From the coast of Norway to Bir Hakeim, to Africa then the Alsace, while passing by Syria and Italy, the 13th Demi-Brigade would be part of most of the major campaigns of the French Army during the Second World War.

In lieu of the kepi, The formation was issued the 1935 pattern Fortress troops khaki beret with the Foreign Legion grenade hat badge.

Adhering to this appeal, recently promoted captain Pierre Kœnig adjoint (assistant) of lieutenant-colonel Raoul Magrin-Vernerey, convinced the latter to head to London, where they met Général De Gaulle.

Promoted to chef de bataillon in September 1941, excellent instructor of men, René Babonneau assumed command of the 2nd Battalion, which at Bir Hakeim, on 27 May 1942, held back more than 70 tanks of the division Ariete, by destroying 35 out of them.

This would be the occasion for Pierre Messmer, captain commanding a company to write later, a book: The Lost Patrol (French: La patrouille perdue).

During late 1944, a nominally Ukrainian battalion of the FFI – composed of recent defectors from the 30th Waffen SS Grenadier Division — was attached to the 13th Demi-Brigade.

One included 818 Ukrainians based at Vesoul, under the direction of Major Lev (Leon) Hloba, who had shot their German officers and surrendered to the Haute-Saône arm of the FFI in the Confracourt Woods.

Destined to be part of the French Expeditionary in Extreme-Orient, the 13eDBLE disembarked of the SS Ormonde on 6 February 1946 at Saigon and garrisoned north of the town, in the triangle of Gia Định -Thu Duc – Hoc Mon.

The 13e DBLE participated to operations "Vega", "Dragon II et III", "Geneviève", "Jonquille", and "Canigou", with the adversary often leaving combatants behind, such as at Largauze on 26 March 1949.

The rhythm of operations accelerated with the beginning of the dry season: "Potager", "Normandie", "Ramadan", "Trois Provinces", "Tulipes", "Ulysse 3", "Neptune", and "Revanche".

The Việt Minh had controlled Hòa Bình since October 1950 and used the district as a logistics staging area for operations in north central Vietnam.

The legionnaires held a vital hill at Xóm-Pheo astride Colonial Route 6, and they fortified their positions with trenches, bunkers, barbed wire, and minefields.

The Việt Minh forces overran the 5th Company position and destroyed bunkers with TNT satchel charges and Bangalore torpedoes.

With many of their officers and NCOs killed or wounded, and half of their position overrun, the legionnaires counterattacked with fixed bayonets and hand grenades.

The survivors barely represented the numbers of an actual company, and in the rear, efforts were made to reconstitute the battalion, however, time seemed to be missing.

Lieutenant-colonel Gaucher was killed on the first day of the battle (13 March 1954), when his command post suffered a direct hit from Việt Minh artillery.

[13] On 30 April, the legionnaires at Dien Bien Phu celebrated the anniversary of the Legion's historic Battle of Camarón (French: Bataille de Camerone).

The celebration took place at the 13e DBLE command post where Lieutenant-colonel Lemeunier read the traditional Camarón proclamation over a radio hook-up that could be heard throughout Dien Bien Phu.

At the beginning of 1958, three combats against the ALN, obliged the latter to refuse to get in contact, and accordingly reacted by taking up violence on the civilian population.

The unit made way back to the « Bec de Canard », on the « Barrage est », where operations, patrols and ambushes succeeded until the end of combats in March 1962.

Following the appearance of a banderole reclaiming the territory, manifestations were launched, and the sections of the 2nd company intervened in their parade uniform at 2000 and 2200 respectively.

The next day, after the death of two manifesting individuals in the morning, at 1400, the regimental commander received the order to evacuate the place Lagarde where général de Gaulle was supposed to pronounce his speech.

Starting 14 September, the « 13e » as well as the 5th Inter-arm Oure-Mer Regiment (French: 5e RIAOM) installed a barrage which encircled the town to filter the exit and entry points.

Following the independence of the Republic of Djibouti in 1977, the 13e DBLE participated regularly to military or humanitarian missions at the profit of the territories or in the Horn of Africa.

It is convenient to add to all these operations, of the punctual assistance brought forth by the regiment to the young Republic during natural catastrophic disasters which saved the latter regularly.

The 2nd section regrouped the reconnaissance divers which were charged with infiltration missions by maritime means utilizing pneumatic boats or palms.

After an intervention of a humanitarian character, where a section of the engineers were projected to Indonesia in 2005 (Opération Béryx (French: Opération Béryx), to assist and aid the victims of 2014 earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean (French: Séisme du 26 décembre 2004 dans l'océan Indien), the "13e" revived operational capacities in March 2007.

The tactical headquarter staff, the infantry company and an engineer detachment were sent in urgency, north of the Central African Republic to secure and contain the propagation of violence in the zone of the three frontiers (Tchad, RCA, Soudan) to Birao.

The unit is decomposed of a support unit as well other units sent on the spot in short duration (4 months): As an infantry regiment within the format defined in the cadre plan of the French Army "Au contact", the 13th Demi-Brigade of the Foreign Legion is composed of 1300 men grouped in eight companies: Chant de Marche : Nos Képis Blancs (Sous le soleil brulant d'Afrique) featuring: 1st couplet Sous le soleil brûlant d'Afrique, Cochinchine, Madagascar, Une phalange magnifique, A fait flotter nos étendards, Sa devise «Honneur et vaillance», Forme des soldats valeureux, Son drapeau celui de la France, Est un emblème des plus glorieux.

Refrain Vive la Légion étrangère, Et quand défilent les képis blancs, Si leur allure n'est pas légère, Ils portent tous tête haute et fière, Et s'élançant dans la fournaise, Le cœur joyeux jamais tremblant, Au son de notre Marseillaise, Savent combattre les képis blancs.