Today the French Foreign Legion celebrates the 161st anniversary of the Battle of Camarone (Bataille de Camerone) that took place this day, April 30th 1863, in Veracruz, Mexico. Camerone is one of the most famous “last stands” in military history and an event revered and celebrated in the Foreign Legion wherever they may be posted.
Bonne fête!
The theme of this year’s observance is the commemoration of the Foreign Legion in Indochina and the battles they fought in, from Son Tay to Dien Bien Phu which occurred 70 years ago. ” The fall of the entrenched camp sounded the death knell for the French presence in Indochina where the Legion had been present since 1883. There are less than sixty survivors today. There were sixty-three of them in Camerone. Everyone fought, faithful to their oath to serve France, until the end, at all costs. The able-bodied and available survivors of Indochina will be in Aubagne, at the foot of the war memorial to honor the memory of the heroes of Camerone and that of the 12,602 officers, non-commissioned officers and legionnaires who fell in Indochina.”
Colonel Grué will represent officers who fought in Indochina. The non-commissioned officers will be represented by Major Helferstorfer, former of the 2ème Régiment Etranger d’Infanterie and the 5th RE in Indochina and former president of the non-commissioned officers of the 1er Régiment étranger. Legionnaire 1st Class Bosy, former of the Legion Engineering Companies and having spent three tours in Indochina, will represent all legionnaires. Camerone celebrations will also pay tribute this year to the legionnaire sappers of 2e Régiment étranger de génie and 1er Régiment étranger de génie who celebrate the 40th and 25th anniversary of their establishment, respectively.
Both Colonel Grué and Major Helferstorfer, having served in the 5th RE, it’s also a symbol as the 5th RE will be reborn in Mayotte, replacing the Détachement de Légion étrangère de Mayotte on July 1, 2024.
The designated carrier of Captain Danjou’s hand (Porteur de la Main) and representative all of his brothers in arms for this year’s celebration is Foreign Legion veteran Bernard Grué who was born on 24 December 1924 in Bordeaux. Grué joined the French Army in November of 1945, aspiring to become an officer. After school and several requited assignments as an enlisted and NCO he gained his commission on February 1948 and selected the French Foreign Legion for his first assignment. He boarded at Toulon on 18 November, landed at Oran the next day and was present at Sidi Bel Abbès on 20 November 1948. He was assigned to the motorized training group as a platoon leader.
On 22 May 1949, he boarded the SS Pasteur bound for the Far East. He landed at Saigon on 7 June, where he was assigned to the 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment. He then took command of post 41 located about 20 kilometers south of That-Khê, on a portion of the CR4. He was appointed to the rank of lieutenant on 01 October 1949.
On 16 and 17 September 1950 in Dong Khe, Lieutenant Grué was defending his small post from a coordinated attack by a much stronger enemy force. This was the start of a longer series of battles known as the Battle of Route Coloniale 4. On the morning of the 17th as the enemy breached the post’s defenses, Grué, rushing to a 57mm cannon and serving this weapon himself, repelled the assault by firing directly into the enemy forces and causing a disorderly withdrawal of the Viet Minh rebels and leaving a dozen their corpses in place. On the morning of the 18th however, as his position was crushed by artillery and surrounded from all quarters, he fought hand to hand with the enemy until finally, wounded, he lost consciousness and was captured. For four years, from September 1950 to August 1954, Lieutenant Grué was interned at Camp No. 1. Released on 28 August 1954, he was repatriated to health. He left Saigon on 10 September and arrived in Marseilles on 4 October. Evacuated on the val-de-Grâce hospital in Paris, he enjoyed recovery leave and end of the campaign until the end of March 1955.
Grué then attend training as an officer specializing in Eastern and Middle Eastern issues and was assigned to the General Staff of the Armed Forces in Paris in November 1955. He had various assignments and schools and then, after learning Persian, he attended courses at the Iranian War School in Tehran. From 1968 to 1971, he was Deputy Military Attaché in Moscow from 1972 to 1974, he commanded the 46th Infantry Regiment in Berlin, then took over the intelligence directorate at the External Documentation and Counter-Espionage Service (SDECE) in Paris. He left the army in 1978 with the rank of colonel and made a second career in a large pharmaceutical group. He has been married for 70 years this year to Marie-Odile, who waited for him during his captivity. He is the father of three children, Christine, Philippe and Anne-Marie, named after the well-known song of the 3rd REI.
Colonel Bernard Grué was a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor, officer of the National Order of Merit and holder of the War Cross for External Theater Operations with a palm and two bronze stars, a colonial medal and the Cross of Military Value.
The Commanding General of the French Foreign Legion provides his words on Camerone 2024. Le symbole de tous les combats héroïques
Mon Legionnaire 