On September 29, the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) of the French Foreign Legion celebrated Saint-Michel Day (La Fête de Saint-Michel). Saint-Michel is appreciated as the patron of paratroopers. See video.
History of the first Foreign Legion parachute unit
During the First Indochina War, the Foreign Legion was demanded by French military authorities to create a parachute unit to support French infantry forces operating in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos since 1946. In 1948, volunteers of the Legion regiments stationed in Indochina formed the first Foreign Legion airborne unit – the Parachute Company, attached to the 3e REI.
1976: Transfer of Basic Training Units from Corsica to Castelnaudary
Starting in June 1962, training units of the French Foreign Legion were based in Corsica, where they had arrived from Algeria. In October 1976, they left the island and moved to mainland France to be stationed in the town of Castelnaudary, in the southern part of the country.
Read more1976: Transfer of Basic Training Units from Corsica to Castelnaudary
US Marines and Legionnaires in Tonga
Exercise Tafakula 2013. During the first half of September, the platoons from the United States Marine Corps, the Tongan armed forces and the French Foreign Legion realized an exercise in the Kingdom of Tonga, a Polynesian state in the southern Pacific Ocean.
1er REC will change its headquarters in 2014
The 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er REC) of Foreign Legion will change its headquarters located in Orange, Vaucluse county, France. This information was confirmed by Yannick Blanc, Vaucluse county representative, on October 01.
4e RE: 13 legionnaires injured in an accident
This Monday, September 23, while en route to the Caylus military camp for a training exercise, a platoon from the 2nd Enlisted Volunteer Company (2e CEV) of the 4th Foreign Regiment, the training unit of the French Foreign Legion, was involved in an accident near the exit of Verfeil-sur-Seye, a commune in the Midi-Pyrénées region of southern France.
In this single-vehicle crash, a truck carrying three cadres and 16 fresh legionnaires, who had only two months of service, was traveling from Castelnaudary to Caylus. The vehicle veered off the road and collided with a retaining wall. A total of 12 legionnaires and one NCO were injured. The NCO, a 24-year-old sergeant, fell from the front passenger seat and sustained serious injuries. He was airlifted in critical condition to the hospital in Rodez. The injured legionnaires, who had less severe injuries, were hospitalized in Montauban, Albi, and Villefranche-de-Rouergue.
Authorities reported that the legionnaire-driver, while checking the other trucks in his rearview mirror to ensure they were following, lost control of the vehicle as he was making a turn off the road.
Photo credit: DMM, La Dépêche
—
Related posts:
Tragic accident involving Foreign Legion recruits in August 2000
4e RE: Fresh legionnaires obtaining their Képi blanc
4e RE: Exercise at Caylus 2014
4e RE visited by the Foreign Legion’s commander
1er REC left Mali
A company of legionnaires from the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er REC) of the French Foreign Legion left Mali a week ago. It served there, in the region of Tessalit, for 4 months.
Head of the French Army and the French president met legionnaires in Mali
Army general Ract Madoux, the head of the French Army, visited Mali ten days ago. Four days ago, on September 19, the French president François Hollande visited Mali too. During their visit, both of them met legionnaires that have served in this African country since the end of May.
Read moreHead of the French Army and the French president met legionnaires in Mali
Some new images from operations in Mali
French troops placed in Mali participate in numerous operations to find out last rebel’s hideouts or to protect already cleared regions. The French Army has released a few new images from such operations.
Hélie Denoix de Saint Marc – a pay homage video
As stated earlier, the former Foreign Legion officer and putschist Hélie Denoix de Saint Marc has died. The last homage was paid to him in the Saint-Jean Cathedral in Lyon, thereafter in the Saint-Jean square in front of the cathedral, on August 30, 2013.
2e REP parachuting videos
Some nice videos of the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) parachuting, just to imagine what the jumps are about and, also, in which beautiful place the regiment is based. The 2e REP is the only airborne unit within the Foreign Legion.