Tailspins & Tiki Gods:The Legionnaires

[OOC: This is a cusp-of WW2, “print the legend” depiction of the Legion. It is as close to realistic as a pulp campaign calls for, and uses RL Legion lore and fact as much as possible, but please don’t go using it for term papers or anything. ;) ]

The Legion in General

The French Foreign Legion (Legion Etrangere) is a French Army unit whose enlisted members are primarily non-Frenchmen.

HQ: Sid-bel-Abbes, Algeria.

Origins: Legionnaires may come from everywhere but France (a rule easily end-ran by simply leaving France and enlisting from outside) and Belgium (the King of Belgium expressly forbids it). Officers below the rank of Colonel could be of any nationality, but above were solely French.

The Legion is legendary for being a refuge for the disgraced, heartbroken, criminals, political refugees, princes in hiding and men no longer allowed to serve in other militaries (due to forced retirement, discharge or ‘up or out’ policies- the Legion has no problem with career privates.) No ID is required, and there is no background check. All Legionnaires take an assumed name when joining the Legion, eschewing their own for the duration.

Enlistment Period: 5 years. 12 years’ honorable service qualifies one to be a French citizen. (However, if one is wounded in battle, a Legionnaire may invoke the rule of “French by right of spilled blood”.)

The Legion Company at Port Cochere

The company garrisoned at Ile Trouve is a special detachment of the Foreign Legion [OOC: probably on loan from the 5th Foreign Regiment, the Legion’s “Far East” contingent, based in French Indochina.] It clocks in at 282 members, in all. (It’s somewhat of an outsized company as a result).

It is, oddly, categorized as a “Fortress Infantry” unit (a la the troops assigned to the Maginot Line, back home) with a contingent of “C” reservists. (Meaning that they are, technically, very low-priority for equipment, but also allowing them to perform Gendarmerie functions)

Unit Structure

The Compagnie (Company) is commanded by Capitaine Auguste Pierre St. Michel LaValle.

It consists of -A Command Platoon: (Further details TBA, but it definitely includes a bicycle messenger.)

-A 5-man 60mm mortar squad ( Leader/Spotter (Sgt.), Gunner, Assistant Gunner & 2 Ammunition Bearers.) using one of these: http: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandt_Mle_1935

-and 4 Infantry Sections (Platoons) (each Section consists of:

1 Command Squad ( CO (Lt or Sous-Lieutenant), NCO (Sgt, Sgt-Chef or 1re Sergent), an observer/scout and a signaler/messenger) & 3 infantry squads. An infantry squad is led by a Caporal-chef as a squad leader, and consists of two teams:

-- A “Shock Element” (4 riflemen and a rifle-grenadier), led by the senior Legionnaire present.(They use Lebel 8mm rifles).

--and a “Fire Element” (A Caporal, a Light Machine Gunner ( mostly using these 1931 Mitrailleuse guns (http: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reibel_machine_gun ), mounted up at the fortress), a loader, and 3 ammo carriers (who also carry carbines).

This brings the official company count up to about 212 men. The remaining 70 people are largely logistical people (Quartermaster & Suppliers, Cook & staff, medical doctor/veterinarian, packmaster for the mules, etc), but also have a number of people unaccounted for on any official roster.

-Due to the unsuitability of the Ile Trouve backcountry for motorized transport, the Legion company depends entirely on pack-mules.

Unit Demographics

-The Company’s senior leadership (from about the Caporal level up) is mostly French. It’s seen as a choice posting for a French Army officer.

-About 160 of the Legionnaires present are on short-term postings.

-84 are “Belgian” (see below). The remainder are from, literally, around the world (Including Britain, Chad, Spain, Italy, Germany, Russia, Argentina, Indochina, Canada, even the US of A.)

-There are no female Legionnaires at this time, though women have allegedly served disguised as men. [There will be one undisguised woman Legionnaire, in WW2.]

-There are, surprisingly, a few Aspirants. These are French Army cadets getting their feet wet in command roles. What they’re doing out here is quite unclear.

Unit Activities

Generally speaking, the Legion unit drills, trains, patrols, or performs hard labor. The Captain is well aware that no Legion unit has ever mutinied while in combat, but that it frequently happens while on garrison duty. Therefore, he does his best to keep his troops occupied, working largely on “public and military infrastructure construction”. (Roads, shoring up the fort, etc.)

In the rather unusual structure of life in Port Cochere, the Legion unit is occasionally given special dictat to locally perform the functions of the Gendarmerie (see the Police section of “The Authorities” for more). The current Mayor only occasionally pulls that lever, though.

POLICY REGARDING THE KAMEKAME: The Legion has, on occasion, performed "border marches" along the edges of the agreed-on turf of Port Cochere. This was not taken as an aggressive act by the Kamekame, who seemed to rather enjoy Legionary marching songs.

Even with the force-multiplier of the fortress, it is not publicly known what plans the Legion company have regarding the Kamekame. Naturally, they follow the lead of the Territorial Government as it carries out instructions from Paris.

Miscellany

-“A moi, la Legion!”- this is the individual Legionnaire’s distress call, usually in town or in a rough spot. There is no promise that the answer won’t be “Demerdez-toi, Legionnaire!” (See Systeme D)

-“Belgians”: Because the King of Belgium outlawed Belgians joining the Foreign Legion, and France forbids Frenchmen joining the Legion, any “Belgians” you see are most-likely French criminals or such. (This applies to “Swiss” Legionnaires, and so on, as well.) Also, a popular Legion marching song ("Le Boudin") insults Belgians in general, every verse.

-Desertion: The Legion actively pursues deserters. The usual punishment is to be reassigned to special, grueling Disciplinary Company for a term that does not count toward your initial enlistment.

-Discipline: French Army discipline is infamous for its harshness. Even by those standards, Legion discipline is renowned.( There hasn’t been a firing squad lately, but not because they can’t.) The dread of what officers could do is as much of a motivator as service to the Legion or France itself.

EVEN SO, the Legion is legendarily... well, roguish. Entire Legion units (officers included) have marched hung over. "System D" (see below) makes the gear of any non-Legion unit fair game. Fighting is sometimes, tacitly, allowed, within limits. ("A fight is a fight, but mutilation is against French Army standards!") and so on. This somehow doesn't diminish the Legion's fighting effectiveness at all. Though it does make them challenging neighbors.

-Housing: The Legionnaires are stationed at the fort on a ridge overlooking Port Cochere. Some units near to town use ‘housing allotments’ to rent lodgings in town, but this is not their practice here. Yet.

-Language: Despite the multinational nature of the Legion, all business is in French. Everyone learns (quickly).

-Marching: The Legion uses a distinctive, slow marching cadence some people call "The Crawl". For this reason, Legion units come last in any parade they're in.

-Pay: Legionnaires get paid 4 cents a day... and all the secrecy they could want.

-La Salud: Similar to a ‘blanket party’, this is a form of “corrective measure” administered by one’s fellow Legionnaires. The Legion’s concession to fairness is that while it will be corporal punishment in the form of a group beating, Legionnaires of your nationality will be found to deliver it, so there can’t be said to be discrimination.

-"Systeme D": Short for 'Demerdez-toi', it's a sort of aggressively "you're on your own, sort it out" outlook. "Borrowing" equipment from another (non-legion) unit is "system D", as are jury-rigs and so on.

(A famous "System D" story: A Legion unit in North Africa got, in lieu of a radio, a cage of homing pigeons. The chef yells to the troops 'Good news! Squab tonight!". A regretful (and technically accurate) report about hawks is sent back by post. Next shipment, there was a new cage of homing pigeons and a shotgun with birdshot. The chef, again: "Good news! Tonight squab, tomorrow, pheasant!")

-Tattoos: There is no Legion rule against tats. An old “hardcase” trick would be to tattoo something insulting on the blade of one’s hand, so that every time one saluted an officer…

-Uniforms: The Legionnaires wear regulation Khakis and the Legion’s trademark [i]kepi[/i] hats.

Other Nearby French Military Units

-The Naval Infantry: A type of Marine unit primarily assigned to protect naval ports. The two nearest are in Noumea (New Caledonia) and Papeete (Tahiti).

-Conscription: Cantonment is part of the Colonial strategy. Universal conscription is the law in the colonies, no less than in France itself (where a 3-year hitch is a public duty). The majority of the version employed at Ile Trouve is “public service” (with a rather diplomatic circumlocution for the Kamekame), and also the local police force, but other parts of French Polynesia use it more ‘traditionally’.