Legion Etrangere
The French Foreign Legion has a force of 7,699 legionnaires and non commissioned officers who come from 136 countries
The force was created in 1831 by Louis Philippe because foreigners were forbidden from serving in the French Army after the overthrow of Charles X the year before
Legion soldiers served in the Gulf War of 1990-91; Cambodia and Somalia in 1992 and 1993; Rwanda in 1994, Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia from 1993 to 2003; and the Central African Republic in 1996. They are currently deployed in Afghanistan, Kosovo, Chad and Ivory Coast
The only woman to belong to the legion was Susan Travers, a Briton.
Susan Travers a Briton attached to the legion as a driver during the Second World War, she refused to leave the Libyan fort of Bir Hakeim when the female personnel were ordered to depart in 1942. She stayed with her lover, a legion colonel, and led a convoy in a breakout through minefields and three rings of German tanks. She was accepted as a full member after the war
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