LIFE IN FOREIGN LEGION.
FICTION AND FACTS.
Putaruru Veteran’s Remarks.
Among the 80 ex-servicemen of all the fighting services assembled at the Putaruru R.S.A. reunion on Thursday was an ex-member of the French Foreign Legion, a corps made world-famous through the writings of popular novelists.
This representative, Mr. J. Holmbey, made a few interesting remarks towards the close of the evening and exploded the popular belief that the Foreign Legion consisted almost wholly of criminals.
There were over 50 different nationalities in his regiment during the war, and 13 different ones in his section. Some 96,000 men had enrolled in the Legion during the war, but only 1400 had paraded at its close.
Many people might have read more about the Legion than he had, and knew more about it than he did, but nevertheless he could assure them that criminals were not wanted in the Legion. (Applause.)
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Bibliographic details
Matamata Record, Volume XVI, Issue 1446, 31 July 1933, Page 5
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148LIFE IN FOREIGN LEGION. Matamata Record, Volume XVI, Issue 1446, 31 July 1933, Page 5
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