France French Colonial Officer Group

[Paul L Murphy]

Here is an interesting French Group I recently purchased. Unfortunately the seller did not know the name of the recipient but I am hoping the unusual combination will enable me to pin him down at some stage.

The recipient was a colonel in the Colonial Infantry. Apart from his French awards he also has the Officer of the Order of Saharian Merit, Officer of the Order of the Black Star of Benin, an Iranian order (Ed's help on the details of this would be appreciated) and Officer of the Order of Cambodia. The Commander of the Million Elephants and White Parasol is missing from the photo but I have got one since that I will add to the group for display purposes.

If anyone has any information that could help me pin down the identity of the recipient I would appreciate it. I guess the Iranian order could be key to this since I presume it was the sort of gong given to military attaches and the like ?

Enjoy,

Paul

[Paul L Murphy]

Here is a close-up of his "foreign" awards.

[Jacky]

Lovely orders!!!

Certainly a beauty.

When counting the ribbons, I found 9 ribbons,

and there are 9 orders included the commander of the million elephants and the white parasol.

However which medal is the officer class with the green ribbon??

I think that should denote the cambodian order...

Also are the ribbons in a different way to the way where the full size medals are mounted...

Stranger things have happended, I love your group really paul!!

Kind regards,

Jacky

[Paul L Murphy]

The green officer class ribbon represents the Cambodian order but you are correct, it is the wrong ribbon. Still, if you are a colonel I suppose you can get away with things like that !

[Great Dane]

Strange...

According to my books, The Cambodian Order was awarded with a green and red ribbon for locals and white with yellow stripes for foreigners...?

Nothing is mentioned of a green ribbon with narrow yellow stripes...

The Iranian Order is the Order of Merit.

/Mike

[Paul R]

Most impressive array of awards!! I love the enamel!

[Paul L Murphy]

Strange...

According to my books, The Cambodian Order was awarded with a green and red ribbon for locals and white with yellow stripes for foreigners...?

Nothing is mentioned of a green ribbon with narrow yellow stripes...

The Iranian Order is the Order of Merit.

/Mike

Mike,

The nationality of the recipient was not what determined the ribbon colour. The green and red ribbon was used for awards that were presented by the Cambodian Government and the white and yellow ribbon was used for awards presented by the French Metropolitan Government. The fact that this officer's award was presented by the Cambodians, rather than the French, suggests he actually served in Cambodia at some time rather than it being a more general "Indochina" type French bestowal.

The green ribbon with narrow yellow stripes is indeed a mystery. I suspect it belongs to a different Cambodian order and was mixed in by mistake by whatever military tailor put together the ribbon bar.

Regards,

Paul

[PKeating]

Looks like the smaller FFL (Free French) M?daille Coloniale. Impressive group. Probably served as a military attach? to a few royal courts in the empire or soon-to-be former empire.

PK

[Hendrik]

Looks like the smaller FFL (Free French) M?daille Coloniale.

If so, the medal's reverse should have the letters JRG (maker's mark for John Robert Gaunt) at the bottom ... The bars on the ribbon, however, do not appear to be of London manufacture. Paul, could you check for the reverse mark or, even better, post a detailed picture ?

Cheers,

Hendrik

[Ed_Haynes]

The Pahlavi Iranian order is, as has been mentioned already, the Nishan-i-Liaqat/Order of Merit. It was a three-class order to recognise peacetime military services. This is a first class badge (with some improvisation on the ribbon device). And, yes, the group sees to be saying "military attache"; it should be easy enough to check the diplomatic lists to see who served as French military attache in Tehran and at least get a short list.

Edited December 14, 2006 by Ed_Haynes

[Paul L Murphy]

The medals are locked away in a UK bank vault at the moment so I cannot access them to take a photo of the reverse. I do not recall it being a Gaunt manufacture but I will certainly check when I next have them in hand.

Many thanks to Ed for the information on the Iranian order. After I relocate to London and get settled in I will try to get access to French records regarding their military attaches in Iran during this period. It would be nice to put a name and face to it.

[PKeating]

I know the Gaunt issue and these are hard to find. I have one to a man who was in the Far East and it is beautifully struck but has no Gaunt mark. Just to disgress for a moment, Hendrik: did Gaunt make the Resistance Medal?

PK

[Hendrik]

did Gaunt make the Resistance Medal?

I'm not at all sure but I somewhat doubt it : London manufacturered Resistance Medal, Croix de Guerre, Liberation Order ... never seem to have maker's marks on them while, on the other hand, the Free French Levant Medal does bear the JRG mark.

Cheers,

Hendrik

[Christophe]

Mike,

The nationality of the recipient was not what determined the ribbon colour. The green and red ribbon was used for awards that were presented by the Cambodian Government and the white and yellow ribbon was used for awards presented by the French Metropolitan Government. The fact that this officer's award was presented by the Cambodians, rather than the French, suggests he actually served in Cambodia at some time rather than it being a more general "Indochina" type French bestowal.

The green ribbon with narrow yellow stripes is indeed a mystery. I suspect it belongs to a different Cambodian order and was mixed in by mistake by whatever military tailor put together the ribbon bar.

Regards,

Paul

About the Royal order of Cambodia (its fiist name) :

The ribbon shown is the right one. When created in 1864, the ribbon was red with green thin stripes. In 1899 (after this Order became a Colonial Order in 1896), the ribboin became white with orange stripes. The reason fo the change : It looks too much like the Legion d'Honneur, specifically when worn as a rosette. When the Order became again a National Order in 1948, it came back to the original colors, red with green stripes. This is this last version that is displayed here.

Ch.

[Christophe]

The ribbon bars are mounted in a bizarre way. The smallest one (3 ribbons) displays the Order of Saharian Merit (instituted in 1958)... but not the WW2 cross and medals...

Ch.

[Dragomir]

Lovely orders!!!

Certainly a beauty.

When counting the ribbons, I found 9 ribbons,

and there are 9 orders included the commander of the million elephants and the white parasol.

However which medal is the officer class with the green ribbon??

I think that should denote the cambodian order...

Also are the ribbons in a different way to the way where the full size medals are mounted...

Stranger things have happended, I love your group really paul!!

Kind regards,

Jacky

Green ribbon with narrow yellow side stripes and central silver-white stripe belongs to the Mauretanian National Order of Merit, Officer's class.

All the best.

Dragomir

[Christophe]

Well spotted, Dragomir!!

Ch.

[Paul L Murphy]

Many thanks Dragomir ! It looks like we have a case of a colour blind military tailor and an unobservant officer !

[Laurence Strong]

Very nice bar and grouping Paul

[Bertrand]

Bonjour,

fr me the geen ribbon with yellow stripe on each side (mainly if there is a siver stripe under the officer's rosette) can be the Ordre du Merite of the Republique de Mauritanie. Many colonial infantry officers and NCO's have worked in Atar Training Camp, as military advisors (Assistance Militaire Technique).

Cordialement

Bertrand