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.
1er REG: A platoon returned from Africa
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.
13e DBLE: 2022 Visit to El Alamein Cemetery
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.
Lieutenant Colonel Dimitri Amilakvari
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.
DLEM: 2022 DIO Training in Madagascar
In early September 2022, a group of instructors with the Foreign Legion Detachment in Mayotte (DLEM) returned from Madagascar, a large island in the Indian Ocean located south-east of Mayotte. In Madagascar, the men provided military training to local soldiers.
2e REP: 5th Company left New Caledonia
After their prescribed deployment that lasted four months, the men of the 5th Company, 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP), left New Caledonia. They had served in this special overseas collectivity of France located east of Australia, in the Pacific Ocean, since early June.
PHOTOS: 1re CSPL Platoon Leader badge in the Saharan Desert in 1958
This time I would like to share with you a very rare picture showing a sergeant serving as a platoon leader with the 1st Legion Saharan Motorized Company (1re CSPL) in the Sahara of Eastern Algeria, in the late 1950s. The unit was stationed at Fort Flatters at the time, an old French military post located close to the border with Libya. What’s rare in that picture is the insignia/badge worn by this NCO, above the company one.
Read morePHOTOS: 1re CSPL Platoon Leader badge in the Saharan Desert in 1958
2e REG: 2022 Mission Lynx in Estonia
Legionnaires of the French Foreign Legion’s 2nd Foreign Engineer Regiment (2e REG) are currently deployed to Estonia, a Baltic state in Northern Europe, for four months. They serve there as part of NATO’s Baltic enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) to protect and reassure NATO’s member state of its security.
3e REI: 2022 Fourragere Day
As usual in September, the French Foreign Legion’s 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment (3e REI) celebrated the regimental holiday, called Fourragere Day. See the nice images of this important event.
PHOTOS: 1er RE Adjudants around 1900
Today is exactly ten years and ten days since the first post was published on this website. This is the reason to share a slightly rarer picture in the PHOTOS series. Thus, here comes one of the rarest ones found in my archive.
2e REP: 2022 Exercise Manticore
Between September 12 and October 10, 2022, the French Army is conducting a large-scale military exercise, called Manticore. It takes place in several departments of south-central France, including Aveyron and Puy-de-Dôme. Among the more than 3,000 soldiers participating in the exercise are legionnaires from the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP), the only airborne unit of the current French Foreign Legion.