80 Years Ago: A Little-Known Chapter in the 3e REI’s History Came to a Close

October 16, 2026 · Posted in 3rei, history, Morocco

80 years ago, in late September 1946, a story of one of the least-known units of the French Foreign Legion came to an end. When the 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment (3e REI) was officially disbanded in 1943, its mounted and motorized companies were deliberately kept in service in Morocco, then part of French North Africa, so that the name of one of the French Army’s two most decorated regiments would not vanish entirely. Grouped together in 1944, they spent the rest of World War II and the immediate postwar years in almost complete isolation, far from the battlefields of Europe and Indochina, on the edge of the Sahara, understrength and equipped with outdated weapons.

Read more80 Years Ago: A Little-Known Chapter in the 3e REI’s History Came to a Close

80 years ago: Foreign Legion’s last artillery batteries were disbanded

June 22, 2024 · Posted in 1re, 2rei, 3rei, 4re, 6rei, Algeria, artillery, history, lebanon, Morocco, syria

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

60 years ago: Foreign Legion’s Regiment of Morocco was disbanded

May 3, 2024 · Posted in 4re, Algeria, history, Madagascar, Morocco

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

Lieutenant Colonel Jean Pierre Bissey

August 11, 2023 · Posted in 1re, 2rei, 3rei, history, Morocco

On August 5, 1933, Lieutenant Colonel Jean Pierre Bissey, a little-known officer of the French Foreign Legion, was killed in a battle with local rebels during the French pacification of Morocco. Almost forgotten today, he remains the highest-ranking Foreign Legion officer killed not only between the two world wars but also during the long Moroccan campaign. The following article has been written in his memory.

Read moreLieutenant Colonel Jean Pierre Bissey