No prob....just compiling my knowledge on the matter.

about your question,the legion has always respected the nationalities of its members. If france is at war with a legionnaire's home country,the legionnaire will usually simply be assigned elsewhere and be kept away from the theatre. For example,during World War 2 any germans serving the legion will be stationed in far away places like Madagascar and French Guyana. So I think there will be no problems there....


It also must be said that the legion reached its heyday in the 1950s. during the Indochina war. It has been said that the legionnaires were the toughest yet in the history of the legion. In the immediate aftermath of World War 2, Legion recruiters actively recruited Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS from the french-run POW camps. Soldiers or officers that might otherwise be liable to be charged as war criminals took the chance to escape into the legion. The huge influx of these recruits substantially strengthened the legion to the point that in the 1950s,it is reported that nearly 45% of the legion comprised of former German officers and soldiers.

Excellent as they were,these legionnaires were practically nearly destroyed by the near-constant fighting in that period. The independence of former french colonies were a brutal affair,with constant guerilla warfare that sapped the strength of the legion and there were occurrences of entire units being wiped out,for example the battle of route coloniale 4 in northern indochina, where from a force of 6000 legionnaires and colonial troopers (Moroccan and Algerian Sipahis and tirallieurs and also local vietnamese soldiers) engaging the Viet Minh,only about 500 made it back to the french lines.

The final breaking point was during the struggle for the independence of Algeria. the french regarded Algeria as a part of france,not as a colony and there were a significant number of french nationals living there. So when the Algerian independence movement,led by Ahmed bin Bella started rebelling against french rule,the french responded viciously and brutally. Heavy urban fighting in Algiers and other major cities constantly erupted and terror bombings begin to occur in france itself. So when the then french President Charles De Gaulle decided to grant independence to Algeria, the legion (which had their HQ in Algeria since 1831,at Sidi bel Abbes) and many french army units rebelled,seeking to launch a coup against the french government. the rebellion was quickly put down however, and as punishment,the 1st REP Battalion (Parachutiste) was permanently disbanded,as many of the rebels were from its ranks. President De Gaulle also considered completely disbanding the foreign legion,but decided against it. So the legion was stripped of all of its heavy equipments and weapons and their number was reduced to about 8000.

So that is a brief history of the legion,any other info? I'll be glad to hear other stories about the legion.


Foreign Legion paratroopers on deployment in Afghanistan