Officer's shako plate, British Foreign Legion, 1855 (c)

In addition to raising a British Swiss Legion during the Crimean War (1854-1856), the British Government also enlisted German and Italian legionaries. At first the German contingent was known as the British Foreign Legion, but Queen Victoria intervened to have the appellation changed, writing to the Secretary of State for War on 3 September 1855:

'The Queen wishes to remind Lord Panmure of the Foreign Legion being called the German Legion. She is sure that this will have a good effect in Germany and help the recruiting; the German papers have been taunting them with not being allowed to bear their own name.'