French Foreign Legion information. An online project dedicated to the famous Foreign Legion.
In the morning of June 11, 2019, a senior non-commissioned officer of the 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment (2e REI) leaves the regiment and also the French Foreign Legion, after his long 40 years of service spent with this famous institution.
Read more2e REI: He joined the Legion in 1979. He leaves in 2019, after 40 years of service
In May 2019, the famous Jungle Training Center (CEFE) of the Foreign Legion’s 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment (3e REI) in French Guiana saw two jungle courses prepared for future French officers and for Czech Army instructors.
Since the 20th May, Foreign Legion combat engineers of the 1st Foreign Engineer Regiment (1er REG) have participated in an annual joint military exercise called CIADA. The primary aim is to maintain their operational readiness and to train cooperation within a combined task force.
70 years ago today, on the 31st May of 1949, the very first airborne unit of the French Foreign Legion was disbanded. Organized and stationed in Hanoi (the then capital of French Indochina) in 1948, the company of no more than 150 legionnaires-paratroopers supported French troops during the first stage of the Indochina War (1946-54). If you are interested in the lesser-known history of the Foreign Legion, see our fully reworked article dedicated to this exceptional unit (une version française incluse).
Read more70 years ago: The very first Foreign Legion airborne unit was disbanded
See a nice French documentary presenting legionnaires-paratroopers from the Foreign Legion’s 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) when being deployed in Mali (a country in West Africa) to participate there in the ongoing anti-terrorist Operation Barkhane.
In late May 1976, an air accident occurred during a military exercise in the then French Territory of the Afars and the Issas (TFAI, today’s Djibouti), a country located in the Horn of Africa. A French Army helicopter crashed. Eight men on board were killed, including six legionnaires from Foreign Legion Operational Group (GOLE). Another two legionnaires died later. At the time, the incident became the deadliest accident for the Legion since the end of the Algerian War (1962). It has still remained the second deadliest accident for the Legion since then. Nevertheless, for unknown reasons, the fatal crash has been completely forgotten in France. To remember the victims, see our updated article dedicated to this sad event.
Read moreGOLE: 43rd anniversary of the deadly accident in the Horn of Africa
In April and May 2019, legionnaires of the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er REC) took part in military training with the Armada of the Dominican Republic, a country located in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, and the most visited tourist destination in the region.
See a fresh, fully reworked article dealing with the history of an overseas battalion of the Foreign Legion being established in Madagascar, an island in the Indian Ocean, in mid-May 1957. Although little-known today, it was an exceptional and interesting unit which would give birth to two brand-new regiments, the 3e REI in Madagascar and the 13e DBLE in Djibouti in the 1960s. By the way, the battalion was the only Foreign Legion operational unit to not take part in the Algerian War (1954-1962) at the time.
Read more62 years ago: A Foreign Legion overseas battalion in Madagascar was born
In Corsica on May 17, 1978, legionnaires of the French Foreign Legion’s 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) were put on alert. Two days later, they jumped over Kolwezi, a city located in then Zaire, Central Africa. They would rescue over 2,000 Europeans captured and held by local rebels. Thanks to the success of the operation and the then international media coverage, the regiment became popular across the world…
See a very nice video created and published by the 1er RE to return to the most important annual event of the French Foreign Legion, Camerone Day (April 30), marking the anniversary of the famous Battle of Camerone.
Read moreVIDEO: 2019 Camerone Day in Aubagne + Fourragère for 1st Foreign Regiment
Legionnaires of the 13th Foreign Legion Half Brigade (13e DBLE) are currently being deployed for four months to Réunion, an island and an overseas department of France in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar. They formed a rotational infantry company of the 2nd Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (2e RPIMa) there, to maintain order in the region.