La Legión Extranjera Española

Formed in 1920. the Spanish Legion was modelled on the French Foreign Legion. Its purpose was to provide a corps of professional troops to fight in Spain's colonial campaigns in North Africa, in place of conscript units that were proving ineffective. The first commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel José Millán-Astray Terreros, referred to his unit as ‘La Legión’ from the start but this only became part of the unit's title from 1937. Originally, it was called the Tercio de Extranjeros, Tercio being an historical Spanish term for a military unit.

Francisco Franco was one of the leaders of the legion and the unit's second-in-command, concurrently commanding the 1st Legion Bandera. The legion fought in Morocco in the War of the Rif (to 1926). Together with the Regulares (Moorish colonial troops), the legion made up the Spanish Army of Africa. In October 1934 units of both the legion and the Regulares were brought to Spain by the Republican Government to help put down a worker's revolt in the area of Asturias. 

Under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Juan Yagüe the Army of Africa played an important part in the Spanish Civil War on the Nationalist side. The professionalism of both the legion and the Regulares gave Franco's rebel troops a significant initial advantage over the less well-trained Spanish Republican forces. The Army of Africa remained an elite spearhead until the expansion of the rebel armies after April 1937 led to the legion and Moroccan units being distributed across several fronts. Following the Francoist victory in 1939, the legion was reduced in size and returned to its bases in Spanish Morocco. 

These Spanish Foreign Legionnaires are by the Spanish company Panzer Garage and match quite well with the earlier Minairons figures although personally, I prefer the former. However, Minairons don't make the Legion and their original sculptor has retired, so who knows if they will ever be in a position to expand the range?

Command

Riflemen

SMG and LMG

Six more riflemen

HMG

Mortar

And finally, a team photo!

I am off on a week's holiday on Monday, so may be a bit quiet for a few days, but will hopefully be back with some more scenic images of the Taranaki countryside.