Grim's "March or Die" post led to me reading up a bit on the French Foreign Legion. Here are the lyrics to their official march (translated, of course):
Le Boudin ("Blood Sausage," AKA "Marche de la Légion Étrangère")
Chorus:
Hey, here's blood sausage, here's blood sausage, here's blood sausage,
For the Alsatians, the Swiss, and the Lorrains,
For the Belgians, there is none left,
For the Belgians, there is none left,
They are lazy,
For the Belgians, there is none left,
For the Belgians, there is none left,
They are lazy.
1st verse:
We are crafty,
We are rogues,
Not ordinary guys,
We often have our cockroach, [dark moods]
We are Legionnaires.
In Tonkin, the Immortal Legion
Honoured our flag at Tuyen Quang.
Heroes of Camarón and model brothers
Sleep in peace in your tombs.
(Repeat chorus)
2nd verse:
Our ancestors knew how to die
For the glory of the Legion.
We will all know how to perish
Following tradition.
During our far-off campaigns,
Facing fever and fire,
Let us forget, along with our sorrows,
Death, which forgets us so little.
We the Legion.
(Repeat chorus)
What's up with the blood sausage and the Belgians? Apparently, blood sausage (le boudin) is the nickname for the bedroll that was tied on top the rucksack back in the 19th century, when this was written. One explanation for the role of the Belgians is that, back then, Frenchmen could not enlist in the Legion, but French criminals would pass themselves off as Belgians in order to enlist and escape the police. Being criminals, they weren't very good soldiers. There are other explanations, but I like that one.
Here's the Legion band:
2 comments:
The Legion has an elite airborne unit, 2e Regiment Etranger de Parachutistes, the Second Regiment, Foreign Paratroopers. There is no First Foreign Paratroopers: they were permanently disbanded after trying to seize Algeria from France in a coup. Somewhat understandably: its predecessor, the 1st Battalion Foreign Paratroopers, was twice allowed to be wiped out in Indochina. Why they decided to bring it back as a larger formation is not clear to me; but the formation's desire for a little more independence from La France makes perfect sense.
The second regimental song I posted is theirs. Dien Bien Phu was a terrible mistake, but then, going back into Indochina and trying to re-establish it as a French colony after WWII was a mistake as well. I didn't know 1e REP were wiped out twice there.
- Tom
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