c8636248@cc.nu.oz.au (08/01/90)
From: c8636248@cc.nu.oz.au In article <1990Jul27.015522.22018@cbnews.att.com>, godot.RadOnc.UNC.EDU!thorn@mcnc.org (Jesse Thorn) writes: > > > From: godot.RadOnc.UNC.EDU!thorn@mcnc.org (Jesse Thorn) > > A friend and I were wondering if the French Foreign Legion were still > in existence. I seem to remember that the organization was disbanded > awhile back and then recently reformed. Does it still exists? If so, > what has it been used for in recent years? > Mais oui! La Legion Etrangere marche toujours! Seriously, the Foreign Legion is alive and well, albeit living in France now rather than Algeria. I think the 'disbanding' that you refer to was probably the fuss after Charles de Gaulle granted independance to Algeria, after a long and bloody guerrilla war. The Legion was forced to abandon its 'Mother House' at Sidi-bel-Abbes (it is now based at Aubagne, near Marseille) and some very long standing traditions; some battle standards captured during earlier Indo- Chinese wars were burned, as the officer who had captured them stipulated should happen were the Legion ever to leave North Africa. Even worse, a number of the officers and men refused to accept de Gaulle's decision and began their own private war against the new Algerian government, and against their own, in the form of a terrorist group known as the OAS (Organisation d'Armee Secret, or Secret Army Organisation). Several attempts were made to assassinate de Gaulle, and the episode was used by Frederick Forsyth as the basis for his book, 'The Day of the Jackal'. Several prominent officers of the Legion were eventually captured, court-martialled and executed as I remember. Nowadays the Legion is made up of (I think) three or four battalions of infantry, some parachute trained, and a light cavalry battalion. They have the same sort of job as most elite infantry units, operating in a range of environments and as rapid deployment troops. I seem to remember that one group is resposible for guarding the French IRBM sites in wartime, and that there is some counterterrorist capablity. Recruits are still only accepted from foreign countries, although there is a suspiciously large number of 'Belgians', 'Swiss', etc in the ranks. Contrary to popular belief, criminals wanted for serious crimes are not (and apparently never have been) permitted to join. The only operational deployment that the Legion has made recently that I can remember is in Chad, another former French colony. They were instrumental in helping the locals give some of Colonel Gadaffi's insurgents a bloody nose, and I think are still in the country. I would be interested to hear about any other incidents that anyone could tell me about. Hope this is resonably accurate (I am typing it from memory) and helpful. Andrew Hide Computer Science Honours University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia
smb@ulysses.att.com (Steven Bellovin) (08/05/90)
From: smb@ulysses.att.com (Steven Bellovin) In article <1990Jul31.223552.6309@cbnews.att.com>, c8636248@cc.nu.oz.au writes: > The only operational deployment that the Legion has made recently that I > can remember is in Chad, another former French colony. France uses the Legion for foreign (and not so foreign) interventions. There have been several uses in Africa besides Chad, I belive. Also, I think they sent the Legion to New Caledonia (an overseas department of France) to deal with civil unrest there.