North Africa

[Bear]

Hello,

I thought we could try a thread on military items and military personalities of all ages that deal with North Africa. If you have a clipped signature of someone who served in this area post it with a brief history of what they did while they were there. The same goes with military items.

thanks,

barry

General Louis-Alexander Berthier

Chief of Staff L'Armee d'Egypte during 1798-1799

This document is dated October 12 1798 while he was in Cairo.

[Bear]

General Jean-Baptiste Kleber

General Kleber was put in charge of the army after Napoleon left for France. On June 14, 1800 he was assassinated in Cairo by a Syrian named Solumon El-Halaby. This document is dated April 1, 1800 just a few months before his death.

[Bear]

General Jacques-Francois Menou

He took over the army after the death of General Kleber. This document is dated November 26, 1800 while in Cairo.

[Chris Boonzaier]

Man.... that old paper of yours always blows me away.

I hope my WW1 docs keep as well as those, but I suspect the paper quality may not be the same :-(

[Bear]

General Gerard-Christophe-Michel Duroc

General Duroc was Napoleon's aide-de-camp throughtout the Egyptian campaign.

[Bear]

General Louis Marie Joseph Maximilien de Caffarelli

General Caffarelli was put in charge of the engineers and Scientific Commission in Egypt. At the siege of Acre he was wounded in the arm and Surgeon Larrey had to amputate. He never recovered and two weeks later died on April 27, 1799.

[Bear]

Surgeon Dominique-Jean Larrey

Larrey was the Surgeon-en-Chief during the Egyptian Campaign.

[Bear]

General Jean Lannes

During the Egyptian campaign he fought in the battles at Alexandria, Jaffa, Abukir and get wounded in the neck at the siege of Acre. On his return to France he made a Marshal of the Empire.

[Bear]

Hello Chris,

I think it has something to do with the chemicals in the paper or lack of chemicals.

thanks,

barry

[peter monahan]

Hello Chris,

I think it has something to do with the chemicals in the paper or lack of chemicals.

thanks,

barry

Correct. Modern methods result in a paper with a far higher content of acid than was the case 100 years ago, hence the deterioration which is/will be so common with more modern docs. A pity, but the up side is that the really old stuff does hold up remarkable well!

Peter

[Bear]

General Jean-Antoine Verdier

General Verdier saw lots of action during the Egyptian campaign. He fought at the Battle of the Pyramids, El Arish, Chagarah and was wounded by a bayonet at Acre. He became the commander of Cairo in March of 1800 until he was taken prisoner after the surrender of Cairo in June of 1801. He was awarded the sabor of honor for his service in Egypt.

[bmsm]

I have a few pictures I would like to share that my Dad sent home from North Africa in 1942-1943. He was a mechanic for forward observers in the 314th Signal Co. Wing. He was originally sent to Bombay,India up to Burma and back to Bombay and then to North Africa. He then went to Sicily and over to Italy, up thru Rome and ended up in the Northern part of Italy at the wars end.

This first picture is a posed shot by the sphinx and pyramids.

Bob

[bmsm]

Signs somewhere in North Africa.

Bob

[bmsm]

A German 88.

Bob

[bmsm]

A destroyed German Tank.

Bob

[bmsm]

A postcard with the Pyramids in the background and my Dad's picture in the corner.

Bob

[Bear]

Hello Bob,

Great Photos! I'd take the first one to kinkos and have it enlarged for a framing.

thanks,

barry