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The Combatant's Cross (french: "Croix du combattant") is a French decoration that recognizes, as its name implies, those who fought in combat for France. The Poilus (French combat soldiers) of World War I worked toward recognition by the government, of a special status to those who had participated in the bitter fighting of 1914-1918 (as opposed to those who served behind the lines). The law of 19 December 1926 created la "carte du combatant", or combatant's card, for veterans of 1914-1918, as well as for the veterans of 1870-1871 and colonial wars before the First World War. The decoration was created only three years later by the law of 28 June 1930.
A decree of January 29, 1948 states that the provisions of the 1930 Act relating to the allocation of the combatant's card and the Combatant's Cross were applicable to participants of the 1939-1945 war. The law of 18 July 1952 extended the benefit of the award of the Croix du combattant for Indochina and Korea.
The law of December 9, 1974 extended the award of the Combatant's Cross to operations in North Africa between 1 January 1952 and July 2, 1962. More recently, a decree of January 12, 1994 opened le carte du combattant holder (hence of the Combatant's Cross) to those who participated in operations in
Museum of the Legion of Honour
(in French) {{French medals Civil awards and decorations of France Military awards and decorations of France
The Combatant's Cross (french: "Croix du combattant") is a French decoration that recognizes, as its name implies, those who fought in combat for France. The Poilus (French combat soldiers) of World War I worked toward recognition by the government, of a special status to those who had participated in the bitter fighting of 1914-1918 (as opposed to those who served behind the lines). The law of 19 December 1926 created la "carte du combatant", or combatant's card, for veterans of 1914-1918, as well as for the veterans of 1870-1871 and colonial wars before the First World War. The decoration was created only three years later by the law of 28 June 1930.
A decree of January 29, 1948 states that the provisions of the 1930 Act relating to the allocation of the combatant's card and the Combatant's Cross were applicable to participants of the 1939-1945 war. The law of 18 July 1952 extended the benefit of the award of the Croix du combattant for Indochina and Korea.
The law of December 9, 1974 extended the award of the Combatant's Cross to operations in North Africa between 1 January 1952 and July 2, 1962. More recently, a decree of January 12, 1994 opened le carte du combattant holder (hence of the Combatant's Cross) to those who participated in operations in Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...
, Cameroon, Persian Gulf, Lebanon, Madagascar, the Suez Canal
The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...
, Somalia, Central African Republic, Chad
Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...
, Yugoslavia, Zaire and Iraq.
Award statute
There is a particular set of requirements for each conflict or military operation in regards to the granting of the combatant card. The Cross is awarded in different cases: - for service with a unit asserted as ''combattant unit'' (front-line service) by the Ministry of Defense : ninety days of service or a wound or illness received or contracted during service, or ninety days of detention by the enemy. - for service with any unit : mention in dispatches for valor, or direct participation in five fire engagements, or a wound in action, or detention by the enemy without application of the Geneva ConventionAward description
A 36 mm wide bronze cross pattée with a laurel wreath between the arms 36 mm across. On the obverse at center, the effigy of theRepublic
A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...
wearing an Adrian's helmet crowned with laurel leaves surrounded by the relief inscription REPUBLIQUE FRANCAISE (FRENCH REPUBLIC).
On the reverse the relief inscription CROIX DU COMBATTANT (COMBATANT'S CROSS) along the lower circumference framing a vertical sword pointing down, rays protruding horizontally and up from the hilt in a 180° arc.
Noteworthy recipients (partial list)
*Resistance fighter André Girard *General Jeannou Lacaze *General Marcel Letestu *General Pierre Garbay *General Antoine Béthouart *Brigadier GeneralCharles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...
*Private René Riffaud
René Félix Louis Joseph Riffaud (December 19, 1898 – January 16, 2007) was one of the last four 'official' French veterans of the First World War when he died at age 108 in Tosny, France.
Born in Jendouba, Tunisia, Riffaud was conscripted ...
*Private Ramire Rosan
Ramire Rosan (14 April 1895 – 24 May 2004) was the last World War I veteran from the overseas departments and territories of France. Grandson of a slave, he was born in Morne-à-l'Eau, Guadeloupe, where he cultivated sugar cane. Mounted gendar ...
*Military interpreter Robert Merle
*Private Léon Weil
Léon Roger Weil (16 July 1896 – 6 June 2006) was one of the last two surviving veterans of the battle of Val-de-Marne in the First World War. He was almost 110 when he died at the Val-de-Grâce military hospital in Paris, France.
Joining th ...
*Resistance fighter René-Georges Laurin
René-Georges Laurin (Paris, 2 May 1921 - Saint-Raphaël (Var), 29 April 2006) was a French politician.
He was born in the 10th arrondissement of Paris and raised in a very modest environment. He became a highly respected appraiser, a militant ...
*Commander Philippe Kieffer
*Squadron leader René Mouchotte
*Sergeant Eugene Bullard
*Sergeant Dominique Venner
* Henri d'Orléans, Count of Paris
See also
* Ribbons of the French military and civil awardsReferences
External links
Museum of the Legion of Honour
(in French) {{French medals Civil awards and decorations of France Military awards and decorations of France