21st Company, 61st Engineer Battalion:
Established on August 16, 1949 in Hanoi to replace a Colonial Engineer Company, it later became the headquarters company of the 61st Engineers. The company’s engineer platoons worked in the Red River sector, building the De Lattre line. It was inactivated on September 30, 1955.
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21st Company, 71st Engineer Battalion:
Raised on August 16, 1949 at Saigon, the company functioned as the headquarters company of the 71st Engineers, operating throughout South and Central Vietnam. Personnel from the company formed the 4th Company, 71st Engineers, a collapsible boat unit based at My Tho. Both units were inactivated on September 30, 1955.
21st Company, 72nd Engineer Battalion:
Raised in August 1949, the company spent six years in Central Vietnam, before being inactivated in August 1955.
21st Company, 73rd Engineer Battalion:
Formed in August 1949 at Kien An, in North Vietnam, it was attached to Legion Engineer headquarters from 1951 on, providing technical services, including bridge construction and water purification. It was inactivated in August 1955.
2nd Company, 74th Engineer Battalion:
Raised in September 1951 at the Bach Mai airfield, Hanoi, this unit constructed defensive works at Nam Dinh, served with Mobile Group 4, and built an airfield, before being transferred to the Vietnamese Army as Headquarters Company of the 3rd Engineer Battalion on December 31, 1952.
76th Legion Engineer Battalion:
Organized in June 1951 for airfield construction throughout Indochina, the battalion’s 1st Company consisted of Legion, Vietnamese, and Metropolitan French engineers. The 2nd Company operated in Central and South Vietnam. The 3rd Company built and repaired airfields in Saigon, Laos, Vientiane and Dien Bien Phu.
39th Engineer Boat Company (39th CEFG):
A mixed unit formed on September 1, 1951 at Haiphong, the Legionnaires, Metropolitan French and Vietnamese of the 39th Engineer Boat Company participated in all riverine operations in the Tonkin Delta. It received one unit citation.
Transportation, Material and Logistics Units:
In addition to purely Legion units, individual Legionnaire specialists could be found in such non – Legion units as the 171st, 253rd, 271st and 353rd Transportation Companies, the 71st and 73rd Traffic Control Companies, the 532nd Medical Transportation Company and the Far Eastern Provisional Brigade’s Colonial Service and Transportation Company. While operationally necessary, such assignments were repugnant to the Legion’s sense of solidarity and discipline. Thus the Legion took to organizing specific platoons and companies to accomplish such missions within mixed units, where a Legion chain of command could be maintained. The major difference was that such units existed in their own right and became Legion, or they dropped the title as troop composition justified.
65th Regimental Repair Company:
Served at rear base of 3rd Colonial Infantry Division from 1946 through 1947, when it was inactivated.
64th Foreign Legion Automobile Repair Company (64th CRALE):
Organized on 1 December 1, 1945 at Sidi – bel – Abbès, the company arrived in Indochina on February 6, 1946 and was stationed in Nha Trang, attached to the 2nd REI. On May 1, 1947 it became an independent unit, consisting of four mobile detachments based at Ben Me Thuot, Dalat, Phang Rang and Phan Thiet. On April 1, 1951 the company was redesignated the 2nd Foreign Legion Medium Repair Company (2nd CMRLE). In 1954 it reorganized into two detachments, one based at Hue and the other at Nha Trang. It was inactivated in December 1955.
65th Foreign Legion Automobile Repair Company (65th CRALE):
Raised on February 1, 1946 at Aubagne, the 65th CRALE was attached to the 3rd REI in Indochina. Arriving on April 25, 1946, the company was based at Gia Dinh. On April 1, 1947 it became an independent unit and was sent to Cambodia for two years. Upon its return, on August 1, 1949, it moved to Haiphong and was redesignated the 3rd Foreign Legion Repair Company (3rd CRLE). Its three mobile detachments were based at Hai Duong, Tien Yen and Sept Pagodes. In 1954 the unit regrouped at Hai Duong and then moved south to Bien Hoa, where it was inactivated on December 31, 1955.
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One Comment to “Foreign Legion Specialized Units in Indochina”
Very good work!
Where I could get some images about?
Thank you in advance
By Leonard on Sep 14, 2008 at 3:56 pm