French Foreign Legion

[jukel123 6,610]

When I was a young man in the  60s 70s, if your life was going nowhere, or you wanted to escape the consequences of your actions, then a way out was to join the French Foreign Legion.

It was quite a common thing to say "f**k it I'm joining the foreign legion". The legion asked no questions and gave you a new identity and a fresh start.

I had a flatmate in the early 70s  who was a magnet for trouble. He had some fairly serious court cases coming up and said to me he was escaping to France, did I fancy coming with him? I was kind of tempted , it offered you a life of romantic  adventure.  Sure enough, one day I came home from work and he was gone. I never saw or heard from him again.

Somehow he had got an old vinyl 45 of this track he used to play when we weren't playing The Stones or Jimi Hendrix.Lol. Video is worth a watch. It sums up what the dream was all about.

 

Edited November 23, 2023 by jukel123

[WILF 44,435]

The legion is quiet interesting as they have a lot of history, worth reading about.

Also, the little things are interesting like you obviously have to learn enough French to understand commands and you have to learn their songs as a recruit…..they are very big into those songs as part of the culture of what they do.

Their most prized thing is a false wooden hand that belonged to some commander in the desert back in the 1800s or something.

Dien Bien Phu is also an interesting battle to read about.

Forgot to add, don’t know if it still is but it used to be the longest minimum “service” enlistment in the world at 5 years.

Nerdy stuff I like too like the way they have to iron their shirts with the creases/pleats in the back……I live for that type of OCD mentality! Lol  

Edited November 23, 2023 by WILF

[WILF 44,435]

There’s a bit of an air of mystery about them which, imho, has created a narrative that they are some kind of “elite” force but in reality your common or garden British cap badge is miles in front in terms of standards, ability and achievements. 
 

Still a very interesting force to read about all the same. 

[mackem 23,956]

School friend of mine joined,he lived with his dad when we were kids,his dad was an alcoholic and abusive,he didn’t have a good home life and certainly wasn’t academic.
I left Sunderland and left the UK for a number of years,returned to Sunderland to do something and was walking through the town centre when I bumped into him,he looked great suntanned super fit,he had joined the FFL,best thing he could have done to be honest as another friend Tim is still in our old area a shambling alcoholic

He said the training was brutal,got slapped across the head when he couldn’t grasp French initially,we both laughed at that as it sounded just like lessons at the school where we had met.

I heard through the grapevine he passed away a few years ago

Honneur et fidelity.

[jukel123 6,610]

9 minutes ago, WILF said:

There’s a bit of an air of mystery about them which, imho, has created a narrative that they are some kind of “elite” force but in reality your common or garden British cap badge is miles in front in terms of standards, ability and achievements. 
 

Still a very interesting force to read about all the same. 

I always thought well why would I be a mercenary for the frogs when, if I wanted to escape a humdrum life, I could join the British Army? I didn't swallow the romantic bit. But as I say my friend wanted to reinvent himself and start again.

[mr moocher 702]

when i was younger we bought a foreign legion uniform from a desserter he said he had to look over his shoulder as they would come and get him f**k that he said it was a hell hole

[WILF 44,435]

2 minutes ago, jukel123 said:

I always thought well why would I be a mercenary for the frogs when, if I wanted to escape a humdrum life, I could join the British Army? I didn't swallow the romantic bit. But as I say my friend wanted to reinvent himself and start again.

I guess some lads just want to soldier and that’s the path that takes their fancy mate, don’t really matter who it’s for if that what you want to do…..also, conditions in a volunteer home country forces may be awful compared to the legion…..especially if you are from the Congo or some such place.

 

 

[jukel123 6,610]

2 minutes ago, WILF said:

I guess some lads just want to soldier and that’s the path that takes their fancy mate, don’t really matter who it’s for if that what you want to do…..also, conditions in a volunteer home country forces may be awful compared to the legion…..especially if you are from the Congo or some such place.

 

 

Yes I think some lads just want to escape. I think men who join religious orders and become cut off from society have got it easy. People admire their sacrifice but I think they've taken an easier path in life than working, paying bills, worrying about your kids etc, etc. Seems an easy life to me doing bit of gardening, a bit of praying, early to bed early to rise. Life would be a holiday just giving yourself over completely to a higher force, whether it be the French Foreign Legion or a religious order. In a way its a huge kop out. But hey, people can do what they want. 

[jukel123 6,610]

23 minutes ago, mr moocher said:

when i was younger we bought a foreign legion uniform from a desserter he said he had to look over his shoulder as they would come and get him f**k that he said it was a hell hole

I think the harshness of the life was part of the attraction.. bit of masochism a bit of guilt in recruits?

[Welsh_red 4,326]

35 minutes ago, jukel123 said:

I always thought well why would I be a mercenary for the frogs when, if I wanted to escape a humdrum life, I could join the British Army? I didn't swallow the romantic bit. But as I say my friend wanted to reinvent himself and start again.

Isn't the difference between joining the foreign legion and the British army that the foreign legion will take anybody ? I could be wildly wrong tho but I watched a documentary years ago on them , it centred around a British guy who had joined years ago and if I remember correctly it was Christmas time and they made a big deal of the celebrations . I think he said anybody could join regardless of criminal past etc . Like if you were on the run for murder somewhere they would still take you 

Recently I've watched a episode or who of a American soldier who was booted from the army for something and went to the foreign legion 

[chartpolski 20,566]

 I talked to a couple of Legionnaires who were based in Djibouti some years ago and they said the Legion was a lot more selective now not accepting any waifs and strays. They particularly like our paras and marines , especially NCO’s.

Cheers.

[mackem 23,956]

9 minutes ago, chartpolski said:

 Djibouti 

Always wanted to go there,even as a kid when I used to look at it on a map,still haven’t been,one day.

[Jonjon79 13,355]

We used to have a train driver that was ex legion. He was a Romanian and, a decent bloke.

 

He's moved to another company now.

 

We seem to get a lot of people with interesting histories in this job.

[jukel123 6,610]

17 minutes ago, Welsh_red said:

Isn't the difference between joining the foreign legion and the British army that the foreign legion will take anybody ? I could be wildly wrong tho but I watched a documentary years ago on them , it centred around a British guy who had joined years ago and if I remember correctly it was Christmas time and they made a big deal of the celebrations . I think he said anybody could join regardless of criminal past etc . Like if you were on the run for murder somewhere they would still take you 

Recently I've watched a episode or who of a American soldier who was booted from the army for something and went to the foreign legion 

Yes my friend was no stranger to courts and young offenders' institutions so he had didn't have the choice of joining the British Army.

[paulus 26]

There is an old book called Legionnaire, It was written  by an English bloke called Simon Murray, After some relationship trouble he went off and joined the Foreign legion. It tells of basic training, Then parachute training followed by jungle warfare training, He says that the marches during training were brutal but nothing would have prepared him for when he was posted to French Algeria to fight against those wanting independence from France, A very good read and far better than the film of the same title. 

After the war a lot off SS joined the Legion. Legionnaires swear there allegiance to to the Legion and not France, A term of service is 5 years and they will never stop looking for you if you desert, When caught after a period of shall we say retraining you then start to finish the time you have left to serve.