French Foreign Legion information. An online project dedicated to the famous Foreign Legion.
Right in time for Christmas 2022, a new English-written book dedicated to the French Foreign Legion was released: Collecting French Foreign Legion Insignia, Volume III – Part I, Parachute Units 1948-61. This is a new original work of Andrew J. Mitchell, an Irish amateur historian and a Foreign Legion insignia collector.
Read moreAndrew J. Mitchell: Collecting French Foreign Legion Insignia – Parachute Units 1948-61
In late 1952, an important confrontation between the French and the communist Viet Minh took place in then French Indochina, in a valley transformed into a well-fortified camp. A direct predecessor to the sad 1954 battle of Dien Bien Phu, the confrontation ended with a clear French victory, thanks to a significant role of the French Foreign Legion men.
Read more70 years ago: A successful battle in an entrenched valley in French Indochina
In Castelnaudary in mid-November 2022, the officers, NCOs, legionnaires and enlisted volunteers of the 4th Foreign Regiment (4e RE) celebrated the 102nd anniversary of the regiment’s creation.
Between November 7 and 10, 2022, the 1st Foreign Engineer Regiment (1er REG) participated in Exercise Rubicon. The so-called high-intensity exercise took place mainly in Laudun, the regiment’s garrison town, and its surroundings.
Again the PHOTOS series. This time, a set of rare pictures of the 2nd Foreign Legion Medium Repair Company (2e CMRLE), one of the six maintenance & repair companies of the Legion that participated in the First Indochina War (1946-1954).
In France, the 11th of November marks Armistice Day. That day – known as Remembrance Day (or Veterans Day) in mostly English-speaking countries – the entire nation in France and abroad commemorates the end of hostilities of World War I. Thus, yesterday, on November 11, even the French Foreign Legion – as well as the rest of the French Armed Forces – commemorated the 104th Armistice Day, and remembered the 36,000 legionnaires and foreign volunteers who were killed or wounded during WWI. See the photos.
During four days, between November 2 and November 4, 2022, the French Military Boxing Championship took place at the National Center for Defense Sports (CNSD) boxing hall in Fontainebleau, in the metropolitan area of Paris. Dozens of boxers from France’s armed forces (Ground, Air, Navy and Gendarmerie) participated, including those from the Foreign Legion. The championship returned after a ten-year pause.
Read moreForeign Legion: Two legionnaires are 2022 French military boxing champions
In 1971, a combined battalion was activated to group Foreign Legion pioneers and French Army Engineer Corps sappers to construct the largest military camp in Western Europe. Later, the battalion constructed or modernized other military training areas, before its deactivation in late 1982. Even today, these camps still preserve concrete traces of the remarkable efficiency of the men of the Foreign Legion, who reaffirmed that legionnaires are both elite soldiers and competent builders, just like their ancestors.
In early November 2022, a combat engineer platoon of the 1st Foreign Engineer Regiment (1er REG) was back at their home base in Laudun, Southern France. The legionnaires returned from Central Africa where they were participating in France’s anti-terrorist Operation Barkhane.
As mentioned in the previous article dedicated to Lieutenant Colonel Amilakvari, this year marks the 80th anniversary of the death of this officer who was killed in Egypt on October 24, 1942. He commanded the 13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade (13e DBLE). The current colonel of this regiment decided to visit Amilakvari‘s war grave.
The 24th of October 1942 marks the day when Lieutenant Colonel Dimitri Amilakvari, a French Foreign Legion officer, was killed during a battle with German forces in Africa, in the Second World War. This article was written in his memory.