Page 69 - QDG Volume 9 No. 5

1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards 67
A week with the French Foreign Legion
On 9 Jul I flew to Marseille to spend
a week with our partnered French
regiment, 1er Régiment Étranger de
Cavalerie, a mounted regiment within the
French Foreign Legion. The intent was to
re-establish the relationship between our
two regiments in order to develop a more
tangible partnership and create opportu-
nities to work together in the future.
The visit began with a familiarisation
of the brand-new weapons and vehicles
used by the 1er REC; in particular the
Jaguar, the new armoured reconnais-
sance platform, akin to Ajax but lighter
and wheeled; Griffon, the armoured
command vehicle and VBL, the light
reconnaissance vehicle. Luckily I had
asked a lot of questions because the
next morning I found out I was going to
be assisting in the briefing of 15 two-star
generals from across NATO who were
visiting the Legion to get a better under-
standing of its capabilities. They seemed
pleasantly surprised to find a British junior
officer on hand to field their questions on
the latest French armoured vehicles.
I was then lucky enough to be given a
tour of the spiritual home of the Legion
at Aubagne. This included a visit to the
extensive Foreign Legion Museum which
tells the story of the Legion’s exploits in
every French conflict since 1831. Aubagne
is also home to the ‘Hall of Honour’ where
every Legionnaire killed in service is
memorialised and in which every Legion-
naire swears his oath of allegiance.
Towards the end of the week I took
part in a kayak to a beach where the 1er
REC practices amphibious infiltration
by kayak or RIB. The visit culminated in
a trip to the Legion’s own Commando
Training Centre in Marseille to watch a
platoon pass out.
The visit was a fantastic insight into the
history and culture of the French Foreign
Legion. It is hard not to be impressed by
the esprit de corps of men who sing on
the beginning of a new era in our part-
nership. In January 2025, Dragoons will
be travelling to the Legion’s Commando
Centre in Marseille to conduct their Basic
Commando Course. Later in the year we
will be welcoming a French officer to
Robertson Barracks where we will teach
him a bit about the proud (and slightly
longer) history of our regiment, with
particular emphasis on Waterloo!
their way to lunch. Hopefully this marks
FM
Je voudrai un kayak
Capt Slavadison