French Foreign Legion information. An online project dedicated to the famous Foreign Legion.
See 2020 Christmas nativity scenes made by enlisted volunteers and legionnaires during their basic training or advanced instruction within the 4th Foreign Regiment (4e RE), the Legion’s training school based in Castelnaudary, southern France. As every year, for all enlisted volunteers and fresh legionnaires from the three basic training companies, it was their very first Christmas in the Foreign Legion.
Read more4e RE: 2020 Christmas at the school of the French Foreign Legion in Castelnaudary
In the then French protectorate of Morocco in late 1920, four autonomous battalions of the French Foreign Legion that had spent the whole First World War there were grouped to form a new unit, nicknamed as the Regiment of Morocco. The new regiment had to go on with the pacification of the country while, at the same time, his men were the first legionnaires ever to operate in the Middle East…
Read more100 years ago: A Foreign Legion regiment was constituted in Morocco
For the very first time in history, a documentary covering the French Foreign Legion course for future sergeants was released in early December 2020, by the RMC Story, a French independent TV television channel. Directed by Pierre-Stéphane Fort, the documentary called La Légion étrangère : Objectif képi noir (Foreign Legion: Achieving the Black képi) shows the four-month course that changes the ordinary legionnaires into future non-commissioned officers. The course takes place within the 4th Foreign Regiment (4e RE) of Castelnaudary, southern France.
As every year since 1918, even on this 11 November the different regiments of the French Foreign Legion were commemorating the end of World War I and paying honor to the veterans and the dead. Known as Remembrance Day (or Veterans Day) in mostly English-speaking countries, the Armistice Day is highly regarded in France.
In late March 1947, three months after the regular war started in French Indochina, a bloody rebellion erupted in Madagascar, then a French colony annexed by France (with the predominant help of legionnaires) in 1896. To stop the massacres of French settlers and to restore order on that large island in the Indian Ocean, a battalion of the Foreign Legion left North Africa. Follow the link and learn more about another already forgotten campaign of the Legion, accompanied by 40+ original, still unpublished photos from private archives…
Read moreSuppression of the 1947 Malagasy Uprising: Another forgotten campaign of the Legion
In mid-October 2019, a platoon of Foreign Legion enlisted volunteers from the 4th Foreign Regiment (4e RE) finished their initial four-week instruction. After having passed a long march, they were allowed to make a military oath and be called legionnaires. The ceremony took place at the Château de Castelnaud-la-Chapelle, an old castle in southwestern France. See the video.
Read more4e RE: Remise de Kepi blanc at Castelnaud-la-Chapelle
The 11th of November marks in France the Armistice Day, when the entire nation commemorate the end of hostilities of World War I. As every year, even the French Foreign Legion units commemorated the 101st Armistice Day on November 11, 2019, and remembered the 36,000 legionnaires and foreign volunteers being killed or wounded during the war. See the photos.
In early October 2019, the 4th Foreign Regiment (4e RE), the training center of the French Foreign Legion, organized a traditional half marathon in Castelnaudary, its garrison town in southern France.
In early September 2019, a French Foreign Legion enlisted volunteer platoon of the 4th Foreign Regiment (4e RE) finished their initial four-week instruction and after having passed a long march, they were allowed to make a military oath and become legionnaires. This time, the ceremony took place in Sète in southern France.