Tango01  | 18 Aug 2023 8:44 p.m. PST |
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| Dn Jackson | 18 Aug 2023 10:48 p.m. PST |
They did for all intents and purposes. After all, most of the Foreign Legion was ex-SS. |
| Legionarius | 19 Aug 2023 6:18 a.m. PST |
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| jurgenation | 19 Aug 2023 1:10 p.m. PST |
ditto what Dn Jackson said. Two men from my village in Germany,were at Dien Bien Phu w/ the Legion. Luckily got wounded early and evaced. |
| Lilian | 19 Aug 2023 1:29 p.m. PST |
After all, most of the Foreign Legion was ex-SS. that is wrong Tovarich nothing more than a fake new of the usual sensationnalist telenovela folklore about the Foreign Legion coming from the anti-colonialist and communist propaganda of the cold war no question for France to offer an exit door in the French Army for SS war criminals after Oradour and others crimes of that kind they were no more than 8 to 10% of former Waffen SS who had been able to pass the filtering system for the Legion among the germans legionaries and mainly were younger recruits,
Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe were overrepresented among the german legionnaries very far to the Foreign Legion so-called place of refuge for recycling Waffen SS |
| Tango01 | 19 Aug 2023 3:28 p.m. PST |
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| Nine pound round | 21 Aug 2023 4:30 p.m. PST |
If their senior leadership brought the same degree of political-strategic acumen to that conflict that they brought to the two world wars, they would have killed a lot more people on both sides, and wound up with an even worse result. |
| 42flanker | 24 Aug 2023 2:41 p.m. PST |
They'd have looked good though, no? Eh? |
| Tango01 | 25 Aug 2023 3:11 p.m. PST |
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| Nine pound round | 26 Aug 2023 3:12 p.m. PST |
You know the rule of thumb as well as I do – "best-dressed army always loses." |
 deadhead | 27 Aug 2023 7:29 a.m. PST |
Invading the North does give you that huge edge. Now it is a field fight, against a uniformed regular enemy. No worry about domestic opposition either. This is actually well thought out. The idea that Adolf had even another year in him ignores his co-morbidities however. Wittman does well, having not been incinerated by a Firefly in '44. |
| Wolfhag | 27 Aug 2023 3:26 p.m. PST |
I trained with the FFL 2nd Para on Corsica in 1974 after the Arab-Israeli 3-day war. One of the FFL commanders was a former German officer who lost his eye in France in 1940 and his thumb in VN. He was a pretty gnarly guy having been in combat for the most part of the last 30 years. According to him, he was in Poland, France, Russia, Tunisia, Chad, and VN. He may have even made it to Kolwezi, Zaire in 1978. All of the FFL enlisted were from countries other than France. Most that I met were Polish, Russian, German, and British and 3-5 years older than us. I admit, they were pretty intimidating but at the end of VN the US Marines, like other US military branches, were scrapping the bottom of the barrel for recruits sad to say. Many CAT 4's, etc. You know what I'm talking about if you were in at that time. Our Company Commander, Capt German (yes, his real name) who was extremely gung-ho and a real a$$hole but you'd follow him anywhere (best leader I've ever met), got along with them well enough that the FFL command came on our ship and pinned a ribbon on our Company guidon flag making us honorary "Legionnaires" for whatever that's worth. I do have a picture. They liked to play "rough' during tactical exercises but so could we. Rolling boulders downhill at them worked better than firing blanks from our M16. Screw the "rules" and lots of trash talk too. Unfortunately no HTH but we were ready (to get out a$$ kicked?). It was much fun and a great all-night beer bust on the beach after the three-day exercise with a few drunken escapades and fights between ourselves. That's what Marine Grunts did for Rest & Recreation and PT when we got bored or drunk. Ah, the good old days before the politically correct BS of today. The locals were very accommodating and a quite a few fond memories. Sorry for the off-topic reminiscing. Wolfhag |
| deadhead | 28 Aug 2023 12:42 p.m. PST |
Love it. Nostalgia is not what it used to be, but that was worth sharing. Thank God for someone sharing their thoughts and experiences (which, over here, we were spared) This forum had gone quiet |
| Tango01 | 29 Aug 2023 3:19 p.m. PST |
Which one is not…? (smile) Armand |
| Joe Legan | 01 Sep 2023 7:08 p.m. PST |
Wolfhag, great story. He must have been french SS. All officers in the FFL have to be french. At first France didn't forgive the traitors that fought for the germans but around d 1950 they did and former officers in the ranks were offered commissions. I had read ( only 1 source so maybe not true) that only half accepted. The rest wanted to remain NCOs. Joe Ps contact me at the_legans4@msn.com about a separate matter when you have time. |
