Turn of the Century FFL Document

[SemperParatus]

Hey Folks,

I wanted to share what I believe is a Legion discharge document. My grandfather was showing me this paper belonging to his grandfather Henri Bertholet, a Swiss (from Geneva) member of the French Foreign Legion from about 1896-1901. He served in Algeria and Madagascar.

From what I can glean from this document he served in the 2e Régiment étranger and was discharged in August 1901 with nothing but a few francs.

Can anyone provide a better analysis?

[Chris Boonzaier]

Hi,

 

it is a travel order but not a discharge document. You also get something similar when your contract is finished and you are taing any extra leave saved up.

 

Best
Chris

 

[SemperParatus]

Ah that sounds more like it. I may be wrong on his service dates but it's somewhere in that ballpark.

Looks like his route from Marseille to St Julien (near the Swiss border and close to Geneva) was for a visit home.

 

Let's put a face to the name:

1898 Portrait of Légionnaire Henri Bertholet, at Diego Suarez, Madagascar.

 

I'll post a newspaper article in a little bit that was published in a Montreal newspaper in the '40s with some stories from his service.

Edited October 5, 2017 by SemperParatus