ly ‘third’) was the name usedb
fantry regiments in the 16than
s. The Legion’s original namew
anjeros (literally ‘Tercio ofFore
changed to Tercio de Marruec
cioof Morocco) in 1925. In 194
me‘Foreign’ was dropped andt
quired its definitive title ofLeg
Theidea was to link thisfight
withthe mighty army thatdom
European battlefields in thegl
of the Spanish Empire. Thena
created by the warrior KingCa
of Spain, the Holy RomanEm
Charles V. The first Terciowas
to protect Spanish interestsin
and the Mediterranean. TheseIRTH OF T
of identity was needed. “We asked for no ID
cards, only a medical examination,” says Millá
Astray. “As for a recruit’s name, real or assum
made no difference. The Legion welcomesits
men and asks no questions about who theyar
or where they come from. If anyone has regrets
or fears death, let him make it known in his
medical by saying ‘I have a sore throat’.” Itis
noteworthy that the title of the Legion’s hymn
is ‘The Betrothed Of Death’. Foreign volunteers
initially made up a fifth of the ranks. They cam
from France, Germany, Italy, Bulgaria and othe
European countries, as well as from many Sou
American former colonies.
The Legion’s baptism by fire was the
seven-year Rif rebellion, a war that gained
international notoriety, to the extent that in
1925 Mohamed Abd el-Krim was featuredon
the cover of Time magazine. This messianic
Berber warlord successfully routed the Spanis
at the Battle of Annual in 1921, almost alway
referred to in Spain as the Disaster of Annual
Spanish losses were estimated at some
10,000 troops. He then pursued a doggedbu
exhausting guerrilla campaign which eventual
drew in French African units as well, untilhis
surrender in July 1927.
Until 1925 the Spanish Legion, under the
command of Millán-Astray and later Franco,
was always in the vanguard of defensive
campaigns. In that year, the Legion joined
forces with their French counterpart and foug
side-by-side until the end of hostilities in 192
Noteworthy among these actions were the
defence of Melilla, the bloody withdrawalfrom
al
nf
es
ra
h c m c w ETercio(litera
Spanishin
centurie
de ext
which
(Ter
na
acwby
nd 1 7th
wasTercio
igners’),
os
40 ,the
the corps
ion.
tingforce
minated
orydays
amewas
arlosI
peror
sraised
nItaly
e werefearedunits,deemedinvincibleuntilSpain’s
defeatbytheFrenchat theBattleof Rocroi
in 163 5.Afterthat,SpainabandonedtheTercio
systemandbeganusinglinearbattalionslike
otherEuropeanpowers.Therearenumerous
theoriesontheorigin of thenameTercio.A
widely-acceptedexplanationis thatit was
inspiredbytheRomanLegions,whogavethe
nameTerciato theirtroopsdeployedin Hispania.
OtherhistoriansclaimthattheSpanisharmy
inItaly wasorganisedintounitsof 3,000men
eachin Lombardy,SicilyandNaples.Stillothers
pointto thefactthattheSpanishTercioswere
composedof threetypesof fighters:pikemen,shield-
bearersandcrossbowmen.TheLegion’s moderncoat-
of-armsdisplaysitsthreehistoricpiecesof kit, which
are the halberd, crossbow and arquebus.n-
ede
ss
e
r
thsh
sut
lyht
7.mtheDiebalanhighlands andthe
successfulamphibiouslanding
atAlhucemasBay.It wasthis
lastcampaignin 1 92 5, thefirst
amphibiouslandinginhistory
involvingtheuseoftanksand
massiveseaborneairsupport,
thatspelledthebeginning
of theendfortheBerber
resistance.TheRifWar
wasa highlycostlyconflictfor
theLegion,whichsuffered
some 8 ,0 00 deadand
wounded,about 39
per centof thecorps’
totalmanpowerfor
thatperiod.
Therewasnodoubt
aboutwherethe
Legion’s sympathies
layduringthe three
yearsof civilwarin Spain.
Theywereunflinchingly behind
the militaryuprisingthat eventually crushed
thegovernmentoftheRepublic.It could
hardlybe otherwise–Francocommandedthe
best-trained,mostbattle-hardenedtroops of
theSpanisharmy,the47,000soldiersofthe
LegionaswellasthecontingentofMoorish
troops.EvenbeforetheJuly 1936 rebellion,
theLegionhadprovenitselfwillingto act
decisively in 193 4 when Asturian miners whoSpain’sLegionsought
toemulate the success
of thecountry’s
elite Tercio
infantryBelow:Spanishforeign Legiontroopscelebrate the relief
of Tifaruin,Spanish Morocco in 1923SPAIN’S LEGIÓN