Régiments de marche de volontaires étrangers, also known as RMVE or Regiments of Foreign Volunteers were temporary formations of the French Foreign Legion

French Foreign Legion

The French Foreign Legion is a unique military service wing of the French Army established in 1831. The foreign legion was exclusively created for foreign nationals willing to serve in the French Armed Forces...

 organized from Foreign volunteers during the Second World War. These regiments were formed on 16 September 1939:

On September 16 1939, the war minister decided to form special corps of foreign volunteers independent of the Foreign Legion, presumably to avoid the sort of conflict that had occurred in 1914. To make certain that these unit of foreign volunteers would be in no way confused with the "real" Legion, which wanted to distance itself from them, they were assigned numbers superior to 20 from February 1940 and so became the 21E, 22E and 23E régiment de marche des volontaires étrangers (RMVE).

These regiments, despite the best effort of the French War Ministry and the Legion itself were assigned Legion cadres, crests carried the Legion Colors and celebrated Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

 and Camerone day

Battle of Camarón

The Battle of Camarón, which occurred 30 April 1863 between the French Foreign Legion and the Mexican army, is regarded by the Legion as a defining moment in its history...

. These regiments had large numbers of refugee Spanish Republic

Second Spanish Republic

The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....

ans, Jews and other refugees from Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

, Austria

Anschluss

The Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....

, Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 and Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...

. These men were considered volunteers for the duration and many who escaped the fall of France were allowed to join their respective national armies before the Liberation.

They achieved a mixed success, but like many units during the Fall of France were overwhelmed by the superior numbers and firepower of the German blitzkrieg

Blitzkrieg

For other uses of the word, see: Blitzkrieg Blitzkrieg is an anglicized word describing all-motorised force concentration of tanks, infantry, artillery, combat engineers and air power, concentrating overwhelming force at high speed to break through enemy lines, and, once the lines are broken,...

. Their regimental honors live on in the 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment

2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment

The 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment is an infantry regiment of the French Foreign Legion created in 1841 and is situated in the south of France at Nimes. The 2REI has participated in several conflicts, more notably in the Gulf war, in Bosnia, Chad and in different parts of Africa...

Source

• Porch, Douglas
  Douglas Porch
  Douglas Porch is an American military historian and academic. He currently serves as a Professor of National Security Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School, and is the former Chair of the Department of National Security Affairs for the Naval Postgraduate School at Monterey,...
  
  . The French Foreign Legion. New York: Harper Collins, 1991. ISBN 0-06-092308-3