France Help Identify French Foreign Legion Medals

[RobG]

Hello

I'm trying to colorize an image of my uncle who was in the French Foreign Legion circa 1950s and served in the Indochina area. I have an old photo and need help identifying the ribbon colors.

The first one might be the Croix de Guerre with a (gold?) star but the contrast doesn't seem right.

The second one I think is the medal for military wounded

And I have no idea about the third.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

[TacHel]

The first one looks like a 1939 Croix de Guerre with star, you can't base the colour of the star on the picture, couldn't been any of the 3. The second looks like the ribbon/medal for the military wounded, agreed.

The third, seems to have narrow white stripes flanking the center one. Add to that the fact it is positioned after the "wounded" ribbon... My only guess would be the WW1 medal for civilian hostages and deportees.

[RobG]

Thank you so much for your help and sharing your knowledge. I know my aunt will be happy to see the image colorized, and my OCD will be happy that all of the colors are correct :)

[Chris Boonzaier]

Do you have the right colours for the rank slide ons?

Best

Chris

[RobG]

Hi Chris!

Hmm, I was guessing they would be gold? Hmm, I guess I also assumed the uniform itself was brown.

[Chris Boonzaier]

I think he was Caporal-Chef (Chief Cpl)

Gold on top with Legion green below,,,,,

[Chris Boonzaier]

I think the battledress colur is probably the same as the Brit or US battledress in WW2

[Paul R]

Are those your slides, Chris?

[Chris Boonzaier]

Are those your slides, Chris?

Nah... picked up off the web

[RobG]

Wow thanks again! I had no idea the colors would be different.

[aubagne98]

Hi there,

I wonder about the shirt and the tie.

Why doesn´t he wear a regiment breast badge?

Why does he wear a CdG ribbon, when he was in Indo in the 50s?

Do you have other pictures of your uncle?

Or some more information?

Michael

[aubagne98]

The shoulder slide looks like a Cpl, and the CCH chevron was added later.

[Veteran]

Hello Rob

I cannot help wondering about that picture.... the tie & that shirt I just could not figure worn by a self respecting non-com in the Legion!!! The shoulder rank stripes would be more like a sergent's from what I can see. You would NEVER have passed the gate in Sidi-bel-Abbès wearing any thing like that:

Best regards

Veteran

[aubagne98]

Hi,

maybe he wore this tenue after his time in the legion.

I do not think that this is a sergent, because you can se the green chevrons (red line) and the golden chevron (yelow line). In my opinion the golden chevron for the "chef" was added. Compare the rank insignia Chris postet, one chevron with three stripes and watch this one (blue arrow), you can see a edge.

I wonder why this tenue does not have buttons. Therefore I ask a friend, he is firm in legion tenues.

Another thing I wonder is the ribbon bar...three singel ribbons are unusual.

Michael

[camerone54]

I also wonder why it is not one ribbon bar, but three single ribbons

[TacHel]

Some British battledress coats like this one had the buttons inside the pocket flap and inside a liner such as the RAF battledress coat.

[aubagne98]

Hi,

my friend answered that it was often seen, he has some pictures in his collection, that the legionaires wore non french jacket. some were seen with Wehrmacht jackets in Indochine.

but I am still interested in more pictures and information about this uncle.

Michael

[RobG]

I'm going to send a link of this thread to my aunt, as this is actually her father and my great uncle. She might be able to better answer some of the questions about him and his uniform.

[aubagne98]

Hi Rob,

maybe she has some more photos or some individuel information about his legion time.

In case she has his pay bock or his matricule (identification number).

In case she is "only" his daughter she won´t be able to say more about the uniform of her father than my wife about their father´s one

Michael

[RobG]

My aunt shared some more information with me.

First, his name is Henri Victor Jouve and he was stationed in Lang Son, North Vietnam circa 1942. It was a strategic point against the Japanese. Before it fell to the Japanese in 1944, he was in a battle where his best friend was injured by a machined gun. He went back to save his friend and was shot by a machine gun in the abdomen in the process. Lang Son fell to the Japanese and the entire unit was taken prisoner. From what I understand, he was kept in a hospital in Hanoi - L'HÔPITAL LANESSAN

He was released as a prisoner after Hiroshima and transferred to a French hospital in Saigon (Grall) for surgery. Then around 1946 he was sent back home to France were he obtained multiple surgeries. But they were not successful as he passed away soon after from blood loss.

The image I shared above was from his stay in the hospital in France. He wanted a picture taken and sent to his wife before he passed away, which is the reason for the non-standard shirt and tie. The medals were awarded to him just prior to his death and were worn on his uniform as seen.

She shared a few more pictures of him with the friend he saved, who sadly also passed away. She also wanted me to thank all of you for sharing your knowledge. It has been a great relief to her to learn about the medals and hear confirmation on what little she knew about her father. Thank you all.

[Paul R]

Thank you for sharing your relatives story and photographs!!

[aubagne98]

Hi,

thanks for the information and the pictures.

Is he american? Henri Victor Jouve does not sound very english.

And the collar insignia aren´t French Foreign Legion.

One is the anchor of mraine Infantry and the second of the 1?? regiment.

His rank was Caporal on the second picture.

Michael

[aubagne98]

The 5. Regiment Etrangere d´Infanterie (5. REI) was in Vietnam during WW2 and was involved into the Lang Son battle

http://en.wikipedia....ng_World_War_II

In general these are french medals, not especially French Foreign Legion!

Edited June 6, 2012 by aubagne98

[Veteran]

The additionnal information helps understand the situation better.

The last picture is in metropolitan troups uniform : the number on the collar (163/8?) could be an infantry or a artillery regiment. With his pall in Foreign Legion uniform, he is a Legionnaire 1st class, possibly in Indochina..

I was under the impression that you thought he was serving in Indochina in the 1950s. From the story, he probably was serving with the 5th Foreign Infantery Regiment (5 R.E.I.) which was the normal Legion Regiment in Indochina prior to 1940. They stood up against the Japs in 1945 with near total losses. (I met a survivor last year, the story is incredible).

Regards

Veteran

Edited June 6, 2012 by Veteran

[aubagne98]

Hi veteran,

you are right, this is a 1er Class. According to the width of the chevron I thought it is a Caporal, but I compaired it with pictures in this book http://www.armourboo...291157435_6.jpg .

But in my opinion these aren´t Legion insignia on the picture with his friend, these are anchors. Both regiment (3. RTT, 9. RIC)mention in the wikipedia link wear anchors in their insignia.

The 3rd picture shows the collar insignia of the 168 regiment, he looks very young, so I think it was his regiment for basic training.

I am still not persuited that this is French Legion.