In Corsica on May 17, 1978, legionnaires of the French Foreign Legion’s 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) were put on alert. Two days later, they jumped over Kolwezi, a city located in then Zaire, Central Africa. They would rescue over 2,000 Europeans captured and held by local rebels. Thanks to the success of the operation and the then international media coverage, the regiment became popular across the world…
Foreign Legion: 2019 Camerone Day
On April 30, 2019, the French Foreign Legion commemorated the 156th anniversary of the Battle of Camerone, the legendary and most important event in its history. Camerone Day is the most important day of the year for all current or former legionnaires of the Foreign Legion. See 2019 Camerone Day videos and images from several Legion regiments.
VIDEO: An Aussie in the Foreign Legion
In April 2019, Australia’s national broadcaster ABC released a nice short documentary about an Australian serving with the French Foreign Legion. Having left his home three years ago, he passed the selection and basic training, and has served in Corsica with the well-known 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) since then.
2e REP: 3rd Company in New Caledonia
Since January 2019, the 3rd Company of the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP), the only airborne unit of the French Foreign Legion, has been deployed to New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean.
2e REP: BAM Mountain Course in 2018
Watch a nice video showing legionnaires of the 2nd Company, 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP), the Foreign Legion’s only airborne unit, during their mountain climbing course in the mountains of Corsica in 2018.
43 years ago: 1976 Loyada Rescue Mission
43 years ago, in early February 1976, a hostage rescue mission carried out by GIGN + two French Foreign Legion units occurred at Loyada, a small border village in then French Somaliland, today’s Djibouti (Horn of Africa). Their goal was to rescue 31 French children kidnapped by local militants.
1982 Mont Garbi Accident: 37 years already
37 years ago, on the 3rd February of 1982, a common French military exercise was planned in Djibouti, a country in the Horn of Africa. In the morning, a French Foreign Legion airborne platoon were lined up at a French air base. It was their only 10th day in Africa. They were assigned to carry out a routine training jump over a drop zone located nord-west of the capital. The legionnaires boarded their aircraft and took off…
Foreign Legion: Christmas Challenges 2018
As a long-existed tradition, all units of the French Foreign Legion organize Christmas challenges before Christmas Eve, the second most important holiday within the Legion. The challenges help to keep unit cohesion, to compare the force of their companies and to provide a little bit of fun for their hard-working men. See images taken during the Christmas challenges in several Legion regiments.