THE FRENCH FOREIGN LEGION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11756, 21 July 1916, Page 5

THE FRENCH FOREIGN LEGION.

MEN OF NOTE DIE FOR THEIR ADOPTED COUNTRY. Innumerable etories havo been written about the doings of tho French Foreign Legion, and tho heroic deeds, of that picturesquo force have employed tho pens of many eminent writers in fiction. In an article in the London " Daily Express," H. J. Green wall pays tribute to those famous soldiers of fortune. "All sorts of famous men have fallen on the field of honour while fighting with tho Legion," ho says. " Binet Valrner, from tho Argentine; the Luxemburg writer, Sosthene Kurth; a son of Maxim Gorky; Camillo Ramirez, from Venezuela; a Colombian poet, Fernandez de Bengoocha; another from Ecuador, Hodolfo Seminario; tho novelist Sanchez Carrero, all fell for France on the battlefields of Artois and Champagne. " The poet, Ismail Urdometa was killed ::? the Dardanelles while rushing a Turkish trench at the point of the bayonet, and the son of tho Russian Ambasador at Paris. M. Isvolsky, was severely wounded while fighting beside Lieutenant Alexis Commene, the greatgrandson of tho Emperor of Trebizond. Bob Scanlon, the negro boxer,, is with tho Legion, and Francois Faber, from Luxemburg, the public idol who carried off many prizes as a professional cyclist, fell in action- So also did Alex, Carter, the famous steeplechase jockey. REFUSED GERMAN MONEY. " Winnie O'Connor, one of the best jockeys that ever crossed me Atlantic, joined after writing a letter to Walter de xMumm returning all the money he had earned while riding under his colours. O'Connor wrote: 'I hate Bosche money, your gold burns my fingers. I want to get rid of it.' •' Fifteen young students from the Beaux Arts in Paris joined the Legion in a body. Not. only all olasses, but all races, are' blended together in the wonderful First Marching Regiment. When Italy went to war the Italians were transferred to their own army, but previously they fought brilliantly, and two grandsons of Garibaldi lost their lives in France. "The nucleus of the Second Regiment was formed on the evening of July 31, 1914, in a Parisian cafe. Some young Italians issued an appeal, and as a result three thousand English, Belgians. Italians and Slavs attended the meeting to consider how they could best aid the country of their adoption. " In the early hours of tho first day of August I was passing along the Boulevard Haussmann and saw thousands of foreigners waiting in a line tint extended for the greater part of a mile. They were there for hours, and I found that this was the location of the recruiting office of the new regiment of tho Legion. Before evening the crowd had become so dense that new offices had to bo opened all over Paris. "The British residents in Paris tried to form a regiment of their own, and as a result of the first meeting, held at the .Imperial Club, about 500 men offered themselves for enrolment. The authorities, however,, were unable to accept the offer of a separnto regiment, .md the' samo reply was giveu to the corps of American volunteers, so it wasdeckWl that the British and American volunteers should be drafted into the Foreign Legion. 35,400 IN THE LEGION. " About four hundred of them began to drill at once in the exhibition grounds of the Magic City. Every new recruit of tho Legion had to pass an extremely severe medical examination, which *\as held beneath the shadow of Napoleon's tomb, and about 20 per cent were rejected. I believe tho actual cumber accepted was 35,400, made up as follows: • , 500 Britons 1,700 Poles and 500 Luxembergera Dan«s 600 Americting 2,000 Swiao 1000 Spaniards 3,500 Rusrjana 1500 Bolgiana 5.0 M Italians 1500 Greeks 10,000 Alsatians 1600 Czechs and Gali- G.OM of various naoitins tionnlitios. - " After the first few months all tho British members were transferred to English regiments, but cot before they had been in several engagements and suffered losses A motley crowd were the British members of the Legion. Quito a number of them were skating rink instructors, left over from the filiating ' boom 'of a few years ago; others were stable lads from Chantilly aud Ma'isons-Laiit'fce,' clerks, barmen and a host of tailors' and hosiers' assistants. " Most of the American members petitioned to join tho Flying Corps, and France has so many American Hying men now that a squadron of Americans is being formed- Dutchmen, Swedes. Oanes and Americans, ulio could legitimately have iomainod lookers on, have cheerfully laid down their lives oh the battlefields of Franco so that future generations of their nations may bo freed from the menace of Teuton claws.

" Tho pay of the men in the Legion is tho same as that of the other toldiers of France-—fivo sous per day and -nt allowance of tobacco and wino—so there is no question of tho mercenary spirit having incited men who have thrown up good positions io fight for Franco V