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Remembered Today:

British Military Mission 2nd Bureau Ministère De La Guerre


mhifle

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Hi,

 

I think this reads 'British Military Mission 2nd Bureau Ministère De La Guerre' and was wondering if anyone would know what it actually is.

It is from  Medal Card WO 372/11/215504

I know that this man Francis Anthony Labouchere has already served with MI5 and at the Ministry of Munitions and arrived in France 14 May 1917

Regards

Mark

MIC.jpg.06b91064903ae2e1210706ffef9f3a7f.jpg

 

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  • mhifle changed the title to British Military Mission 2nd Bureau Ministère De La Guerre

Thinking aloud, I see the "British Military Mission" in a given country as the hyper-expansion of the British Military Attaché and associated staff. Given your man's background in MI5 and a surname that alludes to having a decent command of the language of Molière, it would make him a good choice as the liaison between BMM and the 2e Bureau. Even if he was actually working for MI5 directly, his membership of the BMM staff would be as adequate a cover as that of Bernard Cornwell as a Foreign Office mandarin at the start of the 1960s. Just another anonymous worker for a faceless bureaucracy, with "nothing to see here".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deuxième_Bureau

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One of the Labouchere clan, very wealthy Huguenot family.   This one described in a biography of his son as a senior official of the Post Office.   His intelligence work covered in the article on this link:

 

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5170db32e4b09a3e33b0f3c0/t/598406fa6a4963c478c57136/1501824766911/Hiley+%26+Putkowski+1988+postscript.PDF

 

Now lets find Stuff's previous article about this.

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Thanks for that, its very useful

 

He worked for MI5 as a Port Intelligence Officer from 22 June 1915  to 19 Feb 1916 when he transferred to PMS2, and worked in the London HQ dealing with policy and immediate relations with Ministry of Munitions. He had already moved to the  Ministry of Munitions by 23 April 1917  when PMS2 was taken over by MI5.

Mark

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He was an Officer of the Italian Order of the Crown

Page 1355 | Issue 13601, 4 June 1920 | Edinburgh Gazette | The Gazette

 

and a Chevalier of the French Legion D'honneur

Page 701 | Supplement 31736, 13 January 1920 | London Gazette | The Gazette

 

The 1920 Officers War service states he was an officer in the Boer War, QSA with 2 clasps and MID

 

Peter

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With the Italian award would that indicate that he had actually served in Italy?

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No necessarily, the allies gave each other medals and decorations on a reciprocal arrangement.

So he may never have met any Italians and then again he could have worked with them, there is no fixed rule.

An example was thy Russians giving medals / decorations for the battle of Jutland. 

 

Peter

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