France. Armée. Légion étrangère; World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives
“Two, at 2,000 francs each.”
“Well, here are 4,000 francs. Buy them and let us get out where we
belong.”
When he was about to change to the British Army, the Colonel of the
Legion, the Chief of the Battalion and the Captain of the Company waited
for five minutes while the British Ambassador explained to Guimeau the
benefits of changing armies. After listening to the finish he
said,—“Will you repeat that in French? I did not understand a word you
said.” Knowing his desire to leave the Legion, his Captain asked, why
he, of French descent, speaking only that language, should not be
satisfied with his comrades who were proud of him. He replied,—“The
British flag is the flag of my country. It protects me. I want to
protect it.” So he went to Great Britain, and the British, not knowing
what to do with this handy, ready Legionnaire, sent him to school.
=Dinah Salifon=, son of an African King from the Soudan, Egypt, enlisted
in 1914. He was promoted to a Lieutenancy and decorated with the Legion
of Honor. He later became Commissioner of Police at Brazzarville.
=Etchevarry=, a French convict, escaped from French Guiana, made his way
to the United States and returned to France, under an assumed name, to
fight for his native land. He enlisted in the Foreign Legion. He made an
enviable record. But he was recognized and ordered to return to the
penal settlement. Measures were taken in his behalf by the Society of
the Rights of Men, in response to whose appeal President Poincaré signed
a reprieve. Etchevarry returned to the front a free man, in December,
1915.
=Nick Korneis=, a Greek push-cart peddler, who used to sell bananas at
Twenty-third Street and Avenue B, New York City, was decorated for
bravery at Verdun, with the following citation: “Korneis, Nick,
Legionnaire, 11th Company, Foreign Legion—Elite grenadier, who on August
20, 1917, won the admiration of all his comrades by his courage and
contempt for danger. He led his comrades to the conquest of a trench,
which was defended with energy, and which was captured along a distance
of 1,500 yards, after several hours of bloody combat;—took single
handed, numerous prisoners;—already cited twice in Army Orders.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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