Mark Brewer

French Language Side.

Found his Memorial Headstone.

Thanks for the post on Heaton-Rhodes and Logan. I certainly believe New Zealand's actions in Western Samoa were deplorable. I believe that the Prime Minister presented a formal apology to the people of Western Samoa during a visit a couple of years ago. Mark.

Guys thankyou for your assistance. I apologise if I have been unkind to members of the Museum of the Legion of Honour, I actually greatly respect the Order and all that it represents. It is my intent to write a book on New Zealand and French relations through awards of the Legion of Honour. I started with a list of approximately 28 predominantly military personnel and now have a list of over 100 New Zealand recipients (or those with strong New Zealand ties). My queries to the Museum of the Legion of Honour are mainly to confirm that they were a recipient and the date of the award. I tried the website that they suggested, but it doesn't appear to list foreign recipients. Any suggestions of other online resources? Mark

Last one.

Next one.

Hi, This might be considered rude or off topic, but I'm having difficulty getting some replies to my letters to the Legion of Honour Museum translated. These are from 2000, can anyone help?

Brilliant. Waddell certainly was an interesting man. I've yet to write to the French Embassy for assistance, but will do shortly. Mark.

Brilliant, thank you very much for the info. I'll see what I find out. Regards, Mark.

The following newspaper article was provided to me by a friend. Unfortunately it is undated. I am very interested in sourcing some primary research information to confirm much of what is in the article, especially the citations. Can anyone help me?

Veteran, sorry for the delay in replying. Thank you very much for the information. I'll forward the info I have soon. Here is a photo of his grave in New Zealand.

Chris, Yeah sorry, I've given up on the first guy. The Lt Col Waddell I mentioned is a different guy, maybe I should had posted it as a different thread. He is confirmed as a Foreign Legion Lieutenant Colonel (its alright I won't take your car, too far to drive it to New Zealand). You say that it is almost impossible to research 'other ranks' in the Legion (I understand that they enlist under a false name). But how would I obtain information on someone like Waddell who had a long and distinguished career in the Legion as an Officer. Mark

Thanks for that. Looks like I'll have to obtain a copy. Mark.

Yeah, I asked a similar question on the British Medals Forum about the DSO. The Canadian Guys said that there is no record of him in South Africa and the Brits say he did not get a DSO, Mid nor was wounded so I think he may have made the whole story up. As far as New Zealanders in the Legion go, how easy would it be to obtain information on Lieutenant Colonel James Waddell who served in WW1 and North Africa.

Hi, I found the following entry in the School List of Nelson College in New Zealand and want to find out more info on his Foreign Legion service. How easy is this? How do I find out if he has a Legion d'Honneur recipient? Any guidance greatly appreciated. Mark.

Hi, thanks for everyones help on this one. I now have both London Gazette entries will the full list of names. I have this in alphabetical order as well if anyone wants a look up. Mark.

Hi, does anyone know when the French Legion of Honour was awarded, and does anyone have a photo of his medal group? Mark

The list of Allenbys awards.

Lilo, I've tried to close in on the order you are talking about here. The full photo I have is a scan of a standard photo and is 16Mb so not that great for emailing. I can see if I can get a better scan of the order if you like. Mark

It appears that the ribbons on the Greek Air Force Tunic above include in order: Royal Order of the Redeemer, Order of Valour, Knights Gold Cross of the Order of George I (civil), Knights Gold Cross of the Royal Order of the Phoenix (military), Flying Cross of Valour, Greek War Cross First Class, Air Force Cross. I found it difficult to track down a picture of the Flying Cross of Valour. The attached photo is borrowed from the following website: http://trexer.net/archive.htm#HFCV

Here's one someone sent me of the Greek Air Force Flying Cross. This was commonly referred to as the Greek DFC, although due to the four different Greek Air Force decorations of cross design there appears to have been confusion in awards to British Airmen as to what was what.

Hendrick nice photos. Here is a photo from the rathbone museum of a WWII Greek pilots tunic showing the ribbon for the Air Force Cross (shown in the post above) last in the ribbon bar. Nice groups comprising royal orders and the Cross of Valour, War Cross etc.

Medal group for Marshal of the Royal Air Force Lord Douglas of Kirtleside.

Field Marshal Viscount Allenby's medal group. Quite a haul. Legion of Honour just right of centre at the top.

Medal group of Captain Sir Mansfield Smith Cumming head of MII the forerunner of MI6. Lovely group, sorry about the sword in the way.