Mar 9, 2015

The French Foreign legion was formed on March 10, 1831. Most of the earliest members were dispatched to Algiers, according to historian Douglas Porch’s canonical book on the subject, “The French Foreign Legion: A Complete History of the Legendary Fighting Force.”

: 2014 caption:
Soldiers of the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regimentof the French Foreign Legion stand guard during the rehearsal of the ceremony marking the commemoration of the battle of Camaron, which occurred on 30 April 1863 between the French Foreign Legion and the Mexican army, on April 29, 2014 in the ancient theatre of Orange. The ceremony will mark the regiment’s last public appearance in Orange before its move to its new base in Carpiagne.
|| CREDIT: BORIS HORVAT – AFP/GETTY IMAGES

: 2013 caption:
A soldier of the French foreign legion wearing a skeleton mask stands next to an armored vehicule in a street in Niono, on January 20, 2013. French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said today that the goal of France’s military action in Mali was to retake control of the entire country from Islamist militants who have seized the north. “The goal is the total reconquest of Mali. We will not leave any pockets” of resistance, Le Drian said on French television.
ISSOUF SANOGO – AFP/Getty Images

: 2013 caption:
French Foreign Legion troops work under a deployed parachute on January 30, 2013 at Timbuktu airport two days after freeing the northern Malian desert city. French troops on January 30 entered Kidal, the last Islamist bastion in Mali’s north after a whirlwind Paris-led offensive, as France urged peace talks to douse ethnic tensions targeting Arabs and Tuaregs.
|| CREDIT: ERIC FEFERBERG – AFP/GETTY IMAGES

: 2012 caption:
A legionnaire stands between “Nativity cribs” created by the Foreign Legion, on December 14, 2012, at the Foreign Legion regiment in Lille, northern France. Every Christmas, the Foreign Legion holds a contest of nativity cribs which represent scenes of its military actions throughout the world such as in Afghanistan, Africa.
|| CREDIT: PHILIPPE HUGUEN – AFP/GETTY IMAGES

: 2012 caption:
A soldier from French Foreign Legion holds an Anti-Tank Light Infantry Missile (MILAN) as he takes part in the annual Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, on July 14, 2012.
|| CREDIT: MEHDI FEDOUACH – AFP/GETTY IMAGES

: 2012 caption:
Soldiers from French Foreign Legion take part in the annual Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, on July 14, 2012.
|| CREDIT: BERTRAND GUAY – AFP/GETTY IMAGES

: 2012 caption:
Soldiers from French Foreign Legion take part in the annual Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, on July 14, 2012.
|| CREDIT: BERTRAND GUAY – AFP/GETTY IMAGES

: 2012 caption:
Soldiers from French Foreign Legion take part in the annual Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, on July 14, 2012.
|| CREDIT: BERTRAND GUAY – AFP/GETTY IMAGES

: 2012 caption:
Soldiers from French Foreign Legion take part in the annual Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, on July 14, 2012.
|| CREDIT: BERTRAND GUAY – AFP/GETTY IMAGES

: 2012 caption:
PARIS, FRANCE – JULY 14: Soldiers from French Foreign Legion take part in the Bastille Day Military Ceremony on July 14, 2012 in Paris, France. Francois Hollande saw in his first Bastille Day or La Fete Nationale, as it is also known, as the French President today, which has been celebrated on 14th July each year since 1789 to commemorate the storming of the Bastille. (Photo by Antoine Antoniol/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 148442074

: 1995 caption:
Armor from the Rapid Reaction Force from the French Foreign Legion, right, and the British Devon and Dorsets unit, left, lines a roadway during a joint exercise on Mt. Igam 10 miles southwest of Sarajevo Tuesday Sept. 12, 1995. The Rapid Reaction Force is taking part in the ongoing combined NATO/UN military action against Bosnian Serb targets in an effort to force them to remove the heavy weapons menacing Sarajevo.
|| CREDIT: JACQUELINE ARZT – AP PHOTO

: 1995 caption:
PFC Houidef El Hadj, 34, of the French foreign legion is carried by his comrades to a U.N. flight at the Sarajevo airport Thursday, May 11, 1995 to be evacuated to France for involved medical attention. The private, a member of a U.N. anti-sniper team, was shot in the head, apparently from the Serb side of Sarajevo and is in critical condition.
|| CREDIT: ENRIC F. MARTI – AP PHOTO

: From a 1955 note on this uncredited photo from the Baltimore Sun files:
One of the most generally used buildings at Sidi Bel Abbes is this open-air laundry, constructed at the rear regimental headquarters. Legionnaires are responsible for the condition of uniforms and commanders demanding standards of cleanliness.

The French Foreign Legion at work

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