French Foreign Legion information. An online project dedicated to the famous Foreign Legion.
Officially, the very first Foreign Legion airborne unit appeared during the First Indochina War in 1948. However, the history of the legionnaires paratroopers started much earlier: in North Africa during the Second World War.
Read moreSecond World War: A little-known story about the very first para-legionnaires
This interesting interview appeared in La Dépêche du Midi – a French regional daily newspaper – seven months ago, on 17 February 2021. In June 2021, Major Franck M. [1] from the 4th Foreign Regiment (4e RE) in Castelnaudary left the Foreign Legion after having spent incredible 40 years and 6 months in the institution [2]. Read his famous life story in English.
100 years ago, in late June 1871, three battalions of the Foreign Legion landed in Algeria, having returned from the very first deployment of the Legion in metropolitan France. The men spent eight months there and took part in a wretched campaign. However, these weren’t the only foreigners to participate in the then fighting on the French side. Also, the three battalions didn’t represent all units of the Legion that were to partake in the conflict.
Read more100 years ago: A sad campaign in France ended for the Foreign Legion
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.
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
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).
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
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.
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