French Foreign Legion information. An online project dedicated to the famous Foreign Legion.
The Operational Company, 1st Foreign Regiment was the last French Foreign Legion unit to remain stationed in Algeria, North Africa. Its task was to guard the French air base at Bou Sfer near the city of Oran. The company was disbanded on August 17, 1968.
Read moreOperational Company, 1st Foreign Regiment in Algeria in 1968
40 years ago, in late June 1984, one of the largest companies of the then-French Army, CRTRLE, was disbanded. A road building unit comprising legionnaires, it was transformed the following day, July 1, into an engineer regiment, first Foreign Legion regiment to bear this designation. The new regiment quickly distinguished itself during deployments in Chad, Iraq, Cambodia, and the former Yugoslavia.
Read more40 years ago: Foreign Legion’s first engineering regiment was activated
With the conflict in Ukraine, a long-neglected component of Western armies, artillery, has once again stepped to the fore. It might come as a surprise to many Foreign Legion enthusiasts that a 1920 law allowed the Foreign Legion to establish, along with a cavalry regiment, also a separate artillery regiment. Equally surprising might be the fact that, in 1941, the legionnaires probably served in as many as 11 artillery batteries at the same time. The last of these units were disbanded 80 years ago, in 1944.
Read more80 years ago: Foreign Legion’s last artillery batteries were disbanded
75 years ago, in late May 1949, the first airborne unit of the French Foreign Legion was disbanded in Northern Vietnam, during the First Indochina War (1946-54). The Legion paratroopers had conducted operations around Hanoi, as well as in remote, forested areas along the Vietnam-China border. They were the first legionnaires to wear the green beret that was adopted by the entire Legion a decade later.
Read more75 years ago: Foreign Legion’s first airborne unit was disbanded
In early May 1954, the decisive battle of the First Indochina War between French troops and the communist-led Viet Minh ended. Thousands of legionnaires participated, and many Foreign Legion units were lost during the fighting. The battle culminated in French withdrawal from Southeast Asia after almost 100 years.
Read more70 years ago: A decisive battle ended in French Indochina
60 years ago, deep in the Algerian Sahara in late April 1964, an entire Foreign Legion regiment was disbanded, victim of the reorganization of the French army after the end of the Algerian War (1956-62). Activated in French North Africa in late 1920 and given the nickname the “Regiment of Morocco,” its units fought in Morocco, Tunisia, Madagascar, Indochina, Mauritania, Spanish Sahara, and Algeria. In 1980, its number, history, and traditions were taken over by the training regiment of the Legion in Castelnaudary.
Read more60 years ago: Foreign Legion’s Regiment of Morocco was disbanded
A new part of the PHOTOS series. See a rare set of pictures showing the Foum El Hassan Post, home of the former Automobile Mounted Company, 4th Foreign Infantry Regiment (CMA/4e REI) in southern Morocco in the early 1940s. No other similar set showing the Foum El Hassan Post’s interior is publicly known.
Read morePHOTOS: Foum El Hassan Post in Morocco in the early 1940s
On the 1st of March 1959, in the Souk Ahras region of northeastern Algeria, a French Foreign Legion paratrooper platoon was engaged by local insurgents. Advancing in the lead was a popular officer, Captain Pierre Bourgin. As soon as the first shots were fired, he was fatally wounded. In him, the Foreign Legion lost one of its rare poets. The following article was written in his memory.
In February 1894, the last elements of the French Foreign Legion left the Slave Coast in West Africa where they had successfully participated in two expeditions aimed at a local kingdom’s ruler and his forces. Not only did the legionnaires face heat, disease, and supply problems, but they also had to fight local female warriors, Amazons…
Read more130 years ago: A forgotten campaign in West Africa ended
Watch absolutely unique, very rare amateur footages depicting Foreign Legion ceremonies in Laghouat, Algeria in the 1950s and 1960s. At that time, the town was home to one of the Legion’s Saharan companies: 2nd Legion Saharan Motorized Company (2e CSPL). Two of the rare films are in color.
75 years ago, in late 1948, another airborne unit of the Foreign Legion was officially activated in France’s North Africa. Like its older sister unit, even the new one was to take part in the First Indochina War (1946-1954) in Southeast Asia. It would distinguish itself and become the most decorated French Army battalion to have fought there. Subsequently, back in North Africa, the unit transformed into a regiment, which would later be known as one of the best trained and action-ready operational formations in the world.
Read more75 years ago: Second airborne unit of the Foreign Legion in North Africa was born