1st Foreign Engineer Regiment
1er Régiment étranger de génie |
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Regimental badge of 1er REG |
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Active | 1 Oct. 1939 - 1 Jan. 1942
1 Apr. 1949 - Jun. 1955 1 Jul. 1984 - Present |
Country | France |
Allegiance | French Foreign Legion |
Branch | French Army |
Type | Engineer |
Role | Combat engineer |
Size | 1000 men |
Part of | 6th Light Armoured Brigade |
Garrison/HQ | Quartier General Rollet, Laudun, France |
Motto | Ad unum (To the end) |
Colors | Green & Red |
Anniversaries | Camerone Day (April 30) |
Battle honours | Camerone 1863[1] |
Insignia | |
Beret badge of 1st Foreign Engineer Regiment | |
Abbreviation | 1er REG |
The 1st Foreign Engineer Regiment (French: 1er Régiment étranger de génie, 1er REG) is one of two combat engineer regiments in the French Foreign Legion. It provides the combat engineering component of the 6th Light Armoured Brigade.[2] Currently stationed at Quartier General Rollet in Laudun-l'Ardoise, Gard, southern France.[3]
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It was created on 1 October 1939 in Lebanon as the 6th Foreign Infantry Regiment. The manpower came from 3 battalions of the 1st Foreign Infantry Regiment and one from 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment, and Clayton (1988:133) says it possessed its own light artillery. It was disbanded 1 January 1942 after the British success in the Syria-Lebanon Campaign and its soldiers were transferred into the 1st Foreign Regiment and Foreign Legion depots. Clayton (1988:136) says that some 690 of the 6th Etranger opted for De Gaulle.
It was recreated on 1 April 1949 in Tunisia from elements of the 1st Foreign Regiment as a reception/transit pool for Indochina drafts. In 1954-55 a single battalion operated against Tunisian insurgents before being disbanded again in June 1955.
On 1 July 1984 the 6th Foreign Engineer Regiment was created, which inherited the traditions of the 6th Foreign Infantry Regiment.[4] The regiment took part in the Gulf War as part of Opération Daguet.
It was renamed 1st Foreign Engineer Regiment on 1 July 1999 with the creation of the 2nd Foreign Engineer Regiment.[5]
The regiment consists of almost 1000 men divided into 7 companies,[6] as follows:
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