Chris Boonzaier

Long the home of 2eme Regiment Etrangere.... The Barracks in Saida

Drill at Sidi Bel Abbes

The CM, or mounted Company were the elite, the rest had to go everywhere on foot... Legionnaires from the Advance post at Merada return after an exercise...

Stealing the thread name from a recent book about the Legion, I thought a study of Legion Postcards would be good fun... The Compagnie Montee of the 1er Regiment Etranger returns to Bou-Denib. It was part of the Haut Guir Column. The Mounted Company had a 2 men 1 mule system. Every hour the men changed, one dismounted, his partner mounted... and they continued moving without having to stop. As the one slid of he pulled the other Legionnaire up.

There are certain waves in Legion history... a post WW1 wave were many Russian recruits fleeing Red Russia... and in post WW1 Germany quite a number of Germans died..... Here the Good Cunduct certificate of what must have been a Russian And a German soldier who had fought in WW1, joined the Legion, then left after 5 years..... Then... An Italian Legionnaire, born in 1902.... leaving the Legion in August 1939! I wonder which uniform he was wearing a year later???

Hi, about 15 by 18mm... Nope, no von anywhere near him ? The other part is a little lid, was initially sealed with the gold paper. I was wondering if it was maybe a "von2 who gave them as gifts? And is it a German or French style of symbol?

I found this in a small group belonging to a German Legionnaire... it is a round box, blue with gold trimming, and inside a seal... is it some kind of gift? what seal could it be? Thanks Chris

A Beret belonging to a German Legionnaire and his para wings awarded in 1959. This seems to be a very early Private Purchase beret

Here are some variations of the same theme ... am not sure is they are the same maker... some date back to private purchase in Algeria, They are still made today I think... Does anyone know anything about these makers?

I am busy reading a fantastic study of Germans in the Foreign Legion. Apparently in the late 1940s you actually needed parental permission to join if you were under 20, but Germans 18-12 were accepted without. It was a political issue until the French changed it in about 1951. So this from 1948 is quite interesting, either he lied about his date of birth, or the recruiter suggested he did... then at a later date it was rectified. He did 2 years in Indochina, but was repatriated with a bunch of nasty bacteria... can anyone make any sense of the column on the right?

A Balme and a Drago in their original little baggies.....

The 1961 pattern badges are ,,, Y. Delsart 89100 Sens Coinderoux Paris Beraudy – Vaure 63600-Ambert No Maker J.Balme Saumur Beraudy – Vaure Ambert (P.DE.D) . 9. Drago Paris (Smooth Back) Insigne Militaire G.1772 Drago Rue de Romainville Paris Drago Paris The 2 REI badges are No Maker Beraudy – Vaure 63600-Ambert J. Balme Saumur Coinderoux Paris LR Paris Y. Boussemart (Dated 2000)

This was the universal Legion beret Badge adopted in 1961. It was not widely worn because most regiments were wearing the numbered Grenade badges and the 2 REI adopted the grenade with the Mule shoe, but this was meant for all units other than the Legion para who had the regular French Para Beret badge, the Cavalier who had this badge in Silver... by about 1964 most units returning to France adopted this, the 2REI stayed in the Sahara with the Grenade and Horse Shoe badge until 1968 when they returned to France and adopted the Universal badge.... This is the "new" badge that we recieved in 1992-93... the Verdion for the 2 REI... i prefered the old one... but hey... noone asked me.....

The 7th Company 2 REI had night combat and action behind enemy lines as its specialty. Formed in 1964 the Compagnie was dissolved in 1983, or rather renamed the 3rd Company as the 2 REI changed its numbering to 1st-4th Compagnie... on the left the badge of the 7th Company, in the middle, still sealed in its packet the badge given to Legionnaires at the dissolution of the company, it reads "2e RÉGIMENT ÉTRANGER D'INFANTERIE – 7e COMPAGNIE COMMANDO » then badge of the 3rd company.

The badge of the 3 REI CM was adopted by the 4th REI and us now the badge of the 1st Basic Training Company of the 4th RE. This is the eraly Version of the 3 REI CM badge made by AUGIS used from about 1935-1943 if I undestand correctöy. The AUGIS ones are the very early one. Then the badge for the Compagnie Portee de Kenifra of the 4th REI, used from about 1953-1955. The Compagnie Portee were motorised and you see Cogs on some of their badges

In April of 1939 the 2nd Batl of 2 RE was sent to Syria, stationed in Damaskus.... This badge was created in 1939... on the 1st of October 1939 the Battalion became the 3rd Battalion of the 6th REI

Yeah, nothing makes a bar uglier than that medal. I have a great Bavarian bar where he did not bother to mount that and it lays loose in its box ? Does anyone have any more that can be used for an article? Anything appretiated, also good photos of the Spangen being worn. Thanks Chris

A relatively early Colonial medal to a member of the 5REI, including the Dog Tag issued to him in 1948. "Heintz" with a T seems to be an exceptionally rare first name, so maybe it was a Legion Name. The Tags were generally worn around the wrist, this one is extremely worn on the front.

up... more to come...

Here is a Model 1946 Kepi, with a red grenade, for other ranks. They were never worn like this, these always had a white cover over them.

Often refereed to as a "c**t cap" in english, for obvious reasons (general term for a garrison cap) the French Legion garrison cap or "Bonnet de Police" was popular in Indochina, but once the Legion was fully stationed in North Africa again it was basically only for recruits in Basic training. The Sleeve badge for Legionnaire 1st Class was pinned on by the vet, so I left it there....

I almost forgot.... a Para Beret

A scarce mid 130s badge for the Compagnie Montee of the 1 RE

This was the most comman maker in the early 90s... they still make Berets today, but the quality has really, really dropped.... the leather used to have a zig-zag pattern on the inside with made it pretty resistent to wear and tear.. now they are sewn in a straight line, sometimes not even straight... two thumbs down to the newer ones. The ones with the parachute were also pretty comman back then, but they still seem to be making them in good quality... you can see the zigzag compared to the straight stitch

The Commercial ones are smaller, instead of fitting all the way around the head they fit a bit more in the suction cup manner... and it takes a bit of time to make sure you dont loose them while running or moving...