French Foreign Legion information. An online project dedicated to the famous Foreign Legion.
Between late May and early June 2021, legionnaires with the 13th Foreign Legion Half Brigade (13e DBLE) participated in an amphibious exercise, Skrenvil 2021, to strengthen enhanced interoperability between the French Army, the Navy, and U.S. Marines.
Read more13e DBLE: Exercise Skrenvil 2021 alongside U.S. Marines, with new Griffon vehicles
In late May 2021, the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er REC), the only cavalry unit currently serving within the French Foreign Legion, opened its new commando training center. The first course took place there between May 16 and 28. See the images.
On June 3, 2021, Captain Bastien Ulm died in the line of duty in southeastern France. He served with the Foreign Legion’s 2nd Foreign Engineer Regiment (2e REG), referred to as the “Mountain Regiment”.
75 years ago, on 1 June 1946, a new Foreign Legion disciplinary unit was born in French Indochina. Stationed on an island at Cam Ranh Bay in what is now called Vietnam, the unit’s mission was to reform badly behaving legionnaires who were being deployed to the Far East to participate in the First Indochina War (1946-1954), and who couldn’t undergo the usual punishment within their mother units. Although there is only little information, the new article dedicated to this disciplinary unit provides all currently available info, as well as very rare images that were never published before.
In May 2021, men from the 1st Company, 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment (2e REI) conducted a “commando course” on Réunion. It is an island situated in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, and an overseas department and region of France. See the video.
45 years ago, in late May 1976, a helicopter transporting Foreign Legion elements crashed to the ground during a military exercise in the Horn of Africa. Six legionnaires died immediately; another two died from their injuries later. At the time, this was the deadliest day for the Legion since the end of the Algerian War in 1962. Although considerably forgotten these days, even in France, this sad event and its victims should be remembered.
Read moreForeign Legion: 45th anniversary of a deadly accident in the Horn of Africa
Between May 11 and 16, 2021, the French Foreign Legionnaires participated in a joint exercise Jeanne D’Arc 21, alongside their allies from the Japan Self Defense Force, Australian Defence Force, and U.S. Armed Forces. The exercise took place at Camp Ainoura (Naval Base Sasebo), and at Kirishima Maneuver Area, both located on the island of Kyushu, in the south of Japan. It was for the very first time when French troops took part in such exercise in Japan.
110 years ago, on 15 May 1911, during a French campaign to liberate the besieged ruler of Morocco, two platoons of the French Foreign Legion were involved in a fierce battle with numerous Moroccan rebels. Determined never to surrender to the enemy, only an officer and six legionnaires left alive after six hours of fighting. Although this battle is considered as the second Camerone, it has been almost forgotten over the years.
A few days ago, the French Foreign Legion published a video with rare images from 1934, showing the newly opened Home of Legionnaire (Maison du Légionnaire), a retirement home for Legion veterans. The home is located in Auriol, some 6 miles (10 km) northeast of Aubagne, the Foreign Legion headquarters situated close to Marseille, in Southern France.
On April 30, as every year since 1931, the French Foreign Legion celebrated their most important holiday, Camerone Day. This day marks the anniversary of the Battle of Camerone, the famed action which occurred in Mexico 158 years ago, in 1863.
Currently, legionnaires from the 1st Company of the French Foreign Legion’s 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) are being deplyed to New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean, situated some 750 miles (1,200 km) east of Australia.