A German "cheats" the Legion...

[Chris Boonzaier]

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?

[peter monahan]

I'm just researching a bunch of WWI medals for the Canadian WQar Museum and there are some interesting 'ages'.  A couple who claimed to be younger , and 'single' to get in early in the war and one chap who actually got a notarized letter from his father, 12 minths after joining, saying 'Yes, this is my son, I delivered him when he was born and he IS 18!'  Not sure whether Dad lied or not.

[dante]

On 30/05/2021 at 08:29, Chris Boonzaier said:

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?

Looks like he had trichomoniasis (STD) and dysentery  

[Chris Boonzaier]

Ahhh... the generic term being "Chaude Pisse"