Death is their craft
When July 14 at the annual parade on the occasion of the Bastille anniversary, the national holiday of France, soldiers enter kepi blanc, the traditional white caps of the Foreign Legion, at the Champs Elysées, applause rolls across the stands. This is an expression of sympathy that legionnaires enjoy from the Parisians. Covered with romantic legends, the Foreign Legion is a unique part of the French armed forces, consisting of foreigners-mercenaries.
People without past
The French Foreign Legion was created in 1831 by King Louis-Philippe and became home to thousands of men from around the world, and sometimes also a refuge for many fugitives with a vague past. After all, the main privilege of the legion is to take service without asking for a real name (only recently the command of the legion, with the help of the police and Interpol, began to decisively weed out those who had committed serious crimes in their past life). From now on, the homeland of the “soldier of fortune” became the legion, and their main destiny was to carry out any orders of their officers, usually the French. By the way, the French themselves are few in its ranks - approximately 5-7%. Their task is to help those who are familiar with French with little or no sign at all. All in all, mercenaries around 100 nationalities serve in the Foreign Legion.
Louis-Philippe of Orleans, the King-pear
It was a brilliant idea - to force adventurers to volunteer to shed blood for the interests of France, saving it from its own citizens.
Every year, thousands of volunteers from a wide variety of nationalities come to 17 recruiting points of the Foreign Legion. A candidate for volunteers must have a high level of physical fitness, be from 17 to 40 years old, be single. Of these, almost one fifth of them get into training camps - the selection is very tough. It is here that your past will be found out, physical fitness will be checked and “banished” according to psychological tests. You will be very carefully watched and evaluated. Bad behavior (fights and misconduct) can leave you outside the camp gates.
From 4 to 6, intense, tough combat training lasts. Climb to 4 in the morning, hang up to 8 in the evening. Recruits are taught to fight in the mountains, jungle, desert, participate in amphibious operations. Training is conducted on the principle: "The legionnaire must run until he falls."
Many people do not maintain such a rhythm. Moreover, the contacts of recruits with the outside world in the first years of service are limited and controlled - no meetings with relatives and friends, the number of letters is strictly regulated, and they are allowed to write only to parents. So the soldiers can only obediently serve under the motto "Honor and loyalty." Deserters are severely punished. In fact, legally leaving the legion is possible only with a serious injury or serious illness.
"Non-civilians"
The largest number of soldiers was in the Foreign Legion in 1960, 40 thousands. Then, the number of the Legion was significantly reduced, and now the number of its fighters is no more than 10 thousand people. The Legion has 6 reductions (combat arms): sappers, tankers, infantry, engineers, paratroopers, and divers-saboteurs.
The minimum service life in the Legion troops is 5 years, and you can serve, as before, under an assumed name. But for this "protection from their past," legionnaires pay an obligation not to marry and not acquire any real estate and a car for the entire duration of their service. Their status is defined as “non-civilian”.
In France, advertising for a career in the Foreign Legion is prohibited, but you will see many posters throughout the country with the inscription “Regarde la vie autrement” calling for you to look at the “alternative life” with the image of standing armed legionnaires.
The legion executed one of its first missions in the Sevastopol war of 1853-1856, speaking on the side of Turkey in the struggle for a free exit from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. An attempt to quickly conquer Sevastopol ended with its blockade, which lasted a whole year. Only 8 September 1855, the third attempt, the city was taken.
However, most often France sent "dogs of war" to their distant colonial lands - Indochina, Madagascar, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Chad, Zaire. Volunteers also participated in the Mexican adventure of Napoleon III (1861-1867 years), in the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871 years). During World War II, the legion fought German forces in Norway, North Africa, southern Italy, and Alsace.
Currently, units of the Legion are serving in a number of countries in Central Africa, where the French military presence continues, as well as in Djibouti, on the island of Reunion, in French Guiana and on a number of islands of the Pacific and Indian oceans.
This most colorful gathering of bandits in the world swept away everything in its path, cut and kill, not thinking about morality, not recognizing the law and obeying only orders. History The foreign legion is a real saga of robberies, robberies and murders ...
"Russian trace"
After three years of service, the fighter may, if desired, obtain French citizenship. After 15 years in the Legion, he is assigned a pension. During the service, the soldier receives about 1500 euros per month, being in parts on full content. Leave him once a year for 45 days, and during this period he must continue to wear a uniform. Almost all legionaries after demobilization remain to live in France.
In the Russian cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois near Paris there is a site with the graves of soldiers of the Foreign Legion, immigrants from Russia. The “Russian trace” in the legion has a long history - Russian emigrants of the first wave willingly joined the Foreign Legion. Five Russians have served in the legion before the generals' ranks, which is extremely rare for foreigners. Among them was Zinoviy Peshkov - the adopted son of Maxim Gorky, whose name is now listed in the “gold list” of the legion.
After World War II, former policemen of all nationalities from the USSR went to the legion. They were received along with the German SS-men and soldiers and officers of the national divisions of the SS "Lithuania", "Latvia", "Estonia". Legion did not disdain anyone.
After the collapse of the Union, the natives of the USSR rushed into the Foreign Legion in pursuit of the mirage of good luck. The more local conflicts and wars occurred in the territory of the former Soviet empire, the more citizens of Russia, the CIS countries and the Baltic states besieged recruiting stations in France.
One among men
Susan Travers (1909-2003 years) was at one time the first and only woman in the French Foreign Legion. She fought in his ranks in World War II and went along with the legionaries of the combat path from France to the Middle East and North Africa.Nothing foreshadowed her military career (she grew up in a wealthy English family settled after the First World War in the south of France), but Susan was a rebel by nature. In BCNUMX, she, dreaming of doing something useful and extraordinary for her new homeland, was recruited by a nurse in the Foreign Legion. After the defeat of the French troops in Finland, she joined the units of General de Gaulle's army, then she ended up in Senegal, then in East Africa, where she finally took off her white coat and became a military driver. Then she met French General Marie-Pierre Koenig, becoming his personal driver, and then his mistress. Together with the general, she fought against the German corps of Rommel in North Africa. The fact that Susan Travers really was a brave woman, show two orders.
In 1945, she officially enlisted in the Foreign Legion, in which she served for many years. She managed to deceive the recruitment department only because there was no question about gender in the questionnaire. So Susan became the first and only female legionnaire.
It is curious that the French government recently decided to enroll women in the legion. It remains to be seen how many women he is ready to take and exactly where they will serve: The foreign legion is usually used in the “hot spots” of the planet, but some of its garrisons are located in France.
Chances to get into the service of the Legion is not so much, but there is no shortage of recruits. The explanation is simple: people thrown away by the society are nailed to the legion, happy people stay at home.
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