Following the end of the Algeria War in March 1962, the French Foreign Legion headquarters was forced to leave North Africa for France. Because of that, a new unit had to be formed with a special task: to prepare for the installation of the Foreign Legion in France and Corsica. As a result, a new task force saw its birth 60 years ago, on August 1, 1962.

Read more60 years ago: A unit helping to install the Foreign Legion in France was created

See a fully reworked article dealing with the history of a forgotten Foreign Legion engineer task force, the only engineer battalion-sized unit of the Legion that has ever been established in North Africa (no, the short-lived 12th Pioneer Battalion from 1939 wasn’t in fact a Foreign Legion formation). Organized by a half of the then 3e REI, the legionnaires of this important unit were tasked with the urgent transfer of the Legion’s Motherhouse from Algeria and its installation in France and Corsica, after the end of the Algerian War in 1962.

Read more55 years ago: An important Foreign Legion engineer task force was disbanded