France French Foreign Legion Medal Group

[ralstona]

Certificate of Presence at Battle of Messifre in Syria in 1925. Click to enlarge.

[ralstona]

Close up of above document. Click to Enlarge.

[ralstona]

Certificate of Presence for the Battle of Ressaz and Souieda in 1926 in Syria. He was with the 8th company of the 1st Foreign Legion. Click to enlarge.

[ralstona]

Close up of above. Click to enlarge.

[Bernhard H.Holst]

Hello Ralstona.

Thank you for showing these rare documents. After all the number of participants in the actions named were rather small, so that the survival rate of such documents must be even much less what with "the ravages of time" and such.

Bernhard H. Holst

[Kvart]

Very nice group!

Forgive my ignorance, but I don't know the Norway Commemorative medal. Could you please post a picture?

This is what the Norwegian medal looks like: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defence_Medal_1940%E2%80%931945

[Hugh]

Thanks for this.

Hugh

[ralstona]

Somewhere in Algeria

[ralstona]

Written confirmation of his fourregere a titre personnel.

It states:

"Sergent-Major Hauser, Ernest,

Of the 8th/1st Etranger

Has the right to wear the the fourregere individually in the colors of the croix de guerre T.O.E. for participation in the battles of:

Messifre - 17 September 1925

Ressaz - 7 October 1925

Soueida - 25 April 1926

Edited December 29, 2014 by ralstona

[ralstona]

Award certificate for his wwi victory medal. With the 2nd rei at Saida, 1920.

[ralstona]

I.D. card from his time with the dockyard police in Oran, issued in 1939. He was chief of police until he resigned to join the 13th DBLE in 1940. After the war he continued with the police. He was on the last boat out of Algeria in 1962.

Edited December 29, 2014 by ralstona

[ralstona]

His naturalization certificate from 1927 when he became a French citizen. At the time he was Sergent-Chef in the 1er Regiment Etranger.

Edited December 29, 2014 by ralstona

[Bernhard H.Holst]

Hello.

Very interesting documents. Thank you for showing them to us.

I believe individuals authorized to wear a fouragere are quite rare.

Bernhard H. Holst

[Paul R]

Did you all ever finish that article? I would love to read it.

[ralstona]

Paul, still working on it

Bernhard, you had to be present at two battles where the unit won its fouragere. The CdG TOE had been created in 1921 so this was an early unit award of this cross. My GGF earned a personal CdG TOE (with a bronze star) in Syria in 1925 in addition to the right to permanently wear the unit fourragere.

Edited December 29, 2014 by ralstona

[ralstona]

How long did you have to serve in the Legion until you got French citizenship? Is it the same today?

[Chris Boonzaier]

Nowdays you can apply after 4 years... but you have to be rectified (have your original name back) and have your tax returns for the 4 years you have served so far.... You end up getting it after 5 years...

Most guys screw up and apply to late, then they have to extend to get all the paperwork done before they leave....

[ralstona]

I am trying to work out the date of this document. I originally thought Aout 11, 1927 was the date of the decree but now I think it is the date of the amended law he was granted citizenship under. If that is true then it had to have been after 1927 and before 1929 when he made Adjutant 1st class. 1928 would make sense because that would be 10 years after his initial enlistment. Could the requirement have been 10 years back then?

Another question... his naturalization doc lists his rank as Sergent-Chef. He does not list this in his dossier. In 1923 he made Sergent-Major and 1929 he made Adjutant 1st class. Is Sergent-Chef a true rank? Higher than Sargent-Major?

[Chris Boonzaier]

Sergent Chef or "Chef" ist a rank used today between SGt and Adjudant....

Was not aware that Sgt Major was ever used...

[ralstona]

If you look back on the first page of this post, I attached the pages of his dossier. On the first page of it he lists his promotions. He has his 1923 promotion as Sergent-Major. Maybe a typo or a "local" term??? Not sure.

[ralstona]

No I just checked his docs. All his certificates from 1925-26 (including his Levant Medal cert.) lists his rank as Sgt.Mjr. Maybe it changed to chef in 1927 or 1928?

[Bernhard H.Holst]

Hello.
The rank of Sgt.-Major or Marechal des Logis-Major was certainly in use during 1951 - 1957 and often times but not always seen on administrative types.

Our Company sgt. major and platoon leader held the rank of Marechal des Logis-Major and a very good man he was ( M.d.L.Major Tabournel)

Bernhard H. Holst

[ralstona]

10,000 views... wow, thank you all for looking. It is neat to think others have been able to share in this family story and help out with so much great info!

Art

[ralstona]

Haven't posted in awhile.  I have been working on the article about him recently.  I just picked up a 2nd Edition of Bennett Doty's excellent memoir of his time with the Legion in Syria in 1925-26.  He was a legionnaire in the 29th Company of the 5th Battalion of the 4 REI.  My great-grandfather was a Sjt.Maj. with the 5th (Machine Gun) Company of the same unit (V/IV REI).  The V/IV REI became the 8/1 REI in 1926).  Doty's book recounts  the actions at Messefrie, Ressaz and Souieda.  My GGF was present for all of these.  Both Doty and my GGF won the right to wear the fouragerre (CdG -TOE) "a titre personal".  They both earned CdG TOEs personally as well (2 of the 110 awards of the CdG for action in Syria in 1925).  Doty's was for Ressaz.  My GGF's was for Messifre.  The book contains a picture of Doty "just after a skirmish" in Syria wearing a dirty khaki jacket with "4" collar patches and a Casque Coloniale (Pain de Sucre).  I have a picture of my GGF in Syria wearing the same collar patches and the same helmet.  See pics.

[Mike M]

unbelievable family history and documentation, just order the book after reading this post