Read more2e REG: Heads of the French and Norwegian Armed Forces with Legionnaires in the Alps
Foreign Legion: 2024 Christmas Challenges
Christmas Eve marks the second most important holiday in the French Foreign Legion. Before the actual celebrations, each Foreign Legion regiment organizes Christmas challenges. The challenges help to maintain cohesion within the units and provide a bit of fun for their hard-working men. See several images taken in different Foreign Legion regiments during the Christmas challenges that took place in late 2024.
2e REG: Exercise Cerces 2024
From November 19 to 27, 2024, more than 1,000 soldiers of France’s 27th Mountain Infantry Brigade (27e BIM) took to the field for Exercise Cerces 2024. For two weeks, they practiced maneuvering and firing, working on their combat skills in the complicated winter conditions. Among them were the legionnaires of the 2nd Foreign Engineer Regiment (2e REG), the “mountain” regiment of the Foreign Legion.
1er REG, 2e REG: 2024 Saint Barbara Day
In early December 2024, the combat engineers of the 1st Foreign Engineer Regiment (1er REG) and the 2nd Foreign Engineer Regiment (2e REG) of the French Foreign Legion once again commemorated their patron, Saint Barbara (Sainte Barbe in French).
Foreign Legion: 2024 Armistice Day
Today, on November 11, 2024, the French Foreign Legion detachments participated in the ceremonies commemorating Armistice Day, to honor the memory of military veterans and those who died in the line of duty. See images.
1er, 2e REGs: 40th and 25th Anniversaries
In late September and early October 2024, both engineers regiments of the French Foreign Legion, the 1st Foreign Engineer Regiment (1er REG) and the 2nd Foreign Engineer Regiment (2e REG), celebrated the anniversary of their creation. See the images.
1er REC: 2024 Bastille Day in Ivory Coast and Bosnia and Herzegovina
As mentioned in the previous article, which dealt with the 2024 Bastille Day Parade in Paris, the legionnaires of the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er REC) participated in this traditional event. However, they commemorated the French national holiday also abroad.
Read more1er REC: 2024 Bastille Day in Ivory Coast and Bosnia and Herzegovina
Foreign Legion: 2024 Victory in Europe Day
On May 8, 2024, the French Foreign Legion units commemorated the 79th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. The end of the war came after the signing of the definitive overall surrender of Nazi Germany to the Allies in Berlin. See some images from the 2024 Victory in Europe Day celebrations.
Foreign Legion: 2024 Camerone Day
On April 30, 2024, the French Foreign Legion celebrated the 161st anniversary of the 1863 Battle of Camerone, an epic moment in its history. The celebrations were held across the regiments in France and abroad. See images.