Category Archives: Tonkin

Légion Étrangère Souvenir – 4th B.F.C. 1RE Tong-Tonkin

Posted on April 25, 2022 by Jack Wagner

Here is a wonderful find discovered a couple months ago, although it has been out there for a while.  The item is a digital copy of a photo album produced for the 1931 Colonial Exposition-Paris.  It portrays legionnaires from the … Continue reading →

Posted in Photographs, Tonkin | 1 Comment

Legion Pulp: The Baturu Mandarin

Posted on June 15, 2020 by Jack Wagner

Here is another Georges Surdez short story–only this one is set in the northern Tonkin jungles of French Indochina.  It was featured in the February 1934 issue of Adventure Magazine.  The plot revolves around young Lieutenant Larcher, a well-to-do scion, … Continue reading →

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French Blockhouses – Part 2: Indochina 1946-1954

Posted on March 4, 2018 by Jack Wagner

NOTE:  This is the second part of my take on French blockhouses.  It utilizes two primary sources: Rand Memorandum 5271-PR A Translation From the French: Lessons of the War in Indochina VOL 2 (page 116 “Fortifications”) and an online version … Continue reading →

Posted in Photographs, Tonkin, Wargame Terrain | 8 Comments

French Blockhouses – Part 1: Indochina 1880-1945

Posted on February 3, 2018 by Jack Wagner

Note: This post and two others that follow will attempt to give some insight into the French use of blockhouses.  Since I’m not an expert on the topic I won’t go too far into the weeds of the technical aspects … Continue reading →

Posted in Legion Forts, Tonkin, Wargame Terrain | 7 Comments

French Colonial Adventures (La Petit Parisian 3)

Posted on November 19, 2016 by Jack Wagner

Here are some more pictures from the journal La Petit Parisian that depict various scenes from the French colonial outposts in Africa and Indochina.  Most of these are from 1889 to 1912 and were found on Galica.  I played around … Continue reading →

Posted in Art & Illustration, Tonkin | Leave a comment

Hodgepodge for August 2016

Posted on August 31, 2016 by Jack Wagner

Another month of summer gone.  Before we know it there will be frost on the roofs, piles of leaves in the street, pumpkins on the porches and a delightful chill in the air.  Here are this month’s collected tidbits of … Continue reading →

Posted in Hodgepodge, Pulp Fiction Stories, Tonkin, Uncategorized, Video | Leave a comment

Hi-Res Uniform Prints Part 2

Posted on August 29, 2015 by Jack Wagner

Here is the second installment of pictures from the Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection.  Today’s images feature the artwork of Auguste Legras (1817 – 1887) who was “born in Perigueux, France and was a pupil of Jean-Claude Bonneford (1796 – … Continue reading →

Posted in Armée d'Afrique, Art & Illustration, Tonkin | 4 Comments

The Road of Death

Posted on May 12, 2015 by Jack Wagner

Here is a short article written and illustrated by Howard Brodie for Collier’s, January 1951 issue.  It is illustrative of the French position in Indochina in 1950 as it became increasingly dangerous as small scale combat flared up along the … Continue reading →

Posted in Legion Forts, Tonkin | 1 Comment

Photographs of the French in Tonkin

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Jack Wagner

It’s been a while since my last post.  Probably because of my excessive browsing on the Galica archives.  I recently found there is more to their image archive than meets the eye.  My previous searches on the image server returned … Continue reading →

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Legion Pulp: Six Good Men

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Jack Wagner

I’m currently working on a couple of lengthy posts on various subjects for this blog but I’m not quite finished with any of them.  Of course I’m also finishing up my 1:72 scale Legion Fort (Blockhouse 17).  It must be … Continue reading →

Posted in Pulp Fiction Stories, Tonkin | Leave a comment