45 years ago, on May 17, 1978, legionnaires of the French Foreign Legion’s 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) in Corsica were alerted and the next day, they took off in direction of then Zaire in Central Africa. There, on May 19, they jumped over Kolwezi, a mining center in the south of the country. The legionnaires would rescue over 2,000 Europeans captured and held by local rebels…
Documentary: 2e REP and Kolwezi 1978
Watch an old French documentary dedicated to the legionnaires from the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) who participated in the 1978 Battle of Kolwezi in the then Republic of Zaire, Central Africa.
41 years ago: Operation in Kolwezi started
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…
40 years ago: A successful rescue operation in Kolwezi
On May 19, 1978, the legionnaires of the Foreign Legion’s 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) jumped over Kolwezi, a city located in then Zaire, Central Africa. Their task was to rescue over 2,000 Europeans captured and held by local rebels. Thanks to the success of the operation and the international media coverage at the time, the regiment became popular across the world…
Read more40 years ago: A successful rescue operation in Kolwezi
38th Anniversary of the Battle of Kolwezi
On 17 May 1978, the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) of the French Foreign Legion was put on alert to get involved in an emergency operation in Kolwezi, an important mining center located in the Katanga province of Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), the second largest country of Africa.
37th Anniversary of the Battle of Kolwezi
On 17 May 1978, the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) of the French Foreign Legion was put on alert to prepare to be sent to the Katanga province of Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), the country located in central Africa, to rescue the hundreds of European hostages captured by a group of some 1,500 Katangese rebels in the city of Kolwezi and to drive out the rebels from the city.