Ski Posted 8 May , 2021 Share Posted 8 May , 2021 Good afternoon all, I wonder if anyone is able to translate the following abbreviations found at the bottom of postcard from a Belgium Soldier to British soldier please? Many thanks Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith_history_buff Posted 8 May , 2021 Share Posted 8 May , 2021 Quote E.T.E. 9: lye Kriel s/m France Not sure about the first line. The second looks like a Flandrification of a Norman village name. Criel sur Mer in the Dieppe arondissement, Seine Maritime département, Normandie. I guess he had some form of address here, presumably his prior place of residence was under occupation by the forces of the Kaiser. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AOK4 Posted 8 May , 2021 Share Posted 8 May , 2021 16 minutes ago, Keith_history_buff said: Not sure about the first line. The second looks like a Flandrification of a Norman village name. Criel sur Mer in the Dieppe arondissement, Seine Maritime département, Normandie. I guess he had some form of address here, presumably his prior place of residence was under occupation by the forces of the Kaiser. Just one remark "lye" should be "Gr" (short for "groupe" probably). I agree with Kriel s/m meaning Criel sur Mer. I'm thinking whether I can find something for "ETE". Jan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AOK4 Posted 8 May , 2021 Share Posted 8 May , 2021 There was a Belgian training camp in Criel sur Mer, see https://bel-memorial.org/cities/abroad/france/criel-sur-mer_seine-maritime/criel-sur-mer_carre_mil.htm I can't find a list of Belgian abbreviation immediately. Training camps should usually be something like CI... (Centre d'Instruction...). Perhaps ETE means something like "Ecole Technique ..."? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith_history_buff Posted 8 May , 2021 Share Posted 8 May , 2021 The French Army had various E.T.E.M. - Escadron du Train des Équipages Militaires Could he have been part of the artillery and train? Is it the case that the record of Frankie van Meerbeek would need to be consulted at the archives? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ski Posted 8 May , 2021 Author Share Posted 8 May , 2021 (edited) Thanks so much for all your help and suggestions. Criel Sur Mer certainly seems to make sense as it's so close to Treport which would explain how Frankie came into contact with a British soldier. Keith, you mention the archives; how would I go about finding those of a Belgium Soldier please? As I have no experience in researching that area. Also, I noticed in the top corner of the card the annotation "SM", which I'm assuming in the Belgium equivalent of the British OAS? Thanks again Lee Edited 8 May , 2021 by Ski Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith_history_buff Posted 8 May , 2021 Share Posted 8 May , 2021 The Belgian Army is known as the Armée Belge and the Belgisch Leger in French and Flemish respectively. I have deliberately added these words, so they come up in the search results. All being well, you can get some more info via the following website: http://www.klm-mra.be/D7t/en/content/military-personel-files Best of luck Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ski Posted 8 May , 2021 Author Share Posted 8 May , 2021 Hi Keith, That's brilliant. Thanks again for your help. Best wishes Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AOK4 Posted 9 May , 2021 Share Posted 9 May , 2021 Hello, You need a birth date to be able to find his file. SM means "service militaire" (military service), it was used to show a stamp was not needed. Jan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ski Posted 9 May , 2021 Author Share Posted 9 May , 2021 Hi Jan, Thanks for the advice. Looking on the website link from Keith the only possible I could see was a Francois Van Meerbeek with a date of birth of 10/02/86? Many thanks Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AOK4 Posted 9 May , 2021 Share Posted 9 May , 2021 26 minutes ago, Ski said: Hi Jan, Thanks for the advice. Looking on the website link from Keith the only possible I could see was a Francois Van Meerbeek with a date of birth of 10/02/86? Many thanks Lee No. The files at the Royal Army Museum are only the files of soldiers born before 31 December 1888 (if I recall correctly). The files for the men born after that date are kept in Evere and there's no catalog of those. Jan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ski Posted 9 May , 2021 Author Share Posted 9 May , 2021 Thanks for the the clarification Jan. All the answers have certainly helped in deciphering the card and put some context to it. Thanks again Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyne Posted 9 May , 2021 Share Posted 9 May , 2021 6 hours ago, AOK4 said: No. The files at the Royal Army Museum are only the files of soldiers born before 31 December 1888 (if I recall correctly). The files for the men born after that date are kept in Evere and there's no catalog of those. Jan There's no catalog, but I've already once managed to get access to the files of a WWI soldier. And I have access to Evere. PM me if you want me to hit the archives. i've got a little bit of time on my hands in the next weeks. M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ski Posted 10 May , 2021 Author Share Posted 10 May , 2021 Hi Marilyne, Many thanks for the offer I'll send you a PM. Best wishes Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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