List of foreign volunteers

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This article is about foreign volunteers who are serving in forces of a country other than their own, but who are not primarily motivated by personal financial gain. For soldiers recruited in colonies, see Colonial troops. For soldiers in foreign armies who are motivated by personal financial gain, see Mercenaries. For foreign soldiers temporarily serving in another country's military, see Exchange officer.
Prince Abdelkader El Djezairi, wearing the sash of the Legion d'Honneur presented to him by the French Government.
The exiled Muslim Algerian, along with his 1000 volunteers protected most of the diplomats, and thousands of Christians during the 1860 Mount Lebanon civil war. He was awarded the highest medals by the European governments.

The armed forces of many nations have, at one time or another, used foreign volunteers who are motivated by political, ideological or other considerations to join a foreign army.[1] These may be formed into units of a given nationality or may be formed into mixed nationality foreign units. Sometimes foreign volunteers were or are incorporated into ordinary units. The practice has a long history, dating back at least as far as the Roman Empire, which recruited non-citizens into Auxiliary units on the promise of them receiving Roman citizenship for themselves and their descendants at the end of their service.[2]

Mixed nationality units[]

  • 62nd (Royal American) Regiment of Foot. Composed of 'foreign Protestants'.
  • Boer foreign volunteers
  • Foreign Legion (France)- The Legion is a unit of the French Army that is open to men of any nationality.
  • Hohenlohe Regiment of France during the Bourbon Restoration.
  • International Brigades of the Spanish Civil War
  • Islamic Legion
  • King's African Rifles
  • Mahal – non-Israeli volunteers who fought for Israel in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. There is to this day a Mahal program in the Israeli army.
  • The SS (particularly the Waffen-SS) made extensive use of foreigners during World War II. For more information, see: Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts
  • Tercio de Extranjeros, or Tercio, or Spanish Legion - prior to 1987 and in the 2000s, after the abandonment of conscription, the Spanish Army is again accepting foreigners from select nationalities. The Legion today accepts male and female native Spanish speakers, mostly from Central American and South American states. Recruits are required to have a valid Spanish residence permit.
  • Rhodesian Light Infantry (initially all-Rhodesian, this unit became the "Foreign Legion" of the Rhodesian Army)
  • The United States Military has a long tradition of foreign volunteers taking up arms for the United States. Foreign born officers, such as the Marquis de Lafayette, Tadeusz Kościuszko, and Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben provided vital contributions to the cause of independence. During the nineteenth century the US Army made extensive use of foreign soldiers, particularly Irish and German. German Jewish troops were common during World War II[citation needed]. Presently, many members of the US Marine Corps are of Latin American and not US nationality. However, many if not most non-American troops in the United States armed forces are usually seeking the expedited United States citizenship that comes with completion of a term of service, and can be seen as aspiring Americans rather than outright foreigners.
  • International Freedom Battalion – An armed group of leftist foreign volunteers that fight in support of the Rojava Revolution in Syria.

Units by nationality[]

American[]

During both world wars, American volunteers served on the allied side before the USA joined the war. During World War I, there were even a few Americans who volunteered to fly for the Imperial German Flying Corps.[3]

Bangladeshi[]

  • 8,000 young men from Bangladesh volunteered to enlist in the PLO in 1987

Belgian[]

British[]

  • During the Peninsular War, many Britons joined Spanish regular and irregular forces.[5]
  • The state-sponsored Auxiliary Legion of the First Carlist War.
  • The British Legions in the South American Wars of Independence during the 19th century.
  • The British Free Corps of the Waffen SS in World War II.
  • 2,500 British fought in the Spanish civil war on the side of the republicans.[6]
  • In the Paraguay Revolution of 1922, British pilots fought in the Escuela de Aviación Militar.
  • Many Britons fought during the American Civil War for both the United States and Confederate States. 67 British soldiers in the Union Army received the Medal of Honor.
  • Dozens of British volunteers joined Croatian units and fought in the Yugoslav Wars between 1991 and 1995, most of them on the King Tomislav Brigade.[7]

Chinese[]

Croatian[]

Flag of the 369th Reinforced Infantry Regiment that was involved in the Battle of Stalingrad.

Filipino[]

  • About five thousand Filipinos served in a militia called the Makapili, which was under Japanese command. The unit was formed on 10 November 1944 and was issued around two thousand rifles by the Japanese. Its headquarters was located at the Christ the King compound in Quezon City. The organization was active in the Manila area, and in the nearby provinces of Rizal, Laguna, Bulacan, and Nueva Ecija. This militia made its last stand at Marikina in 1945.

French[]

German[]

  • King's German Legion in the Napoleonic Wars.
  • In the Spanish Civil War, the state-sponsored Condor Legion fought for the Nationalists, while the Thaelmann Battalion fought for the Republicans.
  • During the American Civil War Germany was the place of birth for thousands of Union soldiers. Several German speaking regiments existed such as the 9th Ohio Infantry, or the 74th Pennsylvania Infantry.
  • From 1991 to 1994, during the Croatian War of Independence and the Bosnian War, a number of former Bundeswehr and East-German army members fought along the Croats in the King Tomislav Brigade.[8] The brigade's executive officer at the time of the outbreak of the Bosnian Croat War was former Bundeswehr officer Jürgen Schmidt, who died while leading his troops against Bosnian Muslim forces near Gornji Vakuf, in January 1993.[9] In another action, a German-volunteer patrol, led by former Bundeswehr member Michael Homeister, ambushed and killed two Serbs manning an observation post.[8]

Greek[]

Indian[]

  • The Free Indian Legion was a volunteer legion made up of Indian POWs. The legion was first part of the Wehrmacht but transferred to the Waffen-SS late in the war.

Irish[]

See also Irish military diaspora.

Israeli[]

  • Mahal – Program for non-Israelis between the age of 18–24 to serve in the IDF.

Italian[]

Nepalese[]

Moroccan[]

Polish[]

  • Brigades in the Spanish Civil War.
  • Polish Lancers and other Polish forces in the Army of Napoleon.
  • Polish Volunteers in many wars and revolutions of the 19th century, including Spring of Nations, Crimean War (on Turkish side) and The Paris Commune.
  • The Blue Army, fought on the French side in WW1.

Portuguese[]

Rhodesian[]

Russian[]

  • The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have since 2010 or so begun to recruit CIS volunteers. See Armed Forces of the Russian Federation#Personnel.

Serbian[]

Flag of the Serb Volunteer Guard.

Scottish[]

  • Scots have a long history of service in the armies of Kings of France since at least the ninth century. The Scottish Guard was formally created by the French King Charles VII in 1422, and existed until the end of the Bourbon Restoration period in 1830.

South African[]

  • South African 32 Battalion

Spanish[]

  • The Blue Division of World War II fighting with Germany against the USSR.
  • The Blue Legion was formed late in the Second World War out of Blue Division soldiers who refused to leave after Franco required all Spaniards to leave Axis forces.
  • The 9th Armoured Company of the Free French Forces.
  • The Spanish Legion accepts foreign recruits.

Swedish[]

  • Swedish Voluntary Air Force fighting for the Finnish side in the Winter War
  • Swedish Volunteer Corps fighting for the Finnish side in the Winter War
  • Hundreds of Swedes volunteered in the 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking to fight against the USSR.

Swiss[]

  • Pontifical Swiss Guard
  • Swiss mercenaries served under the flags of many European nations including the British, Dutch, French and Spanish; as well as continue to serve as the military of the Holy See.

Taiwanese[]

Ukrainian[]

Yugoslav[]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Grasmeder, Elizabeth M.F. "Leaning on Legionnaires: Why Modern States Recruit Foreign Soldiers". International Security. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  2. ^ Webster, Graham (1979). The Roman Imperial Army (Second ed.). London: A & C Black. p. 144. ISBN 0-7136-1909-0.
  3. ^ Herris, Jack (2010). Aircraft of World War I, 1914-1918 (2017 reprint ed.). London: Amber Books Ltd. p. 55. ISBN 978-1-906626-65-5.
  4. ^ Webcast Author Interview Rachel Cox Into the Fire 2012 ISBN 9780451234759
  5. ^ Graciela Iglesias Rogers, British Liberators in the Age of Napoleon: Volunteering under the Spanish Flag in the Peninsular War (Bloomsbury Academic, London and New York, 2013) ISBN 978-1-4411-3565-0
  6. ^ Richard Baxell, Unlikely Warriors: The British in the Spanish Civil War and the Struggle Against Fascism (Aurum Press, London, 2012)
  7. ^ a b Arielli, Nir. "In Search of Meaning: ForeignVolunteers in the Croatian Armed Forces, 1991–95". Academia.edu. Missing or empty |url= (help)
  8. ^ a b Krott, Rob (2008). Save the Last Bullet for Yourself: A Soldier of Fortune in the Balkans and Somalia. Casemate. pp. 168–69. ISBN 978-1935149712.
  9. ^ Krott (2008, p. 148)
  10. ^ "Venezuela's Irish Legacy Copyright 1991 by Brian McGinn". Archived from the original on 2013-02-16. Retrieved 2019-01-07.
  11. ^ "Garibaldi Division". Vojska.net. Retrieved 2013-09-17.
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