The French Foreign Legion has been romantically known as a place where a man could come and join a fellowship in arms. In this new brotherhood, his old family and life could be put in a trunk and forgotten, the new life being that of the Legion. It is true that Legionnaires swear not an oath to France, but to the Legion itself. One of these strangers was a man who was born the grandson of a king only to walk away from that life of privilege in Scandinavia to embrace one of bullets and blood in the sands of North Africa. The prince was simply known as Prince Aage, and he is held up today as a legion hero.
Early Life
Born Prince Aage Christian Alexander Robert June 10, 1887, to Prince Waldemar he was the grandson of Danish King Christian IX. His aunts and uncles included the Tsarina of Russia, the King of Greece and Queen Alexandria of England. His cousin Charles became the first king of Norway in 1905 and led his new country as Haakon VII through 50 years and two world wars.
Prince Aage always loved the military lifestyle and joined the Danish Royal Guards (Den Kongelige Livgarde) at age twenty. After graduating from the officers school (Hærens Officerskole) and receiving a lieutenant’s commission, he served as a military observer with the Greek Army during the Balkan Wars 1912-1914 before returning home at the outbreak of the First World War.
While Denmark was one of the few successful neutral countries in the Great War, it existed in a state of heavily armed preparation for four years during which Aage attended the General Staff school and was promoted to Captain. After the conclusion of the war, Aage petitioned his father to allow him to resign his duties in Denmark and leave for the French Foreign Legion in 1922.
Legion Service
At the age of 35, Aage accepted the lower title Count of Rosenborg in exchange for his title of Prince and left for France. This was a tradition for any Danish prince who elected to take himself out of the line of succession. He was appointed a Captain in the French Foreign Legion and soon found himself in the deserts of Morocco with the 2nd Infantry Regiment (2e régiment étranger d'infanterie or 2e REI). He fought with his company in a number of sharp engagements in the swirling sands of forgotten outposts against rebels, bandits and raiders.
Aage very shortly found himself in the larger Rif Wars leading troops against Abd-el-Krim. Three years of rough service earned him a spot at the French General Staff School. He won both the Croix de Guerre and the Legion of Honor. Later staff assignments brought him to the command of the 1st Battalion of the 3rd REI in 1935. He died of natural causes while serving with the Legion in North Africa February 19, 1940, just two months before the Nazis invaded his birth land.
His Memoir and Legacy.
He published a 200-odd page memoir in 1927 entitled My Life in the Foreign Legion by Prince Aage of Denmark. This work came in a period of several memoirs published in the mid-1920s following the famous case of French Foreign Legion deserters Bennett J Doty and James Harvey. It was reasonably well received and, unlike Doty’s work, is still in publication.
It is today under the title A Royal Adventurer in the Foreign Legion. Aage was buried with full honors due a Legion hero by his requests at the headquarters of the Legion at Sidi Bel Abbès. In 1962 when the Legion left Algeria, his body was reinterred at his current headquarters at Aubagne at the square of honor and is considered one of the holy relics of the unit.
Sources:
- Ballance, Edgar. The Story of the French Foreign Legion. London: Faber and Faber, 1961.
- Chaulieu, Christine Colonel. Prince Aage. Command of the Foreign Legion. Aubagne. 1999
- Lokalhistorisk Arkiv for Gentofte commune via Alexander Palace Forums
- Porch, Douglas. The French Foreign Legion: A Complete History of the Legendary Fighting Force. New York: HarperCollins, 1991.
- Rosenbourg, Count. My Life in the Foreign Legion. London.Harwick1927
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