The French Foreign Legion

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On St. Catherine Airport Calvi, a warrant officer checks the width of Legionnaires equipment of the 4th Company of the 2nd REP (Foreign Parachute Regiment) before boarding for a training jump.

 

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Chief of battalion Roger Faulques holds the artificial hands of Captain Jean Danjou, killed in the 1863 battle of Camerone , Mexico, during the battle's commemoration ceremony, at the Foreign Legion base of Aubagne, near the southern city of Marseille, Friday, April 30, 2010. The Foreign Legion marked the 147th anniversary of the Camerone battle in which some 65 French Foreign Legionnaires resisted a Mexican army of more than 2,000 men.

From Facman

Capt Danjou only had one artificial hand.

And what a hell of a leader he must have been...his men did follow him to the gates of hell!

 

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Legionnaires dressed in traditional pioneer outfits and holding hatchets parade during the commemoration ceremony of the 1863 battle of Camerone, at the Foreign Legion base of Aubagne, near the southern city of Marseille, Friday, April 30, 2010. The Foreign Legion marked the 147th anniversary of the Camerone battle in which some 65 French Foreign Legionnaires resisted a Mexican army of more than 2,000 men.

 

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French Foreign Legion soldiers deploy for operation Avallon in the Tagab Valley, some 50 kilometers east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday Nov. 15, 2009. Hundreds of French and Afghan troops pushed into the volatile valley in an attempt to gain control of an area that has long been a haven for militants who launch quick attacks then fade back into hillside villages.

 

[Louis]

Cleaning was broken images -

 

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Cleaning of lost pics

 

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Facts of life in the Legion (The reality of ‘romantic’ French service)

• King Louis Philippe raised the French Foreign Legion in 1831 as a fighting force of foreigners to serve French colonial interests.
• The only Frenchmen officially allowed to join its ranks are officers. However, Frenchmen do join, but alter their nationality on enlistment, for example to Swiss or Canadian.
• Today’s French Foreign Legion is 8500 strong, in 11 regiments based on the same order of battle as the French Army, with the same equipment and military laws – except that no women are permitted to serve.
• Seven regiments are based in France with the rest overseas in Djibouti, French Polynesia, Mayotte in the Indian Ocean and French Guiana in South America.
• The Legion has the same entry standards as the regular French Army – poor eyesight, hearing and fitness are screened out.
• Of the 12,000 men a year who want to be “a man amongst men”. Only one in 12 is accepted.
• 130 countries are represented in the ranks. The Legion views this cultural melting pot as its strength. Officially members have only one nationality, that of Legionnaire, as reflected in the their motto Legio Patria Nostra – the Legion is our homeland.
• The myth that authorities turn a blind eye to serious criminals joining the Legion in exchange for dirty deeds done dirt cheap, is not the case – any more. IDs are processed by the Legion’s security section who liaise with Interpol to weed out wanted criminals.
• Compared to times past, the Legion doesn’t need the hassle from the authorities. They can now afford to pick and choose, as the disintegrating former Soviet empire has provided plenty of ‘clean’ recruits eager for bed and board and a French passport to the West.
• The Foreign Legion is reputedly the only institution where a man can be truly reborn, and it’s at Aubagne you can choose to change your name and leave history at the gates. Recruits can be issued a new name or later, their original identity through a process called rectification.
• Legionnaires receive the same pay as regular soldiers of the French Army with the usual sliding scale in pay according to rank and length of service. Bonus pay is earned according to posting. Starting pay for a Legionnaire is 1040 Euro per month paid into an account of his choosing.
• After 15-years service, members qualify for an Army pension, payable in any country.
• Vehicle ownership prohibited – even push bikes.
• Eight men to a room normal for barrack accommodation. TV, VCR and bar fridge are allowed.
• Only single men may enlist, but marriage allowed after five-years service – with permission.
• Civilian clothing never to be worn except on annual leave.
• 15-45 days paid annual leave must be spent in France, except by hard-to-acquire permission.
• Intrusion into daily life means most Legionnaires only serve the basic five-year contract, which begins when he arrives at one of the Legion’s 16 recruiting centres spread throughout France.

from contactairlandandsea.com

 

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Soldier of the 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment

 

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Clean gallery of lost photos.

 

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Some more questions you have about the Foreign Legion:

What are the entry requirements to the legion?

Although the basic concept of just turning up at the legion's gates in mainland France at first seems straightforward enough, the organisation does operate a set of requirements that a recruit must measure himself against to join. They are:

Be a man aged between 17.5 and 39.5 years.
Have a passport (or if from within the EU – an ID card).
Have a birth certificate.
To not be wanted by Interpol.
Be physically fit enough to serve at all times and in all places worldwide for at least five years.
To have a BMI between 20 and 30.
To be able to read and write in your own language.

Do you receive a new identity when you join the French Foreign Legion?

The legion's own website deals with this frequently asked question about getting a new identity when signing up to its ranks. It simply says: yes. All new recruits to the French Foreign Legion are handed a new identity.

Can criminals join the French Foreign Legion?

This common query around running away from crimes, or moving on from earlier dalliances with the law, is one of the most frequently asked questions about joining the legion.

If we were discussing this 100 years ago, the answer would be straightforward: yes. Anybody looking to escape their past, whether due to major or minor criminality, could sign themselves up to the legion and disappear into its ranks.

Today, however, that is not quite the way things work.

Whereas the French Foreign Legion will turn a blind eye to minor criminal records, it will not permit recruits into its ranks who have serious records or who are wanted by Interpol.

Do you simply just turn up and join?

Unlike joining the British Armed Forces, the French Foreign Legion does not deal with paper or online applications, letters of invitations, or face-to-face interviews during which you can show off bronze Duke of Edinburgh Awards certificates.

The only way a recruit can join the legion is to turn up in mainland France and knock on the door of one of the numerous Foreign Legion recruiting centres. Once through the centre door, recruits are given free food, accommodation, and clothing.

Recruitment centres are open 24 hours a day, 365 days per year. Although, on its website, the legion recommends arriving between 8am and 5pm.

Do you become a French citizen when you join?

Joining the French Foreign Legion is a pathway to citizenship. However, it is not possible to do this for the initial three years of service.

The legion's website says that if "he serves well, he will be entitled to a residence permit at first, the nationality will be given to him conditionally.

"This is generally granted, subject to having a good way of serving and having proven its willingness to integrate into the French Nation."

However, there is another path to citizenship that does not require a minimum of three years' service.

"French by spilled blood" – or Français par le sang verse – allows members of the legion to become French citizens if they are wounded on the battlefield.