France Colonial and Overseas medal

[Bison]

It is probably a model of Paul Delande.

However, the first in the left side is an unusual one, never seen before... It seems to be not in silver?

Regards

Bison

[Chris Boonzaier]

It has Bronze stamped on the rim with the stamp of the monnaie de paris (the corn) on the rim.

best

Chris

[Hendrik]

Hello Gents,

Agreeing with Bison, the first one in the picture is one I've not seen before either : it appears to be a 1st model in bronze ! Nice find Chris !

As to the one in the middle : certainly inspired by the Delande type but the chevrons are so lacking in detail that I do think it may well be one made in one of the French colonies at the time.

Cheers,

Hendrik

[Bison]

Fully agree with Hendrik. The bronze model, engraved with the mark of the Monnaie de Paris, is really not usual.

It shows also the so called "?paule haute" type... The fact that the Monnaie de Paris made it is a surprise !

This model is a mistery for me, and certainly a very nice find.

[Chris Boonzaier]

Hi,

I may be wrong about the stamp. Bronze is there... the other thing is to the left of it...

[Chris Boonzaier]

I proudly present to you......

It is a small subsection that squeaks into the site because of the War in Africa theme....

I dont want to try and compete with Hendrick who has a lot more covered than I will ever be able to do, but here I have a way to display my Diplomas for the Medaille coloniale and D#Outre Mer....

nothing rare.... but I like em!

http://www.kaiserscross.com/183501/home.html

[Chris Boonzaier]

Something new to this....

It was posted earlier...

"EX"- Soldier of the 49th Infantry regiment....

I had overlooked that the "EX" means no longer serving.... in the case of this man, he was serving in 1830 !!!!!

1830 was the date the Regiment took part in the first part of the pacification of Algerie... The first and only time they served there...

# Embarque ? Toulon pour l' exp?dition contre Alger

# Bataille de Staoueli le 19 juin 1830

# Prise d' Alger le 5 juillet 1830

# Embarque pour l'exp?dition de B?ne le 25 juillet 1830, d?barque sans obstacles et prend possession de la ville le 2 aout 1830

# Le 15 il repart pour Alger

# Il rentre en Fran?e ? la fin de 1830

A superb bit of info to find :-)))))

[Chris Boonzaier]

Here is one to the 23rs Chasseur a Pied, he served in Tunis in 1881, the first actions (Although not that much fighting took place)

[Rich]

Here's a link showing the couple I own(ed), both 1 REC for Chad:

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=1262...mp;#entry121582

[Colin Davie]

Here's my example of this medal, old and been there.

C

[Colin Davie]

Little unofficial "C.N." engraved on the back at the bottom of the planet, nice personal touch.

Cheers

C

[Chris Boonzaier]

Were next to the scanner, so here is most of mine. The Tchad one is an Outre mer of course.

[Chris Boonzaier]

As a paper guy I really love the documents....

Here is one with the Sahara clasp, back on the days when it was not yet conquered and mobile columns were being sent off into the desert to try and pacify and navigate.

[Chris Boonzaier]

This one is historically interesting. In 1870 the French sent troops from Algeria to France to fight the Germans. At the same time some of the French home guard was sent to Algeria to keep the status quo. In the Kabilyie the Khabyle decided time was ripe for a revolt.... Fort Napoleon no longer had its garrison of 4000 troops, just 400 or so old codgers of the Garde Mobilise of the Cote d'Or who had been sent from France to hold the fort while the real soldiers were away.

While they were there the fort was besieged for 60 days, part of it occupied.

This is for one of the Garde Mobilise...

[Veteran]

All these diplomas provide fascinating stories, reviving forgotten campaigns.

Thank you for this well documented topic.

Regards

Veteran

Edited February 11, 2009 by Veteran

[Chris Boonzaier]

Picked these two up in the Souk last week...

[love4history]

Discovered yet another new medal... collecting field expansion is lurking right there. Thank you for putting that nice and interesting info online for all of us to enjoy!

Anyone has a nice early one claps colonial (double sided suspension, see I learned something already ) he or she wants to part with, to kick off the new collecting area ... :)

[ccj]

PM sent.

I collect these because I've always have a facination with the French Foreign Legion. Not enough to join, but so much that I collect French uniforms and medals and read a bit from time to time.

learned something today.... SOUK. I'm going to remember that one

I'm perpetually confused on the clasps and have to refer to Hendrick's site often to date the clasp. This medal with it's clasp and the Maroc medal with it's clasp seem to overlap.

[ccj]

I collect these because I've always have a facination with the French Foreign Legion. Not enough to join, but so much that I collect French uniforms and medals and read a bit from time to time.

learned something today.... SOUK. I'm going to remember that one

I'm perpetually confused on the clasps and have to refer to Hendrick's site often to date the clasp. This medal with it's clasp and the Maroc medal with it's clasp seem to overlap.

[PKeating]

Try again!

One of the Vichy-issue bars. On Hendrik's fascinating website, there are two variants of this bar shown, the first being this type and a second with the dates below the legend C?TE DES SOMALIS. This bar was outlawed by the Gaullist decree of 7.1.1944.

[PKeating]

I've shown these elsewhere in this section but they also fits into this thread as a logical follow-on from the Vichy 1940 C?TE DES SOMALIS 1941 Colonial Medal preceding this post. Although there was no documentation with them, as is so often the case with French medals, these two medals came from the same source and there is no reason not to assume that they were probably awarded to the same man. This Colonial Medal appears to be a non-French striking and is as-issued, with the C?TE DES SOMALIS bar instituted by the Vichy government on 13.9.1941 for a period of six months of unblemished service ? no chasing local girls or being drunk on duty ? from 25.6.1940, when French Somalialand declared itself loyal to the French government in Vichy.

Following the British occupation of Italian East Africa in November 1941, the Royal Navy allowed Vichy ships through to resupply the garrison in Djibouti, which annoyed General de Gaulle, who felt that, under pressure, French Somalialand might rally to his cause. Vichy forces in French Somalialand held out for more than a year, until December 1942, when British and Free French forces occupied Djibouti and the rest of the colony following a three-month blockade by the Royal Navy. Vichy also issued a 1940 C?TE DES SOMALIS 1941 bar, intended as a replacement for the C?TE DES SOMALIS bar. The 1940 C?TE DES SOMALIS 1941 bar was outlawed by the January 1944 CLN decree from London. However, the C?TE DES SOMALIS bar seems to have escaped the Gaullist interdiction.

The nice thing about this example of the M?daille du M?rite de l?Afrique Noire (Black Africa Merit Medal), which is an extremely scarce item, is that it was clearly worn by its recipient, who cut off a little piece of the riband to make himself a ribbon bar. Instituted by the Vichy government on 26.6.1941, this rather nice-looking decoration was awarded to white and black soldiers alike for bravery in combat against British and Gaullist forces in French Equatorial Africa, Madagascar and Somalialand. The Gaullist Comit? de Lib?ration Nationale in London outlawed the Medal of Merit of Black Africa along with other Vichy decorations and service medals on 7.1.1944. Struck in bronze and appropriately hallmarked on its rim, the medal was also awarded for distinguished or loyal service.

Edited June 9, 2009 by PKeating

[love4history]

Yes! Got my first!

What I see is (and please correct me if I'm wrong!) is the First Official Type (ARGENT mark in the rim). Suspension either made by Mercier or Salat. Can anyone tell me how to spot the difference? I can tell it isn't a Roux suspension.

First issue clipover bar for Algerie. Ribbon has been turned around and is rather soiled but that's fine with me. I like my medals to look as if they have "lived"

Does anyone know if the maker marks are somewhere online to further identify the medal and clasp?

(with thanks to Hendrik for providing the info on his site which I used above)

Edited June 23, 2009 by love4history

[PKeating]

My latest Médaille Coloniale find. The medal is a 2nd type Paris Mint issue with a slide-on Maroc clasp. It is quite worn and battered and has a neat period repair to the suspension, comprising a clasp fashioned from silver and soldered in place on the reverse. Alphonse Robbin received the document and medal in 1935. There seems to be a minor clerical error in the unit name. There was a Groupe d'Artillerie Coloniale du Maroc. formed in 1911, but Robbin's unit seems to have been the Groupement Autonome d'Artillerie Coloniale du Maroc, which was garrisoned in Meknès, near Fez, from 1934 to 1936 and then, it seems, in Marrakech and Kadba-Tadla in 1937. The document has been partly 'restored', having faded substantially in places, and also seems to have been 'improved' by a child with some coloured pencils. Yes, I know, it's battered, damaged and probably not worth much to some collectors in monetary terms but I like it! It has character.

[love4history]

It has character.

It certainly does PK. Nice find!

[Ulsterman]

Nice! I like pieces with character.

I note on Wikipedia that the notable Chris Boonzaier is someone who holds this medal. :rolleyes: