Legion Pulp: Turnstile

This Foreign Legion story by Georges Surdez appeared in the March 1929 issue of Everybody’s Magazine. Everybody’s was started in 1899 as a general literary magazine featuring fiction, verse, drama, music and lyrics.  It later transitioned into a pulp fiction magazine in 1927 which lasted until March of 1929 when it merged with Romance magazine.  It should be noted that the publisher, Ridgeway, also published Adventure Magazine so that was probably why Everybody’s only lasted a couple of years as a pulp. 

I found Turnstile in a microfilm version of the magazine and, because of it’s poor quality, was saving it for when my stash of pulp stories ran low.  However, much to my surprise, the good folks at Pulp Flakes posted a very nice, cleaned up version along with some commentary about the magazine–you can download that copy below or here. 

Georges Surdez – Turnstile

The story is written as a letter from Legion Sergeant Gergeau to his acting company commander explaining his negative response to his being awarded the Legion of Honor for actions in Morocco.  The letter’s narrative goes back to the First World War and describes how a brutish NCO in his local regiment became the bane of his existence in that war and afterwards and how it was with revenge in mind he joined the Legion. 

NOTE:  Sorry this one was a day late.  We had a winter storm blow through town and it knocked out my internet for a day.