From June 5 to 9, 2023, legionnaires of the 1st Foreign Engineer Regiment (1er REG) and the 13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade (13e DBLE) were carrying out joint military activities in Acapulco, Mexico.
13e DBLE: 2023 Commemoration of the Battle of Bir Hakeim
Last weekend, between June 9 and 11, 2023, the 13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade (13e DBLE) opened Camp Larzac – its military base – to the public, on the occasion of the 81st anniversary of the Battle of Bir Hakeim.
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2e REG: 2023 French Guiana
In early June 2023, men from the French Foreign Legion’s 2nd Foreign Engineer Regiment (2e REG) started their four-month deployment to French Guiana, South America. They will reinforce French troops there.
DLEM: 2023 DIO Training in Botswana
In May 2023, an operational training detachment (DIO) of the Foreign Legion Detachment in Mayotte (DLEM) provided military training to local soldiers in Botswana, Southern Africa.
Lieutenant Colonel Pierre Jeanpierre
On May 29, 1958, during military operations in the Guelma region of Northeastern Algeria, a helicopter hit by rebel fire crashed to the ground. On board, along with the pilot and a mechanic, Lieutenant Colonel Pierre Jeanpierre, a legendary officer of the French Foreign Legion and the head of what was then one of the best units of the French Army. All the three were dead. To this day, Lt. Col. Jeanpierre remains the last high-ranking officer of the Foreign Legion to be killed in action. The following article was written in his memory.
2e REP: 2023 Operational jump in Niger
On May 15, 2023, a detachment of the famous 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP), the only airborne unit of the French Foreign Legion, conducted a night operational jump in Niger, a landlocked country in West Africa and a former French colony. The operation was carried out alongside Nigerien troops and aimed at seizing a military base of the Saharan jihadists.
2e REI: 5th Company dissolved
Last week, on May 16, 2023, the 5th Company of the Foreign Legion’s 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment (2e REI) was disbanded during an emotional ceremony, as a result of the planned French infantry reorganization. Its men would be dispersed among remaining companies or join other regiments.
VIDEO: 160th Anniversary of the Battle of Camerone in Aubagne
See a nice, 15-minute-long official video dedicated to the recent 160th Anniversary of the Battle of Camerone in Aubagne. The video was published by the French Foreign Legion on their YouTube channel.
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45th Anniversary of the Battle of Kolwezi
45 years ago, on May 17, 1978, legionnaires of the French Foreign Legion’s 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) in Corsica were alerted and the next day, they took off in direction of then Zaire in Central Africa. There, on May 19, they jumped over Kolwezi, a mining center in the south of the country. The legionnaires would rescue over 2,000 Europeans captured and held by local rebels…