Bison

Veteran,as usual you are absolutely right! And may be we are both right! In 1956 when the M?rite sportif was created, the recipients of the silver medal of '?ducation physique et sports' were made Knights of the new order. The ribbon bar was exactly the same... In fact, if this group is worn before 1956, this is the silver medal of sports. After 1956, this is a knight of the Sports Merit... Yours Bison

If I may, 7. could be a chevalier du M?rite Sportif, Knight of the Order of 'M?rite Sportif' (suppressed in 1963). It seems to me more coherent with the rest of the group. http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_02_2009/post-2068-1235497804.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_02_2009/post-2068-1235497817.jpg Regards

Yes for sure! But unfortunately not mine sniffff....

Regards Bison

This is one of the numerous different badges of the Ligne Maginot units. Here are some examples of a friend of mine...

Yes you are almost right. However, they were a few having made this preparatory course before being appointed in a parachute regiment. The Pre-parachute 'students' were only around 20 - 30% in the regular parachute course. This explain why they were proud to wear this badge on the shoulder. Regards

I am very happy with it. Regards Bison

Here is a picture of the complete group, I succeeded to avoid the dispersion by the seller:

Normally, one year for the first, and six months for each additional. Here they are numerous... may be there is an explanation, but I do not know it.

This is a souvenir of the town of BLOIS. We can see a salamander, which stands for the King Fran?ois the 1st, we see also a Hermine with a crown, symbol of Queen Anne de Bretagne, and an epic pig for the King Louis XII (husband of Anne de Bretagne...) All them lived in the Blois Castle, for the week-ends ! Yours Bison

Hi Chris They also would have thought it was a football match.... My two uncles were in the French expeditionary corps in Italy, and it was not a sport as they said to me! Yours Bison

Thank you very much for your efforts. For the owner of the MM, Henri Coste, you confirm the French documents arrived many month later after the publication... This is the administration, no change! For the MC, your research allows me to stop the 'Roussier' name and not waste time in this direction. He is probably a next to keen of this family and I will search this. I will keep you aware if I find something new. Thanks a lot again

Thank you so much ! Is there any citation ? Is there any Jean Roussier or simply Roussier for the MC? You are fantastic :jumping:

Good evening Gunner 1 The name is probably 'ROUSSIER', because this is the name of the family where this group is coming from... I don't know neither the rank nor the unit. He was probably an officer because he awarded the L?gion d'honneur and not the M?daille Militaire. In the data base of the L?gion d'honneur (Leonore data base), there is only one 'ROUSSIER' matching: Jean ROUSSIER, born in 1893 in Saint-Etienne, France. Thank you for your help! Best regards Bison

Detail of the MC : Regards

Reverse, look at the mounting plates :

New arrival in my collection with this group (there is also a cross of officier de la l?gion d'honneur) : observe Croix de guerre 1914 - 1915 with 5 mentions : 1 palm, two gold stars, one silver star and one bronze star; Military Cross; The two are displayed with french mounting plates (see reverse), which are not very common. I have a name for the owner of this group. I found him in the L?gion d'honneur database. But I didn't succeed in finding him in the London Gazette data base for the Military Cross. Do you know if we can find & confirm the names of Allies who were distinguished with British awards???

You are right, but he was not Emperor 'Napoleon', he was general 'Bonaparte'. Even if they are the same person, the French history clearly separates the two periods and the two characters... And in fact, they are different. I spoke about Napoleon, not Bonaparte.

I am not sure Napoleon never led any military campaign in North Africa... The Algerian conquest began under King Charles X (it was its idea), then Louis-Philippe and eventually Napoleon but the Third... To say that "two third of the population was killed" seems to me very very exagerated, by the number (i.e. 2 million people!) and the wording! The population of native Algerians decreased in 30 years of approximately one third, as a consequence of wars, fights, displacements, starvation and other many indirect causes, seems to me more appropriate to say. However it is still enormous. Regards Bison

You are totally right, Veteran. General Eisenhower received it in 1952. There are also : Marshal J.D.P. French in 1915 Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1947 Sir Winston Churchill in 1947 And, worth to be mentioned, Marshal Jozip Broz Tito in 1956 ! Regards Bison

Hi Chris Here are some informations and pics : http://www.grosser-generalstab.de/lh/lh3/lh3_41.html

I am afraid there is no equivalence, as far as the criteria for awarding them are completely different... From my perspective, I believe that there is no point of comparison with the VC, which is a unique example. As a French it is easy for me to say that! In France, it is true that the croix de guerre with palm is the highest award for bravery and leadership at war, and it could be accompanied by the Legion d'honneur Order. Thousands were given. In some aspects, we could better compare this to the DSO, MC or MM? But I believe it is an error to seek an equivalence between medals and awards from different countries. By essence, they will be different in valor and signification, of course. Regards Bison

You are welcome and I apologize to answer so late to your request ! я желаю вам счастливого Нового Года ! Бизон

The only one I know is the Dragoon ; it is a tradition patch worn by the 1st Marine Parachute R?giment (1er r?giment de Parachutistes d'Infanterie de Marine) The rest I do not know. Hope this help. Yours Bison

From left to right : - 1st Service Support HQ (1er Commandement Logistique) - 6th light Armoured Division (6?me Division L?g?re Blind?e) - 5th Cuirassier Regiment (5?me R?giment de Cuirassiers)