In the Foreign Legion

Legion's training : Splendid marchers : Independent soldiers : Forty kilometres a day : Uniform, accoutrements, baggage, victualling : The training of the

, not from any delicacy of feeling on his part, but from the knowledge of the dire punishment which awaited him if he inconsiderately disturbed the sleep of his comrades. For the hours of sleep are a "Holy of Holies" to the l

m a large earthenware jug, lighted the petroleum lamp which hung in the

s." (S

"quart," the tin mug, which hung on a hook at the head of the bed, handing it to the orderly, who went from bed to bed with his large jug and poured out coffee.

n half an hour the recruits had to muster in the yard. Corporal Wassermann

-vous don

s and has passed into the vocabulary of Algerian French. Not only the soldiers continually used this funny mixture of German and

he barracks and one was obliged to run up and down four flights of stairs in order to wash oneself. There was not a minute to spare. The boots had to be brushe

sous vos lits!" (Thunder and ligh

the floor beneath the beds had been swept. That was the reason of all the "Quois" and "Nom de Dieus!" The man had every cause to be excited and angry. He had to drill like the others, and it was no trifle to have to sweep a large room, to dus

shed, he of course took care t

and rifle-uniforms and leather trappings of shining brightness. The almost pedantic cleanliness of the Legion, the coquetry of each in

yey ground was stamped hard by the marching of many thousands of légionnaires. On the one side of the "Plateau" was the "village nègre," the negro town. Close to the drill-ground th

lah. God i

like the beasts, heavily burdened, walked Arab women, the legs bare to above the knee, but the face modestly covered as prescribed by the teachings of the Pro

en raced about trying with comical "grandezza" to imitate the martial steps, and shouted Arab words at

ac à terre." (Pile arms.

(At the double!)

t was the famous "Legion's breakfast

nded here, to overcome the critical moment of lung exhaustion, to get the "second wind." Even if the breath came and went in short pumping gasps, if the eyes pained, and one commenced to stumble from exhaustion, one ran on u

e Legion's

many a man

s impossible to stand still. One was obliged to walk up and

ssed very quickly. All the recruits had served in some of the world's armies, and the first rudiments of military wisdom had been drilled into them long ago. Three

it ten times, until "gauche" had been mastered. The most necessary French

d about, smoking hand-twisted cigarettes, the inevitable cigarette of the Legion smoked in every free moment, and by which the pause is measured according to the old custom of the Legi

m

to run up to him

err von Rader's continual lament. "I've an idea the

own into the "paquetage," and dead tired we threw ourselves upon our beds. B

onnaires, à la so

reappear with the soup-kettle in the twinkling of an eye! In everything connected with food a genuine légionnair

e French military bread was served, and every other day a quarter of a litre of heavy red wine. The food was eaten off tin plates at the two long tables in our quarters. There w

itchen corporal rush

pommes de terre!"

of potatoes. Every one had to peel-he who had no pocket-knife had to make shift with a sharpened spo

corvée," to work with spade and pick, whilst the recruits had instruction. At 5 o'clock in the afternoon,

iresome work of all now b

" does not spend so much time over the whole of her toilette as does the légionnaire over the polishing of his cartridge-belt! The procedure was unutterably ridiculous, in the highest degree pedantic and unpractical, being irksome beyond all measure. You melted black wax over a match and put it

special hatred of it and considered myself infinitely smart when I bought a bottle of leather dressing and simply pain

porals what horrible things happen in this sinful world. A painted cartridge-belt! The old soldiers of the companies came running up and with many "merdes" and "nom

at length to the fuming corporal

ll never do. If you were an old soldier and not

der to shoulder around the reservoir, in a large circle, shirt-sleeves turned up, with flushed and perspiring heads. Behind those washing other légionnaires waited patiently until a place at the reservoir became vacant. There they washed, rubbed, beat and rinsed until darkness set in. The white linen uniforms, th

a millionaire-to lend such a brush was looked upon as an act of the greatest friendship! For drying purposes lines were hung up near by, and when one had hung up the wet clothes, one waited patiently until they were dry

edge of the drinking-mug until they were free of creases. The poor devil of a légionnaire thus needed an hour for a piece of work which could hav

and the education of the individual to complete military independence. The working progra

chers-indepen

splendidly trained mercenaries, with whom the most daring military operations can be undertaken without consideration of the sacrifice of life

ice marches over a distance of at least twenty-four kilometres, with full equipment, at the Legion's pace of five kilometres per hour, which has always remained the same. The only object of the practice marches is to teach the recruits steady quick marching. They neither end with a small man?uvre, nor have they exercises such as scouting, or exploring the country by means of patrols. It is nothing but simple marching at a presc

are allowed to sing or to smoke as they please. When there is a large puddle on the road, or when one side of the road is stony, the column turns off of its own accord and marches where the road is best. In the course of many a whole-day march I have not heard a single word from the officers, no orders except the short whistle signals, which me

d, completely exhausted-but he must not stop marching. If his feet are bleeding and the soles burn like fire, that is very sad-but the marching pace must not be slackened. The sun may burn till his senses are all awhirl, he must go on. His task in life is to march. The greatest crime that he can commit is to fai

m, which, however, prod

h of the Legion is the ba

and knees are left free, and an untrammelled gait rendered possible, just as with the French soldiers. The only difference is that the légionnaire wears the "ceinture" round the body, the blue sash, about four metres long, of fine woollen cloth, which not only gives the body a firm support, but also does service as a tropical belt, indispensable in the sudden changes of temper

lete uniforms, the légionnaire's linen and polishing cloths, partly in the inside and partly in "ballots," in carefully prescribed bundles. Tent canvas and blanket encircle the knapsack in a long roll. The collapsible tent-sticks are stuck in at the side. On the top is

sisting of soup, in which are boiled all sorts of vegetables, a small piece of meat, and now and then a special vegetable as an extra, spinach, carrots or such-like. With this he eats the French military bread, a grey kind of bread which is very easil

halts for rest of five minutes, until the task has been completed. This is a peculiarity of the Legion from

nnaire ma

ork is confined to paper reports or to an occasional visit to the drill-ground. While I was serving in the Foreign Legion I only came into close touch with the officers of my company on the march. We scarcely knew them; the captain came into the company's office in the forenoon, and was not see

he is treated as a soldier, as a valuable soldier, whom one does not worry with pedantic demands and paltry red-tape affairs, but treats him in a se

done in fun. Every morning and every afternoon nine recruits of the eleventh were taken to a secluded spo

if any man was awkward at boxing, that was considered a very serious thing, and he was drilled by himself until he grasped the fact that boxing was a most important matter, which sharpened wits and nerves. In the pauses the instructors spoke to us and explained a hundred little things. The

the practical and useful; one was not drilled mechanically, but by practical methods. The comp

e could watch for himself how the scout-patrol carried out their task. Their movements were criticised by the watching légionnaires; in great excitement they debated if another way did not offer better cover, or if the patrol should not have remained longer at one point to get a wider range of view for their observations. This military criticism was looked upon with favou

a rough one. The corporals took special pains with the talented and educated légionnaires, stirring their pride and ambition to achieve something out of the common. One had the feeling of working for a sporting competition. On clear, starry nights the company was often alarmed and marched into the surrounding country of Sidi-bel-Abbès. Far out in

dent, one knew the Why and the Wherefore. Again and again rifle-pits were

the next one drove in the pegs. And like a miracle the little tent grew out of the ground. My squad held the record in tent-building with seventy seconds. It was looked upon as a matter of honour to turn out with the greatest speed and exactness, one was proud of being able to form square on the march in a few seconds. One ran like mad at the command "A genoux!"-an interesting man?uvre, the purpose of which was to save oneself from bursting shells and volley fire. When the command "A genoux!" (Down on the knees!) sounded

t readiness at shortest notice. The légionnaire has no wardrobe and is obliged to put a host of things into a ridiculously small space with methodical neatness. B

gun over every range until he knows exactly, when given a distance, how his own gun shoots over it: at four hundred yards, a hand's-breadth up, and a hand's-breadth to the left ... and so on. The shooting-range at Sidi

e Legion has found a compromise. A corporal stands behind every légionnaire who shoots on the range, watching the shooter's every movement. From the same reason even the sentinels do not get any cartridges. The non-commissioned officer in command of the guard receives a small box with ammunition, locked and

ontées" one with each regiment, companies mounted on mules, have even done seventy kilometres a day. Every two men have a mule. The one rides and takes the baggage of his co

ends on its legs. These brillian

y company's weekly programme as it was h

6-7 B

Compan

itary

6-7 Gy

0 Skir

n in hygienic ru

he quartermast

5.30-6.3

musters fo

, preparation for ins

March to the s

ion in first-

r the quarterm

Militar

in taking cove

r the quarterm

0 Run over s

ompany

of barracks

y the colonel. The men stand b

art of the uniform, to be named each day by th

egion's military value

e Legion and convinced the sons of Amer in bloody battles that it would be good for their health to move farther south. These strange men built roads and burned bricks. They built solid fortification walls, drained that horrid little rivulet Me

Sahara, where every day's bodily work means loss of health to a European. There the working column turns out day by day with pick and spade to build roads, whilst perhaps in an Arab village a

r the troops and offices for the civil administration. He breaks the stones with which the roads ar

, of course, get less wage for this than a common workman would ask for, but that in itself would not be so bad, because even the few francs a day mean wealth to a légionnaire. The peculiarity,

for months I have had shivering fits of malaria-but I never experienced to such a degree the feeling that my physical strength was being pumped out of me to the last drop as during the time I spent in Sidi-bel-Abbès. I was always tired and every free moment

stood still in front of me and said disapprovingly to the

ce," replied the sergea

ourse the pri

he evening the ridiculous small jobs of the barrack routine. The word "corvée," which literally means drudgery and in the military sense "work," I will not forget as long as I live, and will never read it agai

arge of a corporal. That was something quite different to the military service. Indifferent as I must have been at that time, I nevertheless always noticed

n Sidi-bel-Abbès, then he was sure to be a légionnaire. Arab Spahis or French soldiers of the line, who were also stationed in Sidi-bel-Abbès

often to supply men to put the forage of the "Spahis" under cover. That may sound paltry, but it is just these smal

and ordering us about; we rooted out the undergrowth, and cleansed the brook which ran through the botanical gardens fr

us a large barrow with casks, and had to haul from underneath the floors of the cells and prison rooms the large tin pans, and carry them to

lies the whole blessed Sunday in bed. Towards evening he goes to the Jardin Public to listen to the concert giv