In late 2022, a joint military exercise took place in Ivory Coast, a country on the southern coast of West Africa that maintains close ties with France. Legionnaires from the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) participated.
2022 Foreign Legion Veterans’ Institution
See a French Army official documentary dedicated to the Foreign Legion Institution for Disabled Veterans (IILE), based in Puyloubier, southern France. The documentary was published on the Army’s official YouTube channel in late 2022.
PHOTOS: 2nd Foreign Regiment’s color guard in the early 1900s
Another part of the PHOTOS series. Today, the article is dedicated to the color guard of the 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment (2e REI) in Algeria, North Africa, in the early 1900s. Back then, the unit was still known as the 2nd Foreign Regiment (2e Etranger, 2e RE).
Read morePHOTOS: 2nd Foreign Regiment’s color guard in the early 1900s
2022 Legion Christmas nativity scenes
Christmas Eve marks the second most important holiday within the French Foreign Legion, traditionally a pro-Catholic institution. Thus, for that day, legionnaires in all units of the Legion create original nativity scenes and compete to see which one is the nicest and most original. This Legion tradition is unique within the French Army.
Happy New Year 2023
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
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
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 Thus, the next category to appear will focus on historical documents of all kinds.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.
Read moreDOCUMENTS: 1959 1er REP Honorable discharge certificate of SCH Rutecki
2e REG: 2022 Saint Barbara Day
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
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
70 years ago: A successful battle in an entrenched valley in French 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.
Read more70 years ago: A successful battle in an entrenched valley in French Indochina
4e RE: 102nd Anniversary of the Regiment
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.