France Vichy versus La France Libre

[PKeating]

The Levant Medal was based on the Commemorative Medal for Syrie-Cicilie (Médaille Commémorative de Syrie-Cicilie), instituted on 18.7.1922. Following the decree of 24.12.1941, the Vichy administration instituted the LEVANT - 1941 clasp for the by-then defunct Syrie-Cicilie Medal to reward French personnel loyal to Vichy and engaged in defensive operations in the region against Anglo-French forces between 8.6.1941 and 12.7.1941. They reutilised the 1922 medal and called it The Levant Medal.

The Free French government-in-exile in London responded by instituting a Levant Medal of their own, struck by J R Gaunt of London and finished in the same chocolate brown as the firm's officers' cap and lapel badges. The Free French version had no clasp and the words "Syrie-Cicilie" were omitted from the reverse of the medal. The medal was awarded to personnel of the Free French Forces engaged in policing operations in the Levantine states between 12.7.1941 and 14.8.1943 and also personnel loyal to Vichy who had served at least two years in the region during the war.

[Chris Liontas]

Excellent medal Prosper! So the Free French forces actually awarded this to Vichy? I would not have thought this. Is is hard to find the Vichy version of the medal?

[PKeating]

Excellent medal Prosper! So the Free French forces actually awarded this to Vichy? I would not have thought this. Is is hard to find the Vichy version of the medal?

Hallo Chris. Not quite. Let me explain. The clasp "LEVANT - 1941" is the Vichy part of the medal. In this case, this particular medal, with the bronze clasp 'LEVANT', was awarded to someone who had fought against the Turks between 11.11.1918 and 20.10.1921, following Turkish massacres of Kurds and other atrocities.

The medal was reactivated and awarded with another clasp, "LEVANT 1925-1926" for operations against the Druze rebels. And then the Vichy government used the same medal for the 1941 operations, with the "LEVANT - 1941" clasp, but calling it the Levant Medal rather than the Syrie-Cicilie Medal. In this case, the 1941 clasp is worn with the 1918-1921 clasp. Recipients not entitled to the 1918-1921 or 1925-1926 issues would have received a 1922-pattern medal from stock - I don't know if the 1922-pattern was restruck by Vichy but it could have been - with the 1941 clasp.

The Free French reacted by created their own "Levant Medal", closely based on the 1922 design but omitted the words "Syrie-Cycilie" from the flag on the reverse of the medal as originally designed. The Free French medal is the chocolate brown one in the above photos. You can see the mark J.R.G. for J R Gaunt of London, who struck various medals for the Gaullist administration. The Free French medal was not awarded with a clasp. The Vichy clasp is hard to find and so is the London-made Médaille Commémorative du Levant.

PK

Edited May 8, 2010 by PKeating

[PKeating]

This is a reasonably good instant reference as much of the information seems to come from reputable sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syria-Lebanon_Campaign

When I was eight, just moved to Chelsea in London, a Doctor Hyman, living next door, tended me when I got a dose of Tonsilitis, which soon cleared up. I suppose he was the man responsible for germinating an interest in military history as he showed me his mementos of this campaign as a medical officer, including his maps, bits of machine gun link, cartridges, photos, his webbing haversack, his medals and, the clincher, sand from the Syrian desert.

Operation Exporter is indeed one of the largely forgotten or ignored campaigns of WW2, mainly because the censors worked hard to downplay it, but read this and you will understand what that little clasp "LEVANT - 1941" represents. I am not sure how British and Commonwealth personnel were rewarded. Most of them came from North Africa and went back there afterwards so they later had the Africa Star but I don't know if it actually covered the actions in Syria and the Lebanon. The campaign lasted just five weeks but the fighting was fierce, the French putting up an impressive fight, and two Victoria Crosses were awarded to Australians, including the famous Arthur Roden Cutler.

The Gaullist administration outlawed the wearing of the LEVANT - 1941 clasp in 1944, which seems rather spiteful, given the circumstances, especially as they stipulated that the qualifying period for their Médaille Commémorative du Levant began on the day of the ceasefire, July 12th 1941, pending the surrender of French forces resisting the British invasion. The Vichy government was, after all, the legitimate authority in France at the time, and the Gaullists were just one of a number of factions claiming to represent the French nation. The French and colonial forces who put up such a good fight against the invasion of French territory by the British, and a few Gaullists, were fighting for the legitimate French government of the day.

To the victors, the spoils, plus they get to write the history afterwards...

PK

Edited May 9, 2010 by PKeating

[Veteran]

One of the little known facts about that campaign is that two of the Foreign Legion regiments were opposed, one on each side.

The 6th Foreign Infantry (6e Régiment Etranger d'Infanterie) was part of the permanent garrison in Syria opposing the attack.

The 13th Half-Brigade (13e Demi-Brigade de la Légion Etrangère) was one of the best units with the Fighting French (Forces Françaises Combattantes). one of the very first to join De Gaulle in June 1940, when they came back from Norway. They saw service all over Africa before they were engaged in Syria. They were later to achieve glory at Bir Hakheim in Lybia.

Typically, the Foreign Legion were not going to fight one-another and they were nevertheless going to fill their missions thoroughly on either side. They simply arranged the fighting in order to avoid confrontation. Syria veterans in my own regiment a few years later told me about their combat against the Aussies .... who enjoyed a well deserved reputation for particularly tough soldiering.

I cannot remember legionnaires wearing that medal or ribbon, whichever side they had been on. For all I can remember, neither were particularly eager to display it. Just not the thing to do.

Until I became a medal collector, some twenty years later, I had never heard of the Levant Medal.

Regards

Veteran

[PKeating]

Bonjour Paul!

Thank you very much for this fascinating piece of information. It is true, now I come to think of all the photos I have seen of veterans in general, not just legionnaires, taken from the 1940s to the 1980s, that I cannot recall seeing the Gaullist Médaille Commémorative du Levant amongst the medals adorning proud chests. It is quite a distinctive ribbon and one would notice it. I have seen the 1922 medal in photos from the 1920s and 1930s but, of course, the "Levant - 1941" clasp was forbidden in 1944. I wonder how many Germans and Italians were serving in both Légion étrangère units at the time.

PK

[Veteran]

Bonjour Paul!

Thank you very much for this fascinating piece of information. It is true, now I come to think of all the photos I have seen of veterans in general, not just legionnaires, taken from the 1940s to the 1980s, that I cannot recall seeing the Gaullist Médaille Commémorative du Levant amongst the medals adorning proud chests. It is quite a distinctive ribbon and one would notice it. I have seen the 1922 medal in photos from the 1920s and 1930s but, of course, the "Levant - 1941" clasp was forbidden in 1944. I wonder how many Germans and Italians were serving in both Légion étrangère units at the time.

PK

Hello Prosper

Nice to hear from you again.

Your question about Legionnaires of German (or Austrian) & Italian origins fighting their countrymen is quite a classic. The answer is also quite a classic : no legionnaire of recorded national origin has ever been made to fight his countrymen.

It would be unfair and also would make other men in their combat unit wonder if they could be trusted. The Foreign Legion are not that stupid!

This being said, my own experience is that Germans and Italians were with my Regiment in 1944-45, and fought well. When I joined, my "legionnaire-nany" was a Reichweer veteran who had served 14 years with the Legion, including the fighting in Tunisia. Later, the driver of our half-track was a recently enlisted Italian who was as cool as a cucumber in the tightest circumstances.

Best regards

Veteran

Edited May 11, 2010 by Veteran

[PKeating]

Et maintenant, une petite barette "Levant 1941" qui semble d'avoir actuellement portée pendant la guerre par un militaire...

This riband with its miniature "Levant 1941" clasp appears to have been worn during the war by a soldier, sailor or airman. Apart from its rarity, the mounting is interesting, allowing as it does the option of pinning it to a uniform or wearing it through thread loops in the old-fashioned style. This arrived today as a gift from my pilot friend, Eric, in the south of France. Vétéran will be interested to know that Eric is a reserve officer in the 2e Régiment d'infantérie étranger as well as flying for Air France. He used to be a military pilot too. Now all he needs to do is serve on a battleship...

PK

[Veteran]

Et maintenant, une petite barette "Levant 1941" qui semble d'avoir actuellement portée pendant la guerre par un militaire...

This riband with its miniature "Levant 1941" clasp appears to have been worn during the war by a soldier, sailor or airman. Apart from its rarity, the mounting is interesting, allowing as it does the option of pinning it to a uniform or wearing it through thread loops in the old-fashioned style. This arrived today as a gift from my pilot friend, Eric, in the south of France. Vétéran will be interested to know that Eric is a reserve officer in the 2e Régiment d'infantérie étranger as well as flying for Air France. He used to be a military pilot too. Now all he needs to do is serve on a battleship...

PK

Hello Prosper

Sure to be a scarce item ! Never saw one before.

The only explanation I can think of is that it was indeed worn by a Syrian campaign veteran between the time he chose to go back to France or North Africa with General Dentz and November 1942 when the Allies came to North Africa and the medal became the wrong thing to wear.

Looks good to me, quite the style at the time.

Congratulations for a outstanding piece.

All the best

Paul

[PKeating]

A belated thanks, Paul! Both for the general comment and for your informed opinion. It is always wonderful to come across things that were actually worn, isn't it? I will take a liberty and wander off topic a bit more with the scan below, which shows an Afrique Noire ribbon bar actually worn by the recipient.

I just responded to our colleague Lorenzo in another thread and thought it might be worth posting my comments here, as they relate to the original Syrie-Cicilie Medal.

The medal was conceived after General Castelnau proposed a commemorative medal to the Paris Parliament following the capture of Aïntab in February 1921 during the Franco-Syrian War of 1919-1921. As a footnote, King Faisal of Syria was exiled to Britain and later installed as King of Iraq. Faisal was, of course, the Arab leader played by Anthony Quinn in Lawrence of Arabia. The Arab army against which French forces fought was the same army that had seen off the Ottoman Turks so it was a relatively hard-won victory for the French.

The 30 mm medal was exclusively struck in bronze by the Paris Mint but there was a 36 mm variant produced by Arthus-Bertrand. And, of course, J R Gaunt of Birmingham, England produced the above variant for the Free French government-in-exile in London during the War but that is covered in the thread to which I've linked you. The original Syrie-Cicilie Medal, an example of which you have found, was instituted on 18.7.1922 and was initially awarded for the period from 11.11.1918 to 20.10.1921.

If Vétéran says the LEVANT clasp was unofficial but tolerated, he is a man to be believed given his vast experience and knowledge of the medals of France. One learns something new every day, which is what makes forums like this great. If I can add a footnote, on the other hand, the LEVANT clasp in bronze signalled participation in operations from 1918 to 1921 whereas there was a silvered version denoting operations in 1925 and 1926.

This medal was never intended as a catch-all regional service medal, however. Recipients applying for the medal from 1922 to 1939 had to have participated in one or more specific actions during the two periods in question authorised by a series of twenty-four Republican degrees. Next-of-Kin had to prove the deceased qualified. The medal was then issued by the Vichy regime as the Levant Medal, with the above clasp, while the Gaullist authority in London instituted their own version with no clasp and the words Syrie-Cicilie removed from the reverse. Civilians were eligible from 1932-onwards.