Picsou Posted 30 August , 2016 Share Posted 30 August , 2016 Hi, I'm trying to identify the medals on these picture and I have trouble with one medal... We can recognize the French and the British military medal, the french war cross But the last one is very mysterious... The picture said " French soldiers receive the Military Medal for acts of bravery ?during the Battle of the Somme?. France, 1916 " Could you help me please? thank you all Picsou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staffsyeoman Posted 30 August , 2016 Share Posted 30 August , 2016 Looks like a British Military Medal, a Medaille Militaire and a Croix de Guerre Avec Palme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mancpal Posted 30 August , 2016 Share Posted 30 August , 2016 Staffsyeoman, I don't see the MM , not really into medals but ribbon and shape of medal don't look anywhere like an MM to me Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medaler Posted 30 August , 2016 Share Posted 30 August , 2016 I see it as an MM - The clue coming in the caption "French soldiers receive the Military Medal for acts of bravery ?during the Battle of the Somme?. France, 1916". I understand the difficulty with the image being an exact MM "match", but I think most of that is down to tricks of the light or blurring through movement. I can see the feint red stripes in the ribbon that Picsou has kindly enlarged. Very nice picture Picsou! Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loader Posted 30 August , 2016 Share Posted 30 August , 2016 British Military Medal,, Medaille Militaire & Croix de Guerre w/Palm. The British medal was likely not named as was awarded to troops of Allied forces. The man int eh middle with the odd shaped ammo pouches was a Chauchat automatic rifle gunner. It used an odd half moon magazine & these pouches carried such mags. Some considered it a lightmachine gun but it was really an auto rifle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitchener's Bugle Posted 30 August , 2016 Share Posted 30 August , 2016 I would agree that this is the British MM.... A fantastic image though, in the IWM Roster I believe, Photographer was LT John Warwick. Anyone any idea how many MM'S were awarDed to French troops during WW1? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Picsou Posted 31 August , 2016 Author Share Posted 31 August , 2016 (edited) thank you all for the answer I agree with you, it's probably just an artifact, we can see a similar one on the right shoulder of the soldiers at his right This one has the same ribbon, the same laurel crown... The thing is, i colourise old photos for fun, and I don't want to post incorrect ones it's about respect for those mens and history accuracy BTW, I was a bit surprised too that french soldiers are awarded of the Military Medal, the french one is Highly prestigious, just below the legion d'honneur (and nowadays, many soldiers consider it above) Hope you'll like it, if you have any concern about a detail, please tell me i post them on my fb pagehttps://www.facebook.com/mementocolores/?fref=ts and if you like it, we are several contributors on this onehttps://www.facebook.com/WW1-Colourised-Photos-450822585061599/?fref=ts Edited 31 August , 2016 by Picsou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitchener's Bugle Posted 31 August , 2016 Share Posted 31 August , 2016 That is fantastic! I admire your skill (and your patience!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Picsou Posted 1 September , 2016 Author Share Posted 1 September , 2016 thank you It's a truely addictive hobby I've always been keen on history but colorizing those pictures I've learnt a lot more! gears, weapons, uniforms, life conditions etc which are truely interesting once studied! But I think you already knew that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsowerby Posted 1 September , 2016 Share Posted 1 September , 2016 That truly brings that (already great) photo to life, nice work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leibregiment Posted 9 February , 2019 Share Posted 9 February , 2019 Here is a French group in my collection (unidentifiable recipient sadly) with a British MM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BullerTurner Posted 13 February , 2019 Share Posted 13 February , 2019 Something in the order of 1,400,000 Medaille Militaire were awarded during the Great War, the majority of them posthumous - it is officially the third ranked French military decoration. I say "during", I mean for the Great War, many were awarded post hostilities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coldstreamer Posted 14 February , 2019 Share Posted 14 February , 2019 Before i read anything I recognised it as a British military medal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith_history_buff Posted 14 February , 2019 Share Posted 14 February , 2019 On 31/08/2016 at 00:50, Kitchener's Bugle said: I would agree that this is the British MM.... A fantastic image though, in the IWM Roster I believe, Photographer was LT John Warwick. Anyone any idea how many MM'S were awarDed to French troops during WW1? Yes, there were 3,291 MMs awarded to French troops from the inception of the medal, up to 15 May 1920. Each of these 3,291 men is listed in Howard Williamson's book, published in 2018. As an aside, when I saw the colourised version of this picture, I thought the poilu with the Chauchat pouches bore a striking resemblance to Mickey Pearce from "Only Fools and Horses". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith_history_buff Posted 28 June , 2020 Share Posted 28 June , 2020 Whilst his identity is presently unknown, and there is debate as to whether his collar indicates whether he was in the 32e or 52e or 62e regiment, I was surprised to learn today that he has been immortalised as a 1:10 scale busthttps://www.jonsmith-modellbau.com/french-chauchat-gunner-1916/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith_history_buff Posted 28 June , 2020 Share Posted 28 June , 2020 He appears in another photograph, presumably taken the same day. Link http://recherche.archives.somme.fr/ark:/58483/a011260969022Hn6sMO Source: ForumPages14-18 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForeignGong Posted 28 June , 2020 Share Posted 28 June , 2020 The officer on the right appears to wear the British Military Cross Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RNCVR Posted 30 June , 2020 Share Posted 30 June , 2020 The French medal\portrait photo in post 11. The MM has had its original suspension replaced by a Crimea medal suspension, issued approx 60 yrs prior! Thanks for posting, its a nice grouping. Bryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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