English Medals awards with French Soldiers

[Thierry]

Bonjour,

Research list of British medals awards for French Soldiers during WWI and WWII.

I think :

- DSO,

- OBE,

- Military Cross,

- Military Medal,

- DFC,

- Distinguised Conduct Medal,

AND ????

Cordialement

Thierry

[Michael Johnson]

Thierry,

Also the British War Medal. Awarded to interpreters, many of whom came from the French Army. My grandfather was one, but never applied for the medal. You can fins these by using the National Archives Medal Index Cards, and including French as a search term.

[Thierry]

Thierry,

Also the British War Medal. Awarded to interpreters, many of whom came from the French Army. My grandfather was one, but never applied for the medal. You can fins these by using the National Archives Medal Index Cards, and including French as a search term.

Thanks Michael

Cdrl

Thierry

[Yves]

Hello everyone,

I am new here, I hope you can help !

I am a member of a French "discussion group", called Genemil (it deals with military

genealogy) and one of us is searching for details about a French man called

Auguste TESSON, born in Paris in 1903 and deceased while on deportation in

Ebensee in 1945.

That man would have been a member of British counter-espionage, and, for that

reason, would have been awarded a medal after the war. He would also have been

a member of the "2nd bureau" (French "renseignement").

He was the father of 4 children, all deceased by now. It is his daughter-in-law who lauched this search.

I did a research on the Internet but could not find anything in UK archives, particularly no database for WWII award recipients.

Thanks in advance.

Regards,

Yves

Paris,

France

[Tony]

Hello Yves,

I'm not quite sure if WWII records can be accessed yet. Have you tried looking online for a researcher? Hopefully someone here can give you a definite answer.

Tony

[Ed_Haynes]

You say he ". . . would have been a member of British counter-espionage, and, for that reason, would have been awarded a medal after the war." This is far from certain and far from automatic. What do you believe he was awarded? Are you just guessing?

As Tony says, the records are not fully released and decorations awarded to foreigners are only occasionally published in the London Gazette in any event. While research may be possible (assuming he was awarded any medals), it will be real research, done in the National Archives in person and not picked up off the internet.

[Yves]

Thank you Tony and Ed for your answers !

You say he ". . . would have been a member of British counter-espionage, and, for that reason, would have been awarded a medal after the war." This is far from certain and far from automatic. What do you believe he was awarded? Are you just guessing?

These are the words of Auguste's sister-in-law. Her memories.

Conscious that these elements are not enough, I am trying to make further research in France at the same time. I will tell you if anything new arises.

Thanks again.

Yves

[Ed_Haynes]

Thanks, Yves. Yes, as you know. the memories of relatives are often flawed, and some times intentionally so. If anything, he may have been awarded a decoration, but there was no general-distribution medal for people in his situation. She may well be assuming the British granted awards for the same sorts of servoices the French did.

I doubt it would be worth the effort, but you may try checking the online London Gazette, but (1) few foreign awards would be there anyway, (2) is is extremely difficult to use, and (3) based on fragments of a few scraps of hypothetical memory there is very little to go on so as to justify the search.

[Ulsterman]

Earlier Chris Boonzair had one of these medals for sale that he picked up on his fruitful sojoun in Morocco! I think some Arabs/palestinians, Belgians and Greeks,Serbs and Albanians also got them.

Edited September 22, 2006 by Ulsterman

[Ed_Haynes]

Earlier Chris Boonzair had one of these medals for sale that he picked up on his fruitful sojoun in Morocco!

Wasn't that for WWI?

[Ulsterman]

Wasn't that for WWI?

Oui mon Club Host!

The first thread says "WW1 and WW2".

Also Kings medal in Cause of Freedom etc.

Wasn't there an OMRS article on this a few years back?