Darrin Taylor

1986 to 1990

Darrin has a very interesting, varied and stimulating work history.  He left school in 1990 after the 7h Form and joined the 1st Battalion Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment (1 RNZIR) where he completed his training at Linton Camp, Palmerston North and completed exercises overseas – Australia and Malaysia.

From  1997-1999 Darrin joined the 2nd Regiment Etrangere de Parachute which is an airborne regiment of the French Foreign Legion - (military service wing of the French Army).  It is part of the 11th Parachute Brigade and the spearhead of the French Rapid reaction force.  He was in the 4th Company which specialises in demolitions and snipers.  Darrin was attached to the demolition platoon, and was taught demolitions which included target selection and the formulas involved in choosing the amount and shape and placement of the charge needed to destroy the target.  Also he was taught how to fall out of a plane, he did a radio course where he was taught Morse code and advanced encryption.  He was deployed for operations in Tchad which the French Army uses as a stepping stone for operations in Africa.

Darrin then moved on to South Africa in 1999 and worked for Protrack.   Protrack is an Anti-Poaching Unit established in 1992 and was the first private anti-poaching unit in South Africa.

The Protrack unit is manned by young people with a passion to stop the slaughter of wildlife in South Africa .  Here he learned how to track, and stop poachers in the private game sector.  He enjoyed this in the sense that he got to see the wildlife close up.  They worked in 2-man teams so it was easier to move silently.

Darrin then had a complete change of heart and returned to France where he worked in miscellaneous bars and nightclubs in France.  Currently he part-owns and runs two restaurants in Paris.


During his time in France he has played professional rugby league for a season for Nanterre and also played in the French amateur league side.


Interestingly Darrin credits Matamata College with making himself a better person.  He has come to this conclusion after spending time with lots of different cultures and nationalities.  He realised that at school he was taught a lot of useful information, whereas other people he was worked with had only learnt how to pass their tests!!