By CREUSS

Part 1

I have been serving the Foreign Legion for 7 years, aged 17 to 24. After a couple of years of Service I was a Brigadier Chef, the equivalent of a Corporal. With a couple of mates, Legionnaire or Lance corporal or Corporal, we used to have a night leave at times, and we were enjoying spending our free evening in a Café by the old Roman Theatre. Place was quiet and the owner was rather friendly, as were customers.

When there, we used to have a quiet table at the rear of the café, rather cut from the rest of the crowd. When we were 3 or 4 we used to have at least one row each paying for some beer, so we could have four beers each in one evening, often double of this amount!

You know that legionnaires are not allowed to wear casual clothes at any time when in their first contract. So every time we were having a leave we had to leave the barracks in “tenue de sortie,” our equivalent of number 2 dress. We were not allowed to be outside of the barracks on a leave in combats, too.

One night I was with two of my mates, Legionnaire Mike T., an Englishman, and Brigadier Gary S., a Scot. They were a little it older than me, not much, but still. I was 19 and half myself, just back from the NCO school and to become a Marechal des Logis soon, the cavalry equivalent of a Sergeant!

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