French Foreign Legion Information

Happy New Year 2023

December 30, 2022 · Posted in blog

Again a particular year is behind us, this time marked by geopolitical turbulences instead of health restrictions. However, the year of 2022 also marked ten years that have successfully passed since the launch of the FOREIGNLEGION INFO website in September 2012. How many legionnaires got their first info on the Legion here and then proudly completed their five years? Who knows. Nevertheless, I am glad to see that you, the readers, are still enjoying the work that has already been done. Thank you.

Now, with a new year upon us, is a suitable time for another annual review.

Merry Christmas – Joyeux Noël 2022

December 24, 2022 · Posted in blog

Like every year, the FOREIGNLEGION INFO website wishes you a very merry Christmas (Joyeux Noël in France / the Legion) and a nice, peaceful holiday season, with a well-deserved time to relax.

DOCUMENTS: 1959 1er REP Honorable discharge certificate of SCH Rutecki

December 16, 2022 · Posted in 1rep, documents

Besides the PHOTOS series, I would like to create more similar categories and share within them other interesting items related to the French Foreign Legion, often hidden in personal archives. Thus, the next category to appear will focus on historical documents of all kinds. Here is the first such document, the Honorable discharge certificate (Certificat de bonne conduite) of a member of the famous 1st Foreign Parachute Regiment (1er REP), very rare to see.

2e REG: 2022 Saint Barbara Day

December 12, 2022 · Posted in 2reg

On December 8, 2022, the men of the 2nd Foreign Engineer Regiment (2e REG) celebrated 2022 Saint Barbara Day, their holiday. Saint Barbara (Sainte-Barbe in French) is known as the patron saint of French military engineers and firefighters.

Andrew J. Mitchell: Collecting French Foreign Legion Insignia – Parachute Units 1948-61

December 9, 2022 · Posted in 1rep, books

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.

70 years ago: A successful battle in an entrenched valley in French Indochina

December 4, 2022 · Posted in 1rep, 2rep, 3rei, 5re, history, indochina

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.

4e RE: 102nd Anniversary of the Regiment

November 29, 2022 · Posted in 4re

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.

1er REG: 2022 Exercise Rubicon

November 23, 2022 · Posted in 13dble, 1reg

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.

PHOTOS: 2e CMRLE in Indochina in 1953

November 19, 2022 · Posted in cmrle, indochina, photos

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).

Foreign Legion: 2022 Armistice Day

November 12, 2022 · Posted in 13dble, 1rec, 2rei, 2rep, 3rei, dlem

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.

Foreign Legion: Two legionnaires are 2022 French military boxing champions

November 10, 2022 · Posted in 13dble, 1rec, sports

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.