I wisited Bucharest quickly 5 weeks ago and I have to say that Bucharest War Museum is one of the best museums I have ever seen. In a park I saw a statue for fallen Frenchmen of the Eastern Army.
This made me wonder, which Romanian medals or orders were awarded to members of the French Army during that WW I Expedition ?
As my main interest are medals and decorations awarded to Legionnaires, I haver to ask if for example WW I Romanian War Cross was awarded to them?
Thank you in advance,
Cordialement, Harri.

Hello Harri,

These Romanian orders and medals were given to French soldiers during WWI :

- Order of Michael the Brave ;
- Order of the Star ;
- Order of the Crown ;
- Military Virtue Cross ;
- Queen Maria Cross ;
- Cross of Merit for Medical Personnel ;
- Medal for Manhood and Loyalty ;
- WWI Service Cross 1916-1918 or 1916-1919.

Best regards,

Laurent.

Hello Harri

I fully agree with Crabe-Tambour's list of Rumanian awards to French members of the Eastern Army (Armée d'Orient) under Maréchal Franchet d'Esperey.

To my (incomplete) knowledge, I don't think Foreign Legion units were ever attached to that Army.

Best regards
Vétéran

Merci Crabe-Tambour for the list of medals and to Veteran from a good point again.

Obviously my knowledge has not been up to date concerning the French Eastern Army. My problen has been that in English written reference books about Legion, this Eastern Campaign has not been well explained. Or maybe I have missunderstood something.

So next logical question is: What was the greater unit the Legion in East served in?
Did they receive any medals of Greece while retreating to Salonika?

Sincerely, Harri.

Hello Harri,

The Greece gave these orders and medals to French soldiers (especially after the greek war statement on the 29th june 1917) :

- Order of the Redeemer ;
- Royal Order of George I ;
- War Cross (established in 1917) ;
- Medal of Military Merit (established too in 1917).

But the relations with this country were tense... On the Eastern Front, for example, the Serbia was much more generous with our Army (the Serbian decorations were, with the Belgian, the most numerous foreign medals given to the Frenchs during WWI).

Best regards,

Laurent.

Thank you again Laurent for valuable information.

Best Regards, Harri.

All,

Here's a link to an article on Romanian Orders that can freely be downloaded :
Romanian Orders

Happy reading,
Hendrik

Hello everybody,
in my first comment about this subject I mention the statue of fallen Frenchmen in Bucharest and here is a photo of it.



Sincerely, Harri.

Hello Harri

What makes you think a Foreign Legion unit ever served on the Eastern Front ?

I have never heard of such a thing, the only Foreign Legion unit to serve during World War 1 was the Regiment de Marche de la Légion Etrangère on the Western Front, after the survivors of the original regiments were amalgamated.

Regards
Veteran

Hello Veteran,
First of all this is a statue for all fallen Frenchmen that served in the eastern front and I just thought some of you might want to see it.
As far as I know there was one batallion of legionnaires serving in the front d'Orient 1915-1918 and together with 2 bns of Zouaves this unit was called 1. Regt de Marche d'Afrique. It first participated to operation in Dardanelles and later on was located in Salonique and even later fought alongside with Serbs against Bulgarians. Total of 3200 legionnaire participated to this Eastern Operation. Later on what was left of the unit, was amalgamated to RMLE. Both medaille de Dardanelles and medaille de Orient have been awarded to members of this unit, I believe.
There even was one small unit in Archangel, northern Russia between 1918-1919.

My main question while I wrote my first comment in this section was, did the legionnaires receive any Romanian decorations, for example the War Cross of Romania, even just as a symbol of participation, as I couldn't find any information if legionnnaires and Romanian troops fought together against the mutual enemy. The troops and units were quite mixed at the worst time of the war.
On the other hand, sometimes after the battles, most participants give medals and decorations to the soldiers of other countries that have fought side by side. So I just asked if anyone has any evidence (diploma or photo for example) of any Romanian decoration to be awarded to a legion soldier or sous-officier. As a collector of Legion items I have to know if I need such decorations or not.

Cordialement, Harri

Hello Harri and all,
as far as I know a "Bataillon de Marche" of our Foreign Legion fought in North Russia in1919 - 1920 against Red Army , defending Archangelsk.
they were with a French Colonial Bat. (21 st ?) and with US Army North Russia Expedition Force maybe also with British ; did they obtain foreign medals I don't know !

Hello !

Indeed. Those are the romanian medals given to french soldiers during WW1.
One of the french generals that were decorated with Mihai Viteazul Order was Henri Mathias Berthelot.
He received also one of the 2 WW1 romanian crosses that were unique made for king Ferdinand and Carol II (the crown prince). Unfortunately, the cross is lost and nobody know much anout it. Maybe some descendants of the general Henri Mathias Berthelot may know something. But...were to find the descendants?

Regards.

Le Crabe-Tambour a écrit:

Hello Harri, These Romanian orders and medals were given to French soldiers during WWI : - Order of Michael the Brave ; - Order of the Star ; - Order of the Crown ; - Military Virtue Cross ; - Queen Maria Cross ; - Cross of Merit for Medical Personnel ; - Medal for Manhood and Loyalty ; - WWI Service Cross 1916-1918 or 1916-1919. Best regards, Laurent.