This story comes from the May 1935 issue of Thrilling Adventures. It is a robust tale about a small detachment of Legionnaires under siege and outnumbered by an aggressive horde of Berber tribesmen. To complicate their escape plans is a startling deathbed confession and discovery of a treasure map which entrances the lower ranking, and less-than loyal, members of the squad with visions of gold and jewels. However, the only one who can decipher the coordinates on the map is the narrator, Legionnaire 148–the Lone Survivor. What follows is a running gun battle over hills and ridges as the squad is pursued all the way to an ancient city in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco. What awaits them is either death or riches.
The Squad That Never Came Back
This was a nice action packed story with just enough Legion flavor to separate it from other lost city adventures. I’m not sure who actually wrote this one but it might have been Bob Du Soe who penned several mid-1930’s Foreign Legion stories for Thrilling Adventures. I find the “matricule” or registration number of 148 to be a bit odd as the numbers given were usually 4-5 digits before changing to 6 digits in 1940. Having an ancient city feature in the plot was interesting as there are plenty of Roman ruins scattered around Morocco with the most preserved being Volubilis just north of Meknes.
