The year 2020 has almost passed away and Christmas Eve is coming. So, this is a suitable time for another annual recapitulation. See what has been already done this year on this website, and my future plans for next year.
100 years ago: A Foreign Legion regiment was constituted in Morocco
In the then French protectorate of Morocco in late 1920, four autonomous battalions of the French Foreign Legion that had spent the whole First World War there were grouped to form a new unit, nicknamed as the Regiment of Morocco. The new regiment had to go on with the pacification of the country while, at the same time, his men were the first legionnaires ever to operate in the Middle East…
Read more100 years ago: A Foreign Legion regiment was constituted in Morocco
Documentary: Achieving the Black képi
For the very first time in history, a documentary covering the French Foreign Legion course for future sergeants was released in early December 2020, by the RMC Story, a French independent TV television channel. Directed by Pierre-Stéphane Fort, the documentary called La Légion étrangère : Objectif képi noir (Foreign Legion: Achieving the Black képi) shows the four-month course that changes the ordinary legionnaires into future non-commissioned officers. The course takes place within the 4th Foreign Regiment (4e RE) of Castelnaudary, southern France.
2e REG: Exercise Cerces 2020
In late November 2020, legionnaires from the 2nd Foreign Engineer Regiment (2e REG) of the Foreign Legion participated in Cerces 2020, an annual mountain warfare exercise taking place in the French Alps in Savoie, a department in Southeastern France.
2e REP: 2020 Wessex Storm in England
Between November 2 and December 12, 2020, yearly joint military manoeuvres called Wessex Storm take place on Salisbury Plain in Wessex, southern England. The six-week manoeuvres have to confirm the skills and readiness of the 2 PARA Battlegroup, the British Army’s leading response force, assigned to the 16 Air Assault Brigade. During the 2020 Wessex Storm exercise, a company of the French Foreign Legion’s 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) and a US Army platoon have been included into the British battlegroup.
13e DBLE: 2020 Documentary
See a new, well-rendered documentary covering young legionnaires of the 13th Foreign Legion Half Brigade (13e DBLE) at Camp Larzac, their military base nearby La Cavalerie, a small commune in southern France. The documentary was released in late November 2020. English subtitles included.
2e REI: Visited by COMLE
On November 10, 2020, General Alain Lardet, the commander-in-chief of the French Foreign Legion (COMLE), officially visited the 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment (2e REI), the longest-serving regiment of the Legion at its military base in Nimes.
3e REI: 2020 Jungle Assistant Course
See a nice report made by the Foreign Legion, covering part of the Jungle Assistant Course (Stage Aide-moniteur fôret, AMF), the most difficult French military course for ordinary soldiers. Out of fifty initial volunteers, there are no more than seven legionnaires to continue the course to obtain that very prestigious certificate and get a chance to become one of the ten assistants of the Jungle Instructor…
Foreign Legion: 2020 Armistice Day
As every year since 1918, even on this 11 November the different regiments of the French Foreign Legion were commemorating the end of World War I and paying honor to the veterans and the dead. Known as Remembrance Day (or Veterans Day) in mostly English-speaking countries, the Armistice Day is highly regarded in France.
Suppression of the 1947 Malagasy Uprising: Another forgotten campaign of the Legion
In late March 1947, three months after the regular war started in French Indochina, a bloody rebellion erupted in Madagascar, then a French colony annexed by France (with the predominant help of legionnaires) in 1896. To stop the massacres of French settlers and to restore order on that large island in the Indian Ocean, a battalion of the Foreign Legion left North Africa. Follow the link and learn more about another already forgotten campaign of the Legion, accompanied by 40+ original, still unpublished photos from private archives…
Read moreSuppression of the 1947 Malagasy Uprising: Another forgotten campaign of the Legion
2e REP: 2020 Saint Michael Day kickboxing
In late September 2020, a regimental challenge was organized as usual at Calvi in Corsica by the Foreign Legion’s 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP). The challenge is a traditional part of the festivities in commemoration of Saint Michael the Archangel (the patron of all French paratroopers) whose feast falls on September 29. This day also marks the 2e REP’s holiday.