French Foreign Legion information. An online project dedicated to the famous Foreign Legion.
The Marching 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 moreMarching Company, 1st Foreign Regiment in Algeria in 1968
On the occasion of the European Heritage Days, the headquarters of the French Foreign Legion in Aubagne opens its doors to the public, on September 21 and 22, 2024. Come and discover the motherhouse of the Foreign Legion.
Read more1er RE: Foreign Legion HQ’s doors open to the public in late September 2024
See a new part of the PHOTOS series. This time is shared a set of pictures of a cavalryman who was serving in Algeria, North Africa, from the late 1950s to the mid-1960s.
While most of the legionnaires from the 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment (2e REI) are deployed in France and abroad, the training continues for the 3rd Company.
Legionnaires from the 1st Foreign Engineer Regiment (1er REG) and the 13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade (13e DBLE) were tasked with the protection of the Seine River during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. See some images.
As mentioned in the previous article, which dealt with the 2024 Bastille Day Parade in Paris, the legionnaires of the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er REC) participated in this traditional event. However, they commemorated the French national holiday also abroad.
Read more1er REC: 2024 Bastille Day in Ivory Coast and Bosnia and Herzegovina
Every year, a large military parade is held in Paris to commemorate the 14th of July, France’s national holiday, known in English-speaking countries as Bastille Day. On that day, the French Foreign Legion also takes part in the parade in the capital. However, due to the upcoming 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, this year’s parade was downsized and did not take place on the famous Champs-Élysées. Read more and see images.
Each year, the 4th Foreign Regiment (4e RE) organizes an exceptional long-distance cycling event that brings together passionate riders and supporters from across various Foreign Legion regiments. United by solidarity, they ride with a single goal: to support the Legion’s wounded and retired veterans.
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
See some nice images of the 2nd Company, 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) from Estonia, Northern Europe, where the legionnaires-paratroopers carried out tasks as part of France’s Mission Lynx.
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