David Seymour Posted 29 November , 2003 Share Posted 29 November , 2003 Is there a French equivalent of the CWGC, and in particular is there an equivalent website? I have just come across a French lad who boarded at Thetford Grammar School in 1891. Henri Terscher was born in July 1875 and his father, Louis, gave their address as Rue de Chaillot, Paris. Thanks for any help. Regards, David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marco Posted 29 November , 2003 Share Posted 29 November , 2003 Yep (or oui): click here Regards, Marco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Seymour Posted 29 November , 2003 Author Share Posted 29 November , 2003 Marco, Many thanks. No record of Henri. In fact only one Terscher appears to have died for France. Regards, David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 29 November , 2003 Share Posted 29 November , 2003 This is not quite the French CWGC; it is a database of French war dead. It doesn't tell you where they are buried; at least the ones I have looked up so far have not had this information. There is a seperate set of records held in Paris relating to those who have graves, or were missing. It is hoped that one day this will be available as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinWills Posted 29 November , 2003 Share Posted 29 November , 2003 Yes, of course there is an organisation equivalent to the CWGC for France, but it does not have the same sort of presence as the CWGC, and certainly not on the web. Catherine Grieve-Santini's splendid "Guide des Cimitieres Militaires en France" provides basic information on all military cemeteries in France and advises as follows: You can obtain information on a soldier and his place of burial by contacting: Secreteriat d'Etat de la Defense charge des Anciens Combattants 37 Rue de Bellechasse 75007 PARIS Tel: 01 44 42 10 00 (from the UK 00 44 1 44 42 10 00) You may find that to locate a grave in the cemetery you might also need to contact the local Mairie for a cemetery plan. Hope that this is helpful. Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Seymour Posted 30 November , 2003 Author Share Posted 30 November , 2003 Christian Alfred TERSCHER appears to be the only TERSCHER who died for France, or indeed for the British and Imperial forces. He was born in Paris (9th arrondisement – is this where Rue de Chaillot is ?) on 27 April 1885 and was killed in action on 6 April 1918 at Roquencourt (Oise) serving with the Troisieme Zouaves de Marche (or is it Manche? – I can’t distinguish the handwriting!). I see what you mean about the cemetery. I wonder if, as this appears to be such a rare name, Christian was the brother of TGS Old Boy Henri Terscher ? Regards, David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 30 November , 2003 Share Posted 30 November , 2003 What Martin has not explained in his posting above is that only the direct next of kin of French soldiers may write for this information. You might get lucky and receive a reply, but normally they will not respond if they think you are not NOK. That is why I didn't bother to append their address - the one and only time I ever got a reply from them is when I had to 'pretend' to be a relative, and then it took 9 months for a letter to come! It does say 'marche' on the certificate, which doesn't make a lot of sense, but I suspect his unit was probably this one: http://pcoutant.free.fr/rm003.htm As the 3eme Zouaves don't appear to have been in action after 1914, according to the same site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 30 November , 2003 Share Posted 30 November , 2003 Nope, seems there was a 3 Regiment de Marche de Zouaves. Full details on it here: http://perso.club-internet.fr/vinny03/gg/rmz3.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Seymour Posted 30 November , 2003 Author Share Posted 30 November , 2003 Paul, Many thanks for the link - a useful summary. Suppose I should have gone to Google in the first place! I am still wondering about the possibility of a family connection for Henri, with TERSCHER seemingly a rare name. Regards, David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
healdav Posted 3 December , 2003 Share Posted 3 December , 2003 I'm doing a very big job of researching French army casualties and I have been using thisa website a lot. Please do be careful of duplications. The French army system was appalling. There seem to be at least 1% duplications in the records. Sometimes you find the same man with a definite date of birth and then a year only (or nothing at all), sometimes with a different date of birth or even different Christian names e.g. Jean Francois, Jean, Francois, Francois Jean and any combination. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Seymour Posted 3 December , 2003 Author Share Posted 3 December , 2003 healdav, Do you, therefore, think that there might be other TERSCHERs hiding in the system? Regards, David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie Posted 3 December , 2003 Share Posted 3 December , 2003 An other link: Memorial GenWeb http://www.memorial-genweb.org/html/fr/res...SCHER&x=15&y=10 Annie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Seymour Posted 4 December , 2003 Author Share Posted 4 December , 2003 Annie, Many thanks for the web address. I wonder if Christian Alfred TERSCHER is the same as Alfred or as C? However, no Henri, or Louis his father, as yet. Still we might now have four TERSCHERs! Even so it appears not to be a common name. Thanks again - it never ceases to amaze me what Pals know! Regards, David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
healdav Posted 5 December , 2003 Share Posted 5 December , 2003 I'm using this database virtually every day at the monet and I can give the following caveats: 1. As I said before, the first names can be in any order. 2. There is an at least 1% duplication of records and they sometimes differ! 3. There seems to be a lot of men missing. I have already had (out of about 500 tries) about 20 men for whom I have dates of death and place, and who have no mention in the database. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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