Tony Hunter-Choat had a long and distinguished career in the British
Army, including as CO of 23rd SAS Regiment. This book tells the story of
his formative years as a paratrooper with the elite 1st Foreign
Parachute Regiment (1st REP) of the French Foreign Legion between 1957
and 1962 before he joined the British Army.
In March 1957 the 21 years old Tony Hunter-Choat took the momentous
decision to abandon his architectural studies which he was close to
completing and join the Foreign Legion. He pawned his few possessions of
value and used the proceeds to pay for his passage to Paris to enlist.
In the training that followed he excelled and was selected for para
training before joining the 1st REP, considered an elite unit not just
in the Foreign Legion but throughout the French Army. Thus began an
adventure which thrust him into the forefront of perhaps the most savage
of post Second World War wars of decolonization and end of the European
empires. He quickly proved his worth and became the youngest NCO in the
Foreign Legion. In little more than two and a half years he had been
promoted to Sergeant. The period of Tony's service saw him involved in
ferocious combat; combat which resulted in three awards of the Croix de
la Valeur Militaire, the Médaille Militaire and in due course
appointment as Commander of the Légion d'Honneur - a singular
achievement for a Briton. Tony served during a turbulent time for
France, with the return to power of General de Gaulle in the face of the
threat of a military coup d'état and the Generals' Putsch against de
Gaulle in 1961. Tony was heavily involved in the Putsch with his
regiment, which was disbanded as a consequence of its key role.
The book is based on Tony's memoir. A memoir which is modest but paints
a vivid picture of combat in the Algerian War, it also gives a most
interesting, and at times amusing, insight into the values of the Legion
and the everyday life of a legionnaire. As a French general said at
Tony's memorial service it was during his life in the Legion that:
'...through hardship and comradeship he learnt the hard way to be a man
you can rely on: loyal, faithful, terrible to his enemies, generous to
his friends.'
However, to understand Tony's story it needs to be seen within the
context of the Algerian War. Thus, Tony's memoir is woven into an
account of the political and military events of the time. Also, since
many of the officers and NCOs with whom Tony served were battle-hardened
veterans who came to the Algerian War fresh from the disastrous French
defeat in Indochina, the book summarizes the exploits of the regiment in
Indochina, Suez and Algeria up until Tony joined it in late 1957.
