French Battalion

Lieutenant General Raoul Magrin-Vernerey, better known under his nom de guerre, Monclar, Inspector of the French Foreign Legion and a hero of World War II, supported Chief of Staff of the French Army General Clément Blanc's decision to form a volunteer force and agreed to command the new unit, accepting a demotion back to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. The French Battalion arrived in Pusan, South Korea on November 29, 1950, and was placed under the operational control of the U.S. 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. Despite initial fears about French forces being "on the rout", the battalion carried out several successful early actions and earned the respect of General Matthew Ridgway, commander of the U.S. Eighth Army. From January 7–12, 1951, the French Battalion participated in the First and Second Battle of Wonju where it stopped the North Korean advance. It was followed by the Battle of the Twin Tunnels (February 1–2, 1951) and of Chipyong-ni (February 3–16, 1951). In the course of these combats which lasted a month, 60 French soldiers were killed and 200 were wounded. In the fall of 1952, after a lethal war of positions, similar to the Battle of Verdun during World War I, the battalion put a halt in Chongwon, South Korea, to a Chinese offensive toward Seoul. In an address to a joint session of the United States Congress on 22 May 1952, General Ridgway said the following: One member of the French Battalion, Louis Misseri, was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by the United States for his actions. His citation reads: Paul L. Freeman Jr., the commander of the 23rd Infantry Regiment, said of the French Battalion: ==Post Korea==

On October 22, 1953, the French battalion embarked on the and headed for Indochina, where it was expanded into a two battalion regiment and formed the nucleus of the French Groupement mobile 100. During their service in Indochina, the unit (under its new title of Le Regiment de Corée) participated in the brutal battles Mang Yang Pass along Route coloniale 19 in June 1954, and Chu Dreh Pass along Route Coloniale 14 a month later, where it suffered heavy casualties. Between its arrival in Indochina and the cease-fire on July 20, 1954, the 1st Battalion suffered 238 killed or wounded, and the 2nd Battalion 202 killed or wounded. In addition, 34 Indochinese assigned to the battalion were killed in action. On September 1, 1954, the Regiment de Corée was disbanded and reduced to battalion size. The battalion remained in Indochina until July 17, 1955, when it embarked from Saigon to Algeria to participate in the suppression of the ongoing insurrection. On August 10, 1955, the battalion landed in Algiers and began a series of garrison and search-and-destroy operations in the Constantine Department. On September 1, 1960, the battalion was amalgamated with the 156th Infantry Regiment () and received the designation of ''156 Régiment d'Infanterie- Régiment de Corée.'' All told, the regiment suffered 48 killed in action in Algeria. The regiment was repatriated to France after the Évian Accords and disbanded upon its return to France in 1962. == Later Honours ==

The French Battalion was honored in its history by the 203 student-officers of the 29th class of the EMIA (1989-1991) taking the name "Bataillon de Coree" citing the reason for their decision "both the intensity of the fighting and for the disproportion between a single unit representing France and the mass of North Korean and Chinese soldiers pouring down by thousand" ==See also==