Christophe

Who ever knows... Ch.

You're right!!! That's the right ribbon!!! Cheers. Ch.

Looks also like what the museums write sometimes... Ch.

Hi Ed, If I'm not wrong, this ribbon seems to be the one of the Medal for 20 Years of the Red Army... Nice medals BTW... Cheers. Ch.

Only 61 surviving Companions of the Liberation. On 28 January 2008 died Michel Carage, Companion of the Lib?ration. Michel Carage, born in 1921, is a student in June 1940. As soon as June 1940, he joined the French Free Forces, in Camberly (England). He will then join the Free African Forces in September 1941, in Moyen Congo, Cameroon and Chad in 1942. He took part to the Fezzan, Tripolitaine and Tunisia campaigns, and then Chad again, under the command of General Leclerc. He took part to the landing in Normandy in the 2nd DB, and participated to the Liberation of France. He will be wounded during this campaign. After the war, he created several companies. Here is his bio (in French) : <a href="http://www.ordredelaliberation.fr/fr_compagnon/178.html" target="_blank">http://www.ordredelaliberation.fr/fr_compagnon/178.html</a> After his death, there are now only 61 surviving Companions of the Liberation. Ch. Pic : Chancellerie de l'Ordre de la Lib?ration.

Close-up pic. Ch. Pic : ? Christophe ? ChR Collection

Hi, Here is a pic of the uniform of Marshal Rokossovsky displayed in the Central Armed Forces Museum in Moscow. The Grunwald Cross is worn as a breast decoration, contrary to what is shown in the older first pic posted. Cheers. Ch. Pic : ? Christophe ? ChR Collection

Hi Marc, Let's try this... I propose the following answers : 1. Leningrad or Sankt Petersburg 2. It was the North-West Front 3. 900 km of Front. 4. From 8 September 1941 to 18 January 1944 5. XLIIe et LIIe Armies ? 6. Saint-Petersburg Cheers. Ch.

Marc, Your turn (again... ). Cheers. Ch.

Time again for a few stats, one month after the New Quiz has been launched... Quiz 2008 : * 5 questions asked, * with 97 answers, * and viewed more than 730 times. Nb of good answers for the Quiz 2008 : * 3 : Marc (Lapa) * 1 : Auke (Ferdinand) & Knarf (Frank). Complete statistics give since this Quiz has been launched (on 1 Nov. 2005) : * 176 questions asked, * with 2,242 answers, * This quiz has been viewed more than 23,000 times. * 37 Members of the Forum played, and 28 correctly answered at least 1 question : Nb of good answers : * 35 : Christian (Zulus) * 31 : Christophe * 13 : Frank (Knarf) * 12 : Jim (JimZ) * 11 : Bryan (Soviet) * 8 : Simon (Red Threat) * 7 : Auke (Ferdinand) * 6 : Belaruski, Carol I & Ed (Haynes) * 5 : Dan (Hauptman) * 4 : Wild Card. * 3 : Andreas (Alfred), Ivan (Piramida), Kim (Kimj) & Marc (Lapa). * 2 : Chuck (in Oregon), Gerd (Becker), Jan (vatjan) & Order of Victory. * 1 : Charles (Hunyadi), Darrell, Daredevil, Dave (Navy FCO), Dudeman, Filip (Drugo), Rick (Stogieman) & Steen (Ammentorp). This is a great achievement. Thanks to all for your participation in this Quiz. Now, let's have fun with the 177th question, Marc's !!!! Cheers. Ch.

Hi again, I was in Moscow yesterday and visited again this museum. There is NO element of Gary Powers' s U2 displayed in the Museum. Sorry for this wrong assumption. I succeeded to take a few pics of orders and medals, and will try to post them later... Last point, there is a very good exhibition in this Museum until the 8th March 2008, dedicated to the Russian / Soviet first ladies, from Mrs Romanova (the last Imperatrice) to Mrs Putina. Very interesting and well done, with documents, objects, videos... Cheers. Ch.

Ho to all, Again, well done Marc !! And... again, your turn to post the next challenge !!! Cheers. PS : Frank, we wouldn't be agaisnt you posting more details about the train and... the belt!!!

So, now, back to Auke's question!!! Ch.

Jim, Let's be socialist somehow... The point is that the Member who asked for the last question might be unavailable... So, I think it is better for any of us to ask a question, if any of us has one. And I know some of us have some ready... In all cases, I'll be there to arbitrate if needed. Cheers. Ch.

Thanks Christian, But the question might also be yours !!! Cheers. Ch.

So, Auke, if you wish, the ball is yours !!! Cheers. Ch.

Hi Jim and others, I agree, good points. The Quiz is far too much quiet here... And we can't indefinitelky wait for a Member to ask for a question : he may be away, ot without internet access, or without so much inetrest for the Quiz... So I propose a new rule to be added : If after three (3) days, the last winner has not asked yet for a question, and has not transferred his"right" to another Member; everyone else is authorized to do so and ask for the next challenge. This should make the quiz more dynamic and avoid long period without question... What do you think ? Are you Ok with this new rule ? If yes, the ball is yours !!! Who will ask for Question #175 ? Cheers. Ch.

Hi, I have sent a message to Marc (Lapa). I hope he will go back to us soon with a question... Cheers. Ch.

Translation of the article from AFP : " Lazare Ponticelli, the last French soldier in World War I, " accepts national funeral " January 24th, 2008 PARIS (AFP) - The last of the 8,5 million French French soldiers in World War I of First World War, Lazare Ponticelli " accept national funeral without important din and or of big parade " having refused this ceremony again and again. Lazare Ponticelli, 110 years old for seven weeks and who sees in Kremlin-Bic?tre, says in the Parisian / Today of Thursday that it " decided " to accept national funeral in the name of all those who died, men and women ". In November, 2005, while six French soldiers in World War I were still alive, the president Jacques Chirac had wished the " solemn funeral of national range for the last French soldier in World War I " during a meeting of the High Council of combat memory to the Elysium without recalling the place and the modalities of this ceremony. Since, Lazare Ponticelli had demonstrated again and again his opposition to this ceremony apparently before changing mind after decease on Sunday of the last but one survivor, Louis de Cazenave, at the age of 110 years, in Brioude. The last French soldier in World War I accepts this ceremony " if it is in respectability, without important din, or of big parade ", by wishing " a mass to the Disabled persons in homage to my friends died in this terror of war and to which I promised to forget them never ". Lazare Ponticelli, of Italian origin and naturalized Frenchman in 1939, moreover wants to be buried in the family vaults in the Parisian graveyard of Ivry-sur-Seine (Val-de-Marne). " Ch.

Lazare Ponticelli, the last surviving Poilu accepts the offer of a state funeral. He says he accepts state funeral, if it is dicreet and without big military parade. See the below article from AFP : "Lazare Ponticelli, le dernier poilu, "accepte les obs?ques nationales" 24 Janvier 2008 PARIS (AFP) ? Le dernier des 8,5 millions de poilus fran?ais de la Grande guerre, Lazare Ponticelli "accepte les obs?ques nationales sans tapage important et ni de grand d?fil?" apr?s avoir refus? ? plusieurs reprises cette c?r?monie. Lazare Ponticelli, 110 ans depuis sept semaines et qui vit au Kremlin-Bic?tre, dit dans le Parisien/Aujourd'hui en France de jeudi qu'il "a d?cid? "d'accepter des obs?ques nationales au nom de tous ceux qui sont morts, hommes et femmes". En novembre 2005, alors que six Poilus ?taient encore en vie, le pr?sident Jacques Chirac avait souhait? des "obs?ques solennelles de port?e nationale pour le dernier poilu" lors d'une r?union du Haut Conseil de la m?moire combattante ? l'Elys?e sans ?voquer le lieu et les modalit?s de cette c?r?monie. Depuis, Lazare Ponticelli avait ? plusieurs reprises manifest? clairement son opposition ? cette c?r?monie avant de se raviser apr?s le d?c?s dimanche de l'avant-dernier survivant, Louis de Cazenave, ? l'?ge de 110 ans, ? Brioude. Le dernier poilu accepte cette c?r?monie "si c'est dans la dignit?, sans tapage important, ni de grand d?fil?", en souhaitant "une messe aux Invalides en hommage ? mes camarades morts dans cette horreur de la guerre et auxquels j'ai promis de ne jamais les oublier". Lazare Ponticelli, d'origine italienne et naturalis? Fran?ais en 1939, veut par ailleurs ?tre inhum? dans le caveau familial au cimeti?re parisien d'Ivry-sur-Seine (Val-de-Marne)." Ch. Pic : AFP - Lazare Ponticelli, on 16 December 2007 in Paris.

In French in Le Figaro : Louis de Cazenave, l'un des deux derniers poilus, dispara?t La Figaro - 21 janvier 2008 Mobilis? en 1916, Louis de Cazenave servit dans l'infanterie coloniale avant de rejoindre, en janvier 1918, des unit?s d'artillerie. Cr?dits photo : AFP D?c?d? dimanche matin ? l'?ge de 110 ans, il avait particip? aux batailles de la Somme et du Chemin des Dames. L'avant-dernier ?poilu? s'est ?teint dimanche au petit matin ? son domicile de Brioude, en Haute-Loire. Louis de Cazenave, 110 ans, ?est mort comme il le d?sirait, chez lui, dans son sommeil, sans souffrir?, a t?moign? son fils, ?galement pr?nomm? Louis. Le secr?taire d'?tat aux Anciens Combattants, Alain Marleix, a salu? la m?moire du soldat : ?Il a ?t? de ceux, parmi les plus braves, qui ont tenu, dans les tranch?es et les casemates de la Grande Guerre, la France ?? mains nues? jusqu'? l'armistice du 11 novembre?. N? le 16 octobre 1897 ? Saint-Georges-d'Aurac, en Haute-Loire, Louis de Cazenave ?tait le doyen des poilus survivants. Mobilis? en 1916, ? l'?ge de 18 ans, il ser???vit dans diff?rents r?giments d'in?fanterie coloniale dont le 5e bataillon de tirailleurs s?n?galais et rejoignit, ? partir de janvier 1918, des unit?s d'artillerie. Il participera notamment ? la bataille de la Somme, ? l'offensive du Chemin des Dames et ? la lib?ration du territoire national, avant d'?tre d??mobilis? en 1919. Devenu cheminot, mari? et p?re de trois fils, il prit une retraite partielle ? 41 ans. Lazare Ponticelli, le dernier Dimanche, le pr?sident Nicolas Sarkozy a adress? ?? sa famille les condol?ances attrist?es de la nation?. En 1995, l'ancien combattant avait re?u la L?gion d'honneur. Il sera enterr? mardi. ?Sa disparition est l'occasion pour chacun d'entre nous d'avoir une pens?e particuli?re pour les 1,4 million de combattants fran?ais qui ont fait le sacrifice de leur vie durant ce conflit? , a ajout? le chef de l'?tat. Lazare Ponticelli, lui aussi ?g? de 110 ans, est d?sormais le dernier survivant de la Premi?re Guerre mondiale. Cet ancien chasseur alpin d'origine italienne, engag? ? 16 ans, a d?j? indiqu? qu'il refusait les fun?railles nationales promises en 2005 par Jacques Chirac, estimant que ?ce serait un affront pour les gens qui sont morts avant moi?. D. Ch. Ch. Pic : AFP

BBC News France's oldest WWI veteran dies One of the last two surviving French veterans of World War I has died at the age of 110. Louis de Cazenave, who fought in the Battle of the Somme in 1916, died in his sleep at his home in Brioude, central France, his son Louis said. Mr de Cazenave's death leaves Lazare Ponticelli, also 110, as the last "poilu", or French WWI veteran. Mr de Cazenave's son said he died as he would have wanted - peacefully in his sleep at home, surrounded by family. President Nicolas Sarkozy sent condolences to Mr de Cazenave's family and paid tribute to all those killed in the war. Adding his tribute, French Defence Minister Herve Morin said: "De Cazenave departed with the discretion and simplicity that he had cultivated as a remedy against the fracas and horror of combat." To the slaughter The second-last of the poilus (English: hairy ones) - the affectionate name given since Napoleonic times to French footsoldiers - joined up in 1916 at the age of 19, midway through the war. He was one of the 8.5 million young Frenchmen mobilised to fight the German occupation. In April 1917, assigned to the Fifth Senegalese Rifles, he fought in one of the most disastrous French actions of the war, at the Chemin des Dames, during the Second Battle of the Aisne. The chemin was an 18th Century road straddling a ridge. The Germans took it in late 1914, and after two years of attritional warfare, the French commander-in-chief, Gen Robert Nivelle, recommended a massive assault against them. But squabbling between Allied leaders lead to delays and leaks. Forewarned, the Germans dug in so well that the creeping artillery barrage ahead of the French advance did little to dislodge them. Across the battlefront the French lost 40,000 men on the first day. Some reports say the advancing French bleated in mocking acknowledgement that they were lambs to the slaughter. The last poilu Mr de Cazenave's family say the experience, which led to French mutinies, left him a pacifist. During World War II he was briefly jailed by the pro-Nazi puppet regime under Marshal Petain, the general who relieved Nivelle after the debacle. "War is something absurd, useless, that nothing can justify. Nothing," he told Le Monde newspaper in a 2005 interview. In that interview, he described walking through fields of wounded soldiers calling for their mothers, begging to be finished off. President Sarkozy said Mr de Cazenave's death was an occasion to reflect on the 1.4 million French soldiers who lost their lives, and the 4.5 million who were wounded, during World War I. "This generation has only one remaining representative today," he added in his statement. The last poilu , Lazare Ponticelli, has been told of Mr de Cazenave's death. He is now one of a handful of known World War I veterans left in any of the warring nations. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/worl...ope/7199127.stm Published: 2008/01/20 22:34:55 GMT ? BBC MMVIII" Link : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7199127.stm Ch.

AP LOUIS DE CAZENAVE: 110 FIRST WORLD WAR VETERAN CALLED COMBAT 'ABSURD' AP January 22, 2008 Paris -- French First World War veteran Louis de Cazenave, whose life touched three centuries and who refused a prestigious award for his service, died Sunday. He was 110, and leaves just one known French veteran of the war. Mr. de Cazenave, who saw the vicious Battle of the Somme and later called war "absurd," died at his home in Brioude, southern France, said his son, also named Louis de Cazenave. "He died in his sleep, without suffering," the son said by telephone. Born Oct. 16, 1897, Mr. de Cazenave was called up to fight in 1916 and served in different infantry regiments before joining an artillery unit in January, 1918, according to a statement from the French President's office. Mr. de Cazenave took part in the Battle of the Somme in 1916, the Battle of the Chemin des Dames the next year and in the liberation of France from German forces in 1918, the statement said. The Somme battle between British-led forces in northern France and a surprisingly tough German force left 1.2 million on both sides dead, wounded or held prisoner, after four months of trench warfare. The Chemin des Dames battle was responsible for 150,000 French deaths. "War is something absurd, useless, that nothing can justify. Nothing," he told Le Monde in a 2005 interview. He described walking through fields of wounded soldiers calling for their mothers, begging to be finished off. After the war, Mr. de Casenave became a train driver. He married his wife, Marie, in 1920, and outlived her by more than 34 years. Television footage of the veteran's 110th birthday showed him smoking a pipe at home, puzzled by all the media attention. Mr. de Cazenave repeatedly refused an award from France's Legion of Honour before finally accepting it in 1995, in response to pleas from other veterans. The last known French veteran of the First World War is Lazare Ponticelli, also 110. " Ch.

A few articles in english about Louis de Cazenave : Reuters : France's oldest WWI vet dead at 110 Jan 21, 2008 04:30 AM PARIS?France's oldest man, a World War I veteran who refused a medal and spoke powerfully about the horrors of war, has died at 110, leaving just one veteran alive from the conflict. Louis de Cazenave died at his home in the Auvergne region in central France yesterday, the government said. President Nicolas Sarkozy called his death a reminder of the 1.4 million French who lost their lives in the 1914-18 war. De Cazenave survived both the Battle of the Somme in 1916 and the Second Battle of the Aisne a year later, two of the bloodiest episodes of what was described as the "war to end all wars." Born in October 1897, de Cazenave became an infantryman in 1916. He retired in 1941 but refused a military decoration. Eventually, he was awarded the civilian Legion of Honour in 1999. "Some of my comrades weren't even given a wooden cross," he told Le Monde newspaper in 2005. Recalling events etched into his mind 88 years earlier, he gave a grim account of the offensive on German positions along the river Aisne. That offensive caused about 350,000 French and German deaths and led afterwards to a partial French mutiny. "You should have heard the wounded between the lines. They called out to their mothers, begged us to go finish them off," he told Le Monde. "We found the Germans when we went to get water at the well. We spoke to them. They were just like us; they had had enough." De Cazenave described patriotism as "a way of making people swallow anything" and war as absurd and useless. "Nothing can justify it, nothing." France's last surviving World War I veteran is now Lazare Ponticelli, 110. He has refused an offer of a state funeral, saying it would show disrespect to war victims who never got the same honour." Reuters Ch.

And, we learnt it only recently, but Raymond Cambefort died four days before Louis de Cazenave, on 16 January 2008. Raymond Cambefort (11 February 1900 ? 16 January 2008) was, at age 107, one of the last three fully verified World War I veterans living in France until these last days. He lived in the Toulouse region.[unreliable source?] Cambefort signed up for service on 28 August 1918, and served until 4 November 1919. Despite the fact he was a French soldier in the trenches, the French government did not recognize him as an official Poilu; he fought less than the official three months needed (exactly during two months and two weeks before the Armistice). Lazare Ponticelli is now the last Poilu still alive !!! Sad month of January 2008 !!! Ch.