Indochina: "Armoured Train" of the 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment

[No one]

Dear Gentlemen,

 

The insignia of the "Armoured Train" of the 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment ("Train Blindé" du 2e Régiment Etranger d’Infanterie) :

 

 

"Aes Triplex Deo Juvante" = "Triple Alloy, God Aiding"

 

Armoured Train of the Foreign Legion - Wikipedia

 

Yours sincerely,

No one

[Gordon Craig]

Another interesting badge an topic that I would like to add to from another write up on these trains.

There had been two armoured trains used during WW2 in Indochina (one in Tonkin, the other in Cambodia), but their details and eventual fate are not known. The famous Rafale ("wind blast") armoured train was built in southern Annam during the winter of 1948-49, and operated between Ninh Hoa-Phat Thiet-Nha Trang in the service of 2e REI (the 2nd Foreign Legion Infantry Regiment). It included 2 locomotives, 2 wagons loaded with rails and sleepers (at the front to explode mines laid on the track), command/radio wagon, ambulance wagon, cookhouse wagon, and 9 other wagons. Armament included a 40mm Bofors gun, a 20mm cannon (with IR sights), 8 twin Reibel 7.5mm MGs, a 81mm mortar mounted on an old Japanese gun carriage, and a 60mm mortar. The crew included 100 légionnaires plus local auxilliaries.  Some difference in opinion by the writers but worth looking at each of them.