French Foreign Legion Paratroopers

The decision, in Spring 1948, to form two battalions of Foreign Legion paratroopers was prompted by the requirement for enlarged airborne forces in the First Indochina War (1946), and the healthy recruitment then employed by the Legion. There were some initial doubts. The Legion were known to be magnificent heavy infantry, but were felt by some to lack the flexibility and agility demanded by independent airborne operations. In the Legion itself there were some misgivings over the possible clash between the self-consciously exclusive 'para mentality', and the Legion's own very marked esprit de corps. Over time, however, all these doubts evaporated with experience.

---

Some books that may interest you

Weapons of Desperation By: Lawrence Paterson	Bletchley Park People By: Marion Hill	General 'Boy' By: Richard Mead Foreword by: HRH The Duke of Edinburgh
Ypres By: Coda Books, Bob Carruthers	Hitler's Light Tanks By: Paul Thomas	Canaris By: Michael Mueller
The Napoleon Options By: Jonathan North	The Waterloo Armies By: Philip Haythornthwaite	The Badges of Kitchener's Army By: David Bilton