In The Foreign Legion

By Erwin Rosen

In the form of a wide square we went round the drill-ground, five minutes, ten minutes--un, deux, un, deux--always in sharp time. The corporal, a splendid runner, ran at the head, teaching us the trick on which everything depended here, to overcome the critical moment of lung exhaustion, to get the "second wind." Even if the breath came and went in short pumping gasps, if the eyes pained, and one commenced to stumble from exhaustion, one ran on until the lungs had got used to the extra exertion, until one had the feeling of being a machine, and could go on running for ever. Then came the command "A volont"--(as you please)--and a race finished thirty minutes' exercise. This is the Legion's breakfast. It has cost many a man his lungs. "A record of personal experience is given by Mr. Erwin Rosen in his recent book, 'In The Foreign Legion.' Mr. Rosen is careful to point out that...the ordinary legionnaire is a simple fellow, without a past of any complexity. But the exceptions are endlessly versatile. Once, for example, their colonel determined to build a mew mess with their help. On inquiry seven architects were discovered in the single battalion of the garrison. They forthwith executed the plans, and several carpenters who were experts in artistic woodwork were almost as quickly unearthed. In their turn builders and masons stepped out of the ranks, and the officers' mess was completed with a few weeks, at no expense whatsoever beyond that of the raw material. On another occasion a captain called out in the midst of a hot engagement. 'Are there any doctors among you?' Instantly three legionnaires stepped forward. One of them proved to be a graduate of the Sorbonne, another hailed from the University of Zurich, while the third was an M. D. of a German university." -The Literary Digest CHAPTER I LGIONNAIRE! CHAPTER II L'AFRIQUE CHAPTER III LGIONNAIRE NUMBER 17889 CHAPTER IV THE FOREIGN LEGION'S BARRACKS CHAPTER V THE MILITARY VALUE OF THE FOREIGN REGIMENTS CHAPTER VI "THE LEGION GETS NO PAY" CHAPTER VII THE CITY OF THE FOREIGN LEGION CHAPTER VIII A HUNDRED THOUSAND HEROES--A HUNDRED THOUSAND VICTIMS CHAPTER IX "MARCH OR DIE!" CHAPTER X THE MADNESS OF THE FOREIGN LEGION CHAPTER XI THE DESERTERS CHAPTER XII A CHAPTER ON PUNISHMENTS CHAPTER XIII SOME TYPES OF VICE CHAPTER XIV MY ESCAPE CHAPTER XV J'ACCUSE

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1539881806
• ISBN13: 9781539881803
• Release Date: November 2016
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.6" x 6.0"