80 years ago, on 16 April 1941, one of the most important persons of the French Foreign Legion passed away. Nicknamed as the “Father of the Legion”, he created a modern institution and widely raised public awareness of his legionnaires. His time at the head of the Foreign Legion was known as the Legion’s golden age. However, the Second World War and his damaged health stopped the enormous work dedicated to the legionnaires and veterans.
Foreign Legion: Six units will change their commanding officer in 2021
In mid-2021, six units of the French Foreign Legion will change their commanding officer, assigned to the office usually for two years.
Read moreForeign Legion: Six units will change their commanding officer in 2021
2021 Foreign Legion Exhibition in Poznan
See nice pictures from an exhibition dedicated to the French Foreign Legion that was open in Poland this March. The exhibition is under the patronage of the Foreign Legion Veteran & Friend Association in Poland (AAALEP).
Suppression of the 1947 Malagasy Uprising: Another forgotten campaign of the Legion
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the link and learn more about another already forgotten campaign of the Legion, accompanied by 40+ original, still unpublished photos from private archives…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
Lt Colonel Zlatko Sabljic has passed away
On September 29, 2020, Lieutenant Colonel Zlatko Sabljic, director of the Home of Legionnaire (a veteran retirement home in Auriol, southern France) has passed away. A famous figure, he spent 38 years in the French Foreign Legion and 8 years with legionnaires-veterans.
20 years ago: Five legionnaires died in basic training
On August 7, 2000, an enlisted volunteer platoon from the 4th Foreign Regiment (4e RE), the training unit of the French Foreign Legion, had achieved their first month of instruction at a remote farm and were going back to the regimental military base. Nevertheless, one of two military trucks transporting the fresh legionnaires left the road and crashed into a tree.
Read more20 years ago: Five legionnaires died in basic training
Foreign Legion: 2020 Change of Command
As on the 1st of August 2020, a new commander of the French Foreign Legion will be appointed to replace the current one, after his two years of command.
History of a Foreign Legion unit to receive and train recruits in the 1930s and 1940s
In 1933, the Foreign Legion’s 1st Foreign Infantry Regiment, comprising around 8,000 legionnaires, established within its ranks a new unit to reduce the load on its administration. The new formation had to receive, organize and train recruits for the Legion, carry out the discharge procedure for those legionnaires returning to the civilian life, as well as other important tasks…
Read moreHistory of a Foreign Legion unit to receive and train recruits in the 1930s and 1940s
French Foreign Legionnaires in Southeastern Europe during World War I
105 years ago, in late April 1915, the Allied forces consisting of French, British, Australian and New Zealand troops landed in the Gallipoli peninsula in todays Turkey, to open a new theatre of the First World War. Among the landing French troops, there was also a Foreign Legion Battalion with a strength of more than 1,000 legionnaires. The tormented odyssey of forgotten heroes had started…
Read moreFrench Foreign Legionnaires in Southeastern Europe during World War I